This Day in Henrico History: Oct. 10 – Henrico supervisors approve plan to merge county with Richmond

On this day in 1961, the Henrico Board of Supervisors approved an agreement that could have fundamentally altered the future of the Richmond region: a plan to merge Henrico County and the City of Richmond.

The proposal grew out of a study of metropolitan government begun the previous year. In January 1960, Henrico supervisors created a committee to study regional governmental issues and enlisted the University of Virginia's Bureau of Public Administration as an adviser.

Later that year, following a recommendation that Richmond and Henrico consolidate, county supervisors appointed a committee to negotiate a possible merger with representatives from the city.

The joint effort produced an agreement in 1961, and on Oct. 10 the Henrico Board of Supervisors approved it.

But Henrico voters ultimately rejected the merger proposal in a referendum, preserving the county as a separate locality.

The failed consolidation effort was part of a much larger struggle over the boundaries and governmental structure of the Richmond metropolitan area. Richmond subsequently pursued annexation of a large portion of Henrico through the courts. Although an annexation court eventually awarded Richmond about 16 square miles of the county, the city rejected that award in 1965.

Had Henrico voters approved the earlier consolidation proposal, the political geography of the Richmond region – and Henrico County's subsequent history – could have looked dramatically different.

Sources: Bradley v. School Board of City of Richmond, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia; historical records concerning the Richmond-Henrico consolidation and annexation proceedings.