1863

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Events

The Southern Railroad, running on a north-south route, arrives in Charlottesville. Intersecting the previous railway line midway between downtown and the University of Virginia, the arrival of the railroads established the area as a commercial hub.

• June 20 – West Virginia was officially admitted as a U.S. state. The area that comprises West Virginia was originally part of the British Virginia Colony (1607–1776) and the western part of the U.S. state of Virginia (1776–1863).

Births

• January 20 – William Hurley is born into slavery in Albemarle County. A stablehand and worker at the Hotel Albemarle (then known as the Gleason Hotel), Hurley provided a testimony at the murder trial of J. Samuel McCue and had his portrait photograph prominently featured in the “Visions of Progress: Portraits of Dignity, Style and Racial Uplift” exhibit of Rufus W. Holsinger's photos that was on display at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library from 2022 to 2023.
• August 23 – Amélie Rives Troubetzkoy, writer and celebrity, was born in Richmond, Virginia, and lived much of her life at Castle Hill, the Rives family estate in Albemarle County.