Mowhemcho - Manakin Town

Near here stood the Monacan Indian town of Mowhemcho, noted on John Smith's map of 1612. The Monacan homeland encompassed much of Virginia’s Piedmont. In 1670, Indian townspeople welcomed explorer John Lederer’s party with celebratory “volleys of shot.” Colonists destroyed the town and most of the Indian people were killed. French Huguenots settled here in 1700, and Monacan survivors visited them at the site, then called Manakin Town, to trade. By 1722, the Monacan had moved west, along the James River. Today, the Monacan Indian headquarters is just north of the James, near Lynchburg.