Bumpass, Virginia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bumpass, Virginia
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 Bumpass, Virginia
Location in Virginia
Bumpass, Virginia
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Louisa |
| Elevation | 328 ft (100 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code |
23024
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| GNIS feature ID | 1464090 |
Bumpass is an unincorporated area in Louisa County, Virginia, United States. Its post office is still in service. National Historical Places registered in Bumpass include the Duke House and Jerdone Castle. The latter is a plantation (now lakefront) where George Washington spent the night on June 10th during his 1791 Southern tour.
The community was named for John T. Bumpass, one of the first postmasters in the area. The surname "Bumpass" in turn derives from the French bonpass, meaning "good passage".
History
Bumpass is named for Captain John Thomas Bumpass Sr. (1822–1884). "Capt. Tom" was the son of Jack Bumpass (first with this name to settle in the area). He was a captain of the Virginia State Militia who during the Civil War provided fuel and water for troop trains along the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (then Louisa Railroad). The site of the old Bumpass farm marks the point where the Bumpass community was first sprung from a small hamlet situated along a turnout. Suiting to its original namesake of 2nd Turnout renamed Bumpass' Turnout or later to be known as simply Bumpass. Over the years the area began to expand and grow from one hamlet to a variable of localities such as Buckner and Locust Creek. Like other peculiar named place Bumpass has gathered a moderate reputation for unusualness. It has frequently been the site of a multiple things that are either simply just curious or which are picturesque of such a remote sort of area. Such is the case of the Grasberger Ice Cream Spoon Factory which specialized in the manufacturing of ice cream spoons, paper ice cream plates, and pickle/cocktail forks. It shut down in the 1940s but in 2001 some of Goochland County's "Field Day of the Past" volunteers salvaged much of the Grasberger's old equipment and transported it from Louisa County to Goochland County. There it remains an important part of an exhibit on late 19th century machinery. The nostalgic phrase “George Washington slept here” (a frequent claim to fame by many varying small communities) also applies to this area. As on the night of June 10, 1791, the former President made an overnight visit to Jerdone Castle, located in Bumpass.
