Chancellor, Virginia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chancellor
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Site of Chancellor P.O., Store & PF&P Railroad, Chancellor, Virginia
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| Nickname(s):
Screamersville
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 Chancellor
Location in Northern Virginia
Chancellor
Location in Virginia
Chancellor
Location in the United States
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| Country |  United States |
| State |  Virginia |
| County | Spotsylvania |
| Elevation | 331 ft (101 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code |
22407
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| Area code(s) | 540 |
| GNIS | 1499237 |
Chancellor is a small, unincorporated community located in Spotsylvania County, in the state of Virginia, United States. It was first known as Screamersville. This community started as a whistle stop for trains, which means trains would stop there only when someone signaled them to. It is located west of the city of Fredericksburg. The name was changed to Chancellor around 1927 after the railroad and local people agreed on it.
Contents
The History of Chancellor
Chancellor, Virginia, has an interesting past tied to its railroad beginnings. It is located near the intersection of Old Plank Road and Chancellor Road.
How Chancellor Got Started
Chancellor began as a train stop on the Potomac, Fredericksburg and Piedmont Railroad. This railroad started operating around 1878. The original name for this stop was Screamersville. It was about nine miles west of the Fredericksburg train station.
A local historian, Catherine Hilldrup Stanley, believed the name "Screamersville" came from the sound of children screaming with excitement when the train arrived. The railroad officially changed the name to Chancellor around 1927. The train service in Chancellor ended in January 1938.
The Post Office and Community Life
The U.S. Post Office in the area likely started when the train station opened. Interestingly, the post office changed its name from "Screamersville" to "Chancellor" earlier than the train station, in 1919. This change happened because local residents wanted a nicer-sounding name.
A newspaper article from December 1919 mentioned that Mr. Charles A. McHenry helped make this name change happen with the Post Office Department. Even after the train service stopped in 1938, the post office stayed at the Chancellor Station location until 1966.
Today, you can still see the concrete porch where the old post office and store once stood. People remember buying candy like fireballs, wax lips, and bubble gum at this store. Lucille Roy McGhee was the postmaster for 17 years before the office closed. Her father-in-law, Acie McGhee, was the postmaster before her. After the Chancellor post office closed, it moved to a different location. The old store building was later torn down.
Schools in Chancellor
Chancellor is part of the Chancellor Magisterial district in Spotsylvania County. The community used to have a school for all grades, which is now the Chancellor Community Center. This old school is on Old Plank Road. A "new" Chancellor Elementary School was built in the 1930s by the WPA (Works Progress Administration). This newer school is located on the north side of Route 3 (New Plank Road).
Images for kids
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Site of Chancellor P.O., Store & PF&P Railroad, Chancellor, Virginia
