Belle Isle, a 54-acre island in the James River and one of Richmond's most historic sites, has served many purposes over time. It was an important fishing site for the Powhatan Indians, played an important role in European settlement of the region in the early 1600s, and eventually came to be owned by William Byrd II in the early 1700's. After the Byrd family sold it in 1776, the island quickly became one of Richmond's first industrial centers, with a nail factory, an ironworks that operated for more than 100 years, granite quarries that operated throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and a hydroelectric power plant on the southern bank from 1904 to 1967. Saved from development in the 1990's, Belle Isle is now an important part of Richmond's James River Park System and hosts more than 2 million visitors each year for recreation.
