
The Jarratt House is located on Pocahontas Island. The island, which had been platted in 1750 with sixty-six lots, became part of Petersburg in 1784. Most of the dwellings on the island are one- or two-story duplex frame buildings, but the most imposing and earliest is this two-story brick house with a brick dentil cornice. It was built and owned by Richard Jarratt, a free black who plied his trade as a boatman, fishing and carrying loads between Petersburg and Norfolk. He constructed the house as a duplex with each of the side-passage units having three bays.