The Jarratt House in the City of Petersburg, is located within the Pocahontas Island Historic District, a community located on the north side of the Appomattox River. Built circa 1820 as a rental property by John Wilder, the Jarratt House is the lone surviving brick Federal double house and the only antebellum building surviving on Pocahontas Island. The settlement at Pocahontas Island began during the mid-18th century, and originally was a river community dominated by White residents. Pocahontas Island transformed into a largely African American residential and commercial neighborhood during the early 19th century and has substantial associations with Virginia Indian tribes. Petersburg had the largest free Black population in antebellum Virginia, and more free Black persons resided on Pocahontas Island than in any other part of Petersburg. The Jarratt House also is associated with Lavinia Sampson, a member of the Pamunkey tribe, who owned the property from 1853 to 1877. The property’s longest association was with the Jarratt family, a locally prominent Black Petersburg family, who owned the property from 1877 and 1991.