Butler County Fiscal Court is helping purchase a historical marker to commemorate the first city founded in the county.

Suffolk – a town on the Green River near the current location of Rochester Ferry – was incorporated in 1803, according to Roger Givens, chairman of the Butler County Historical Society.

“I just think it’s good that people know their history,” he said.

Through his work with the historical society, Givens has secured several other historical markers for Butler County through the years, he said.

Givens thinks historical markers are a good way to make people more aware of the past and have the potential to bring tourists interested in history to the area, he said.

“I think historical markers serve kind of a dual purpose,” he said. “They do attract tourism and they instill a sense of pride.”

According to Butler County Judge-Executive David Fields, the marker will cost $2,500. The fiscal court at Monday’s meeting unanimously approved a measure to foot half the bill.

“I think the people in Rochester are very interested in this,” he said. “A lot of people these days are more interested in their family and their ancestry and history.”

Fields said he was largely unaware of Suffolk’s role in the county’s history, though he had heard the name before, adding that he suspects the town faded from the public’s memory because Rochester annexed part of it.

The marker, when secured, will be placed near Rochester Ferry, he said.

According to Givens, Suffolk was incorporated in 1803 on a 54-acre tract of land that the state of Virginia gave to Jacob Reddick for his service as an officer in the Revolutionary War.

Reddick’s son, Thomas Reddick, named the town Suffolk after Suffolk, Va., which his father helped found, Givens said.

Boyd Truelove, a member of a small group put together to research Suffolk in the anticipation of getting a marker to commemorate the town, said the town never flourished because Thomas Reddick ran into financial troubles and was unable to properly develop the town, which was annexed into Rochester when Rochester was established in 1839, he said.

The historical society is now “in the fundraising process” in an effort to gather the $1,250 needed to pay the remainder of the marker’s cost, Givens said.

Martha Roe, mayor of Rochester, said the Rochester Ladies’ League – of which she is a member – or the city of Rochester could help provide extra funding.

“There’s a chance we may be giving money through the Ladies’ League or the city of Rochester,” she said. “We’ll help out if we need to.”

Third District Magistrate Chad Tyree said he voted for the ordinance to pay for half the historical marker.

Tyree said he has heard mentions of Suffolk but was largely unaware of the community and its place in Butler County’s history.

“We have a very rich history and … my understanding is it’s tied to the Revolutionary War and that’s the beginning of our country,” he said.