Cobham was a small town in Surry County, Virginia. It was established by an Act of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1691, when each county in the Virginia Colony was directed set aside 50 acres (200,000 m²) of land for a town. Storehouses were to be built for products imported and tobacco to be exported. It was ordered that the county sell half-acre lots for its citizens to inhabit the town. It was located at the mouth of Gray's Creek at the James River across and somewhat downstream from Jamestown.