Albemarle County, Virginia

Infobox U.S. County
county = Albemarle County
state = Virginia

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map size = 200
founded = 1744
seat = Charlottesville | area_total_sq_mi =726
area_water_sq_mi =4
area percentage = 0.49%
census yr = 2005
pop = 92035
density_km2 =42
web = www.albemarle.org
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Albemarle County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau give an estimated 2005 population of 92,035. Its county seat is Charlottesville.GR|6

Albemarle County is part of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

In 1744, the Virginia General Assembly created Albemarle County by taking the northern portion of Goochland County. [ Citation
last=Pawlett
first=Nathaniel
title=An Index to Roads Shown in the Albemarle County Surveyors Books 1744-1853
publisher=Virginia Highway & Transportation Research Council
place=Charlottesville, Virginia
year=1976
url = http://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/76-r45.pdf
accessdate = 2008-10-11 ] The county was named in honor of Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle and titular Governor of Virginia at the time.cite news |first=Ace |last=Atkins |title=A county by any other name? |work=C-Ville Weekly |publisher=Portico Publications |date=2007-03-27 |accessdate=2008-10-11 |quote= |url=http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=121304064644348&z_Issue_ID=11042203071932370&ShowArchiveArticle_ID=11042303074210078&Year=2007] The large county was divided in 1761, forming Buckingham and Amherst counties, at which time the county seat was moved from the formerly-central Scottsville to a piece of newly-central land, christened Charlottesville.

President Thomas Jefferson was born in the county at Shadwell, though it was then part of Goochland County.Henry Stephens Randall, "The Life of Thomas Jefferson"] His home of Monticello is located in the county, however. [cite web |url=http://www.virginia.org/site/Cities.asp?locality=Albemarle |title=Albemarle County |accessdate=2008-10-11 |publisher=Commonwealth of Virginia |quote=Albemarle County is widely recognized as rich in history and beauty. Among its historic attractions are Monticello, home to President Thomas Jefferson...]

Government

Albemarle is governed by a six-member Board of Supervisor. The long-conservative body's key political issue is growth; its composition recently shifted, with the 2007 election of Ann Mallek, from a 3-3 split on issue to a 4-2 majority for growth opponents. [cite news
title = Purple haze: Albemarle tilts blue-- and red... and purple?
url = http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2007/11/15/NEWS-election-C.rtf.aspx
work = The Hook (newspaper)
location = Charlottesville
date = 2007-11-15
accessdate = 2008-02-26
author = Barnes, Lindsay]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 726 square miles (1,881 km²), of which, 723 square miles (1,872 km²) of it is land and 4 square miles (9 km²) of it (0.49%) is water. [cite web |url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/51/51003.html |publisher=United States Census Bureau |title=Albemarle County, Virginia |accessdate=2008-10-11]

Adjacent counties

*Greene County, Virginia (north)
*Orange County, Virginia (northeast)
*Louisa County, Virginia (east)
*Fluvanna County, Virginia (southeast)
*Buckingham County, Virginia (south)
*Nelson County, Virginia (southwest)
*Augusta County, Virginia (west)
*Rockingham County, Virginia (northwest)

:In addition, the city of Charlottesville is enclaved within Albemarle County. Under Virginia law in effect since 1871, all municipalities in the state incorporated as cities are legally and politically independent of any county.fact

"See also:"
List of counties in Virginia

National protected area

* Shenandoah National Park (part)

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 79,236 people, 31,876 households, and 21,070 families residing in the county. The population density was 110 people per square mile (42/km²). There were 33,720 housing units at an average density of 47 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.16% White, 9.65% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 2.86% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.86% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races. 2.56% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 31,876 households out of which 32.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.20% were married couples living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.90% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.80% under the age of 18, 7.30% from 18 to 24, 30.90% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $50,749, and the median income for a family was $63,407. Males had a median income of $39,622 versus $30,645 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,852. About 4.20% of families and 6.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.50% of those under age 18 and 4.70% of those age 65 or over.

Towns

The only town in Albemarle County is Scottsville, the original county seat. There are other points in the county colloquially identified as towns, but they are unincorporated, and have no legal status as such. Those include Barboursville, Crozet, Earlysville, Free Union, Ivy, Keene and Keswick, among many smaller hamlets.

Notable residents

*Chilton Allan, (1786-1858), born in Albemarle County, United States Congressman from Kentuckycite book | title = Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896 | publisher = Marquis Who's Who | location = Chicago | date = 1963]
*David M. Bailey, Singer-songwriter
* Dabney Smith Carr, (1802-1854), born in Albemarle County, founder of newspaper "Baltimore Republican and Commercial Advertiser", United States minister to Turkey
*Christopher Henderson Clark, (1767-1828), United States Congressman from Virginia
*Edward Coles (1786-1868), born in Albemarle County, Governor of Illinois
*Greensville Dowell, (1822-1876), born in Albemarle County, noted physician, professor, and author
*James T. Farley, (1829-1886), born in Albemarle County, United States Senator from California
*James Walker Gons, (1812-1870), born in Albemarle County, Baptist church clergyman, later converting to Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), editor and publisher of church's "Christian Intelligencer", educator.
*John Harvie, (1742-1807), born in Albemarle County, member of the Continental Congress and mayor of Richmond, Virginia from 1785 to 1786.
*Samuel Hopkins, (1753-1819), born in Albemarle County, United States Army officer and United States Congressman from Kentucky
* Jack Jouett, (1754-1822), born in Albemarle County, known as the "Paul Revere of the South", influential in organizing Kentucky as a separate state, Virginia and Kentucky state legislator.
*Walter Leake, (1769?-1825), born in Albemarle County, was a United States Senator from Mississippi and later governor of that state.
*Meriwether Lewis, (1774-1809), born in Albemarle County, explorer, governor of Louisiana, and one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
* Joseph Martin, Revolutionary War general, Indian fighter.
*James Monroe, (1799-1870), born in Albemarle County, United States Congressman from New York.
*Sissy Spacek, actress
*Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States & former governor of Virginia
*Howie Long, former NFL player with the Oakland Raiders
*Dave Matthews, of the Dave Matthews Band
*John Grisham, author
*Mary Chapin Carpenter, Singer-songwriter
*Bebe Williams, Xeric Award Cartoonist/Artist Art Comics Daily

External links

* [http://www.albemarle.org/ Albemarle County]
* [http://www.healthylivingdirectory.com/ The Healthy Living Directory]
* [http://repo2.lib.virginia.edu/cocoon/fedora/gdms/getDynamicView.html?behav=getBrowseSet&style=http://text.lib.virginia.edu/xsl/gdms/gdms.xsl&coll=UVA-liB-ArchitOfJeffersonCountry&snum=20&titles=on&
]
* [http://troybowie.tripod.com/wx.htm Local Weather]
* [http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/ Charlottesville Tomorrow - An organization that covers growth and development in Albemarle]

References