Fredericksburg is an

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

located in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The

Bureau of Economic Analysis The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the United States Department of Commerce is a U.S. government agency that provides official economy of the United States, macroeconomic and industry statistics, most notably reports about the gross domestic ...

of the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

combines the city of Fredericksburg with neighboring

Spotsylvania County Spotsylvania County is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, Spotsylvania Courthouse. History At the time ...

for statistical purposes. Fredericksburg is south of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and north of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. Located near where the

Rappahannock River The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It traverses the entir ...

crosses the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, Fredericksburg was a prominent port in Virginia during the colonial era. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Fredericksburg, located halfway between the capitals of the opposing forces, was the site of the

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnsi ...

and

Second Battle of Fredericksburg The Second Battle of Fredericksburg, also known as the Second Battle of Marye's Heights, took place on May 3, 1863, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, as part of the Chancellorsville Campaign of the American Civil War. Background Confederate Gen. Rob ...

. These battles are preserved, in part, as the

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is a unit of the National Park Service in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and elsewhere in Spotsylvania County, commemorating four major battles in the American Civil War: Fredericksburg, Chance ...

. More than 10,000

African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

in the region left

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

for freedom in 1862 alone, getting behind Union lines. Tourism is a major part of the economy. Approximately 1.5 million people visit the Fredericksburg area annually, including the battlefield park, the downtown visitor center, events, museums, art shops, galleries, and many historical sites. Fredericksburg is home to

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

(as of 2004, the second-largest mall on the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

). The

Spotsylvania Towne Centre The Spotsylvania Towne Centre (formerly Spotsylvania Mall) is a mall located in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, on Virginia State Route 3, less than a mile west of Interstate 95, and directly across from the Central Park shopping and dining complex ...

is located in Spotsylvania County, adjacent to the city. Major employers include the

University of Mary Washington The University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the Fredericksburg Teachers College, the institution was named Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washingt ...

(named for the

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, who lived here), Mary Washington Healthcare, and

GEICO The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is a private American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owne ...

. Many Fredericksburg-area residents commute to work by car, bus, and rail to

, and

, as well as Fairfax,

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...

, and Arlington counties.

History

At the time of European encounter, the indigenous inhabitants of the area that became Fredericksburg were a

Siouan Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who call the enti ...

-speaking tribe called the

Manahoac The Manahoac, also recorded as Mahock, were a small group of Siouan-language Native Americans (Indigenous people) in northern Virginia at the time of European contact. They numbered approximately 1,000 and lived primarily along the Rappahannock R ...

. English colonists recorded the name of the Manahoac village there as ''Mahaskahod''. Siouan tribes occupied much of the area of the Piedmont. The Tidewater areas of the coastal plain had primarily Algonquian-speaking tribes making up the

Powhatan Confederacy The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...

Colonial

Located on the

near the head of navigation at the

fall line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...

, Fredericksburg developed as the frontier of

colonial Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

shifted west from the

coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...

into the Piedmont. The land on which the city was founded was part of a tract patented in 1671. The

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

established a fort on the Rappahannock in 1676, just downriver of the present-day city. In 1714, Lieutenant Governor

Alexander Spotswood Alexander Spotswood (12 December 1676 – 7 June 1740) was a British Army officer, explorer and lieutenant governor of Colonial Virginia; he is regarded as one of the most significant historical figures in British North American colonial h ...

19th century

During the 19th century, mills continued to be developed along the Rappahannock River, which provided water power. There were mills for grinding flour, processing and weaving cotton, and other manufacturing. Fredericksburg sought to maintain its sphere of trade, but with limited success. It promoted the development of a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

on the Rappahannock and construction of a

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

and

plank road A plank road is a road composed of wooden planks or puncheon logs. Plank roads were commonly found in the Canadian province of Ontario as well as the Northeast and Midwest of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. They were oft ...

to bind the interior country to the market town. By 1837, a north–south railroad, which became the

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad compan ...

, linked the town to Richmond, the state capital. A much-needed railroad joining the town to the West's arming region was not finished until after the Civil War. During the

, Fredericksburg was strategically important because of its port location midway between

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and Richmond, the opposing capitals of the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

and the Confederacy. During the

from December 11–15, 1862, the town sustained significant damage from bombardment and

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

by the Union forces. During that engagement, nearly 10,000 enslaved people left area plantations and city households to gain freedom by crossing the Rappahannock River to Stafford County and join the Union lines, part of a movement by enslaved people throughout the South in wartime."Trail of Freedom"
Rappahannock River Heritage Trail, University of Mary Washington blog John Washington, a literate enslaved person who shortly crossed to freedom, wrote later about people watching the approach of Union troops across the river from Fredericksburg: "No one could be seen on the street but the colored people. and every one of them seemed to be in the best of humors." The

was fought in and around the town on May 3, 1863, in connection with the Chancellorsville campaign (April 27, 1863 – May 6, 1863). The battles of the Wilderness and

Spotsylvania Court House The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes more simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania (or the 19th-century spelling Spottsylvania), was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's 1864 ...

were fought nearby in May 1864. The Washington Woolen Mill, a large three-story building, was converted to use as a hospital during the war. After the war, Fredericksburg recovered its former position as a center of local trade and slowly grew beyond its prewar boundaries. Neither the city of Fredericksburg nor the surrounding counties reached the 1860 level of population again until well into the 20th century. After the war, many freedmen moved to Richmond and Petersburg, where there had been established free black communities before the war, and there was more work.

20th century to present

In the early 20th century, as the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

era continued in the South, there was widespread population movement. Many African-Americans left rural areas of the South for work and other opportunities in industrial cities of the North and Midwest in the Great Migration. Some settled in Washington, D.C., where there were more opportunities, or further north. War-related buildup at defense facilities for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

added to the area's population in the 1940s. The 1960s brought renewed growth and development, fueled by the construction of

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

, which eased commuting and trade. By the 1970s, the city and the area had become a bedroom community for jobs in

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

and

Headquarters agencies,

lobbyists In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

consultants A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

, defense and

government contractors A government contractor is a company (privately owned, publicly traded or a state-owned enterprise)either for profit or non-profitthat produces goods or services under contract for the government. Some communities are largely sustained by governme ...

, and a range of other businesses were part of the regional economy influenced by the U.S. government. The city also benefited from its relative proximity to four military installations: the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

' Quantico Base, the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Fort Belvoir Fort Belvoir is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Fairfax family for whom Fair ...

, the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

's Dahlgren Surface Weapons Base, and the

Virginia National Guard The Virginia National Guard consists of the Virginia Army National Guard and the Virginia Air National Guard. It is part of the Government of Virginia though the National Guard across the United States is mostly funded by the federal government. ...

's Fort A.P. Hill. The

was founded in Fredericksburg in 1908 as the ''State Normal and Industrial School for Women'', to train white women for teaching K-12 and industrial skills. Adopting the name of Mary Washington College in 1938, the college was for many years associated with the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

(then limited to white men) as a women's

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...

. The college became independent of the

and began to accept men in 1970. In 2004, the college changed its name from Mary Washington College to the University of Mary Washington. Two additional campuses for graduate and professional studies and education and research are located in Stafford County and in

King George County King George County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 26,723. Its county seat is the town of King George. The county's largest employer is the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center ...

, respectively. Musician

Link Wray Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. ''Rolling Stone'' placed Wray at No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2013 ...

of Fredericksburg developed the

power chord A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on am ...

of modern rock guitar in 1958 during his first improvisation of the instrumental piece "Rumble", a single released by Wray & His Ray Men. This innovation became widely used by rock guitarists. In the early 21st century, the local music scene includes a wide variety of genres. A commuter rail line – the

Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksburg Line from ...

– was established in the 1980s, providing passage to Washington, D.C. and other cities north of Fredericksburg. The city has become the regional healthcare center for the area. Retail, real estate, and other commercial growth exploded in the early 21st century, eventually slowing during the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

beginning in 2007. Hispanic growth skyrocketed from 2011 to 2020, with Chancellor Green in nearby Spotsylvania County becoming a local enclave.

Geography and climate

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.67%, of which is water. The city is part of the boundary between the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and Tidewater regions, and as such is located on the

, as evident on the

US 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

US 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Highway that spans in the southeastern United States. It runs close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its length, with ...

, and

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

all pass through the city, which is located south of downtown

The city is bounded on the north and east by the Rappahannock River; across the river is Stafford County. The city is bounded on the south and west by

. Fredericksburg has a four-season

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Cfa''), with cool winters and hot, humid summers. Daytime temperatures for much of the year average slightly higher than in Washington, D.C. due to the southerly aspect, although the inland location and distance from the

urban heat island An urban heat island (UHI) is an urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparen ...

present in the nation's capital make for significantly cooler low temperatures.

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2020, there were about 29,000 people, 8,102 households, and 3,925 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was . There were 8,888 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 54%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 21%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.31% Native American, 4.74

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.067

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 2.56% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.95% from two or more races.12% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. There were 8,102 households, out of which 21.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.6% were non-families. 39.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.81. In the city, the population was spread out, with 17.8% under the age of 18, 23.8% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,585, and the median income for a family was $47,148. Males had a median income of $33,641 versus $25,037 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $21,527. 15.5% of the population and 10.4% of families were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

. Out of the total population, 19.9% of those under the age of 18 and 8.8% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Crime

The Fredericksburg Police Department tracks crime information under the state-level system of th
Uniform Crime Reporting
program.The Uniform Crime Reporting program was developed and is administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It provides a nationwide view of crime based on the submission of statistical data from law enforcement agencies across the country. The crime information is collected under th

format Per state code, the central repository for crime statistics rests with the Department of State Police, which compiles data from all of the participating agencies into a
annual publication
.

Politics

By long-standing tradition (dating back to the Federal

Hatch Act of 1939 The Hatch Act of 1939, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, is a United States federal law. Its main provision prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president and vice presi ...

, which prohibited government employees from participating in partisan politics), local elections in Fredericksburg are officially non-partisan. Neither the mayoral and council elections nor local constitutional positions (e.g. sheriff, Commissioner of Revenue, Commonwealth Attorney) list candidates with a party label. Fredericksburg City Hall 2017

Like the rest of

, Fredericksburg has trended strongly Democratic in the early 21st century. In the 2008 presidential election, voters in Fredericksburg gave

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

a total of 63.6% of the vote. Only

Arlington County Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, and

Falls Church Falls Church is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Washington metropolitan area. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Churc ...

in Northern Virginia had a higher percentage of votes for Obama. No Republican presidential candidate has carried Fredericksburg since

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

did so in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. In the 2016 presidential election, then-candidate

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

garnered the lowest percentage of the city's vote for any Republican candidate since 1936; about two percent fewer votes were garnered in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

. Fredericksburg operates with a council-manager government, with Mary Katherine Greenlaw as the current mayor, first elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016 and 2020. The following is the current makeup of City Council.

Culture and recreation

Architecture and historic sites

Despite recent decades of suburban growth, reminders of the area's past abound. The 40-block Fredericksburg Historic District, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, embraces the city's downtown area and contains more than 350 buildings and locations dating to the 18th and 19th centuries, including the

Fredericksburg Town Hall and Market Square Fredericksburg Town Hall and Market Square, also known as the Fredericksburg Area Museum, is a historic town hall and public market space located in Fredericksburg, Virginia. History It was built between 1814 and 1816, and consists of a two ...

, Lewis Store, and former site of the Slave Auction Block. Within the historic district, four 18th-century historic sites have been managed by the "Washington Heritage Museums": the Mary Washington House, where George Washington's mother lived in her final years; the late 18th-century Rising Sun Tavern, and the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop (the fourth, the St. James House (built 1768), is open to the public only during Historic Garden Week). Important public buildings include the 1852 courthouse designed by James Renwick, whose works include the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's castle building in Washington and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, and the 1816 town hall and market house, now operated as the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center. Another site of interest is St. George's Church. The James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library is located on the site where Monroe practiced law from 1786 to 1788. The museum is housed in a building made up of three individual structures, constructed at different times, beginning in 1816. Near the historic district is the Lewis Plantation, later named Kenmore, the plantation home of George Washington's sister

and her husband,

. Civil War battles are commemorated in

. Formed by an act of Congress in 1927, the national military park preserves portions of the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and

. The

Fredericksburg National Cemetery Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is a unit of the National Park Service in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and elsewhere in Spotsylvania County, commemorating four major battles in the American Civil War: Fredericksburg, Chance ...

, also part of the park, was developed by the federal government after the war on Marye's Heights on the Fredericksburg battlefield. It contains more than 15,000 Union burials from the area's battlefields. Many unidentified soldiers were buried in mass graves. Among the 10,000 slaves crossing the Rappahannock for freedom with the Union in 1862 was John Washington. A literate slave from Fredericksburg, he settled in New York and wrote an account of the wartime events several years later. His manuscript was discovered in the 1990s. It was published as the basis of two books,

David W. Blight David William Blight (born 1949) is the Sterling Professor of History, of African American Studies, and of American Studies and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. Previousl ...

's ''A Slave No More'' (2007), and ''John Washington's Civil War: A Slave Narrative'' (2008), edited by Crandall Shifflett. In 2010, the National Park Service, which manages the battlefield, Stafford County, and the City of Fredericksburg worked collaboratively to post new historical markers on either side of the Rappahannock River as part of a "Freedom Trail" to mark this exodus. Notable 20th-century sites and structures include the campus of the

(begun in 1908), and Carl's Ice Cream, an Art Moderne roadside ice cream stand, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Nearby points of interest include

historic site across the Rapahannock in Stafford County where Washington spent his boyhood, and the

George Washington Birthplace National Monument The George Washington Birthplace National Monument is a national monument in Westmoreland County, Virginia, United States. This site was a colonial tobacco plantation developed by Englishman John Washington in the mid-17th century. John Washing ...

, located to the east in Westmoreland County on the Northern Neck. The historic community of Falmouth lies across the Rappahannock to the north and includes the historic house Belmont, home of American Impressionist artist

Gari Melchers Julius Garibaldi Melchers (August 11, 1860 – November 30, 1932) was an American artist. He was one of the leading American proponents of Naturalism (art), naturalism. He won a 1932 Gold medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Bio ...

Parks

Public parks run by the city include: * Old Mill Park * Alum Spring Park * Hurkamp Park * Dixon Park

Public Library

Central Rappahannock Regional Library Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL) is a public library system that serves the city of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Westmoreland counties in Virginia. The library system is within Region 5 of Virginia Library Associati ...

Education

Primary and secondary schools

The Fredericksburg City Public Schools are run independently of the surrounding counties. The public primary and secondary schools include: * James Monroe High School * Walker-Grant Middle School * Hugh Mercer Elementary School * Lafayette Elementary School Private schools include: *

Fredericksburg Academy Fredericksburg Academy, or FA, is a co-educational independent school in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Created in 1992, FA enrolls 550 students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Academics Fredericksburg Academy is divided into three div ...

* Fredericksburg Christian School * Saint Michael the Archangel High School * Lighthouse Academy

Higher education

The

, established in 1908 and opening in 1911, is a four-year public university within the city.

Germanna Community College Germanna Community College (GCC) is a community college in Virginia with campuses in Locust Grove, Orange County, Virginia, Locust Grove, Fredericksburg, Virginia, Fredericksburg, Stafford, Virginia, Stafford and Culpeper, Virginia, Culpeper. F ...

, established in 1970, is a public two-year program with a campus in Fredericksburg.

Media

Fredericksburg's daily newspaper is ''

The Free Lance–Star ''The Free Lance–Star'' is the principal daily newspaper distributed throughout Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States, with a circulation area including the city of Fredericksburg and all or parts of the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, ...

''. ''The Free Lance'' was first published in 1885, and competed with two twice-weekly papers in the city during the late 19th century, the ''Fredericksburg News'' and ''The Virginia Star''. While the ''News'' folded in 1884, the ''Star'' moved to daily publication in 1893. In 1900, the two companies merged, with both newspapers continuing publication until 1926, when they merged as a single daily newspaper under the current title. Until June 19, 2014, the ''Free Lance–Star'' was owned and operated by members of the Rowe family of Fredericksburg. At that time, Sandton Capital Partners purchased the paper. On December 31, 2015, the newspaper and associated website were purchased by

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from ...

′s BH Media Group. ''Fredericksburg.Today'', an online

hyperlocal Hyperlocal is information oriented around a well-defined community with its primary focus directed toward the concerns of the population in that community. The term can be used as a noun in isolation or as a modifier of some other term (e.g. new ...

news site began operation following the 2014 bankruptcy of ''The Free Lance–Star''. Fredericksburg and the nearby region have several radio stations, including (on the FM dial) WQIQ (88.3, "Radio IQ", public radio, licensed to nearby Spotsylvania),

WLJV WLJV (89.5 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Spotsylvania, Virginia, serving the City of Fredericksburg along with Spotsylvania and Caroline Counties in Virginia. WLJV is owned by Educational Media Foundation, and broadcast ...

(89.5, contemporary Christian), WPER (90.5, Christian), WFLS (93.3, country), WGRQ (95.9, "SuperHits", classic hits, licensed to nearby Fairview Beach), WWUZ (96.9, classic rock, licensed to nearby Bowling Green),

WVBX WVBX (99.3 FM broadcasting, FM "Live 99.3") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Spotsylvania, Virginia and serving the Metro Fredericksburg, Virginia, Fredericksburg area. W ...

(99.3, contemporary hit radio, licensed to nearby Spotsylvania), WBQB ("B-101.5", adult contemporary) and WGRX ("Thunder 104.5", country, licensed to nearby Falmouth). Fredericksburg AM stations include WFVA (1230, news and talk) and

WNTX WNTX is a News radio, News/Talk radio, Talk/Sports radio, Sports formatted broadcasting, broadcast radio station licensed to Fredericksburg, Virginia, serving metro Fredericksburg. WNTX is owned and operated by Alpha Media LLC, through licensee A ...

(1350, talk, news, and sports). WGRQ and WGRX are owned locally by Telemedia Broadcasting. WFLS, WWUZ, WVBX, and WNTX are owned by

Alpha Media Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , which ...

. In 2001, the

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

media service began listing the Fredericksburg area as a nationally rated radio market. As of the fall of 2014, the area ranked 146th out of 272 markets surveyed, with a total market population of more than 325,000. Large broadcast companies like

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

and

Cumulus Broadcasting Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

are not active in the local market; almost all of its stations remain locally or regionally owned. In television, Fredericksburg is part of the Washington market. One local television station,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

affiliate WHFV, was briefly on the air in the 1970s.

Sports

The

Fredericksburg Nationals The Fredericksburg Nationals are a Minor League Baseball team that is the Single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and play their home games at Virginia Credit Union Stadium, with a capacity ...

minor league baseball team began play at Virginia Credit Union Stadium in 2021. Sports at the secondary education level are run through the

Virginia High School League The Virginia High School League (VHSL) is the principal sanctioning organization for interscholastic athletic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VHSL first sponsored debate and also continues to sponsor sta ...

. On the collegiate level are the

Eagles. Other amateur athletics include

Fredericksburg FC Fredericksburg FC is an American soccer team based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1986, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the United States socce ...

of the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

(NPSL); and the Rappahannock Rugby Club, a senior men's rugby club competing in Division III of the Potomac Rugby Union.

Transportation

Fredericksburg is traversed by a series of rural and suburban four-lane highways and a multitude of small, two-lane roads. The primary highway serving Fredericksburg is

, which connects northward to

and southward to

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. Among the major arterial roads is

U.S. Route 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Highway that spans in the southeastern United States. It runs close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its length, wit ...

, providing northwest–southeast transportation across the region. Through Fredericksburg, I-95 and US 17 are concurrent, though a local

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...

provides local access to downtown. Route 3 (Plank Road) is a major east–west route that connects downtown Fredericksburg (via the Blue and Gray Parkway bypass), southern Stafford and King George counties, and

Route 301 Route 301 or Highway 301 could refer to: Canada * Manitoba Provincial Road 301 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 301 * Nova Scotia Route 301 * Prince Edward Island Route 301 * Quebec Route 301 * Saskatchewan Highway 301 China * China Nationa ...

to the east with the large shopping centers, Spotsylvania Town Center and Central Park. To the west, Route 3 reaches Culpeper, where it meets Route 29 and Route 15. Most of Fredericksburg's traffic flow is to or from the north (

Washington, D.C. metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgin ...

) during peak commuting hours, primarily via I-95 and

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

. The Route 1 bridge over the Rappahannock River is often a traffic bottleneck, and Route 3 has become increasingly congested as residential development grows and the location of major regional shopping centers. As an alternative to I-95, some commuters use the

rail service to Washington. Long-distance rail service is available on

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

, which serves Fredericksburg via the ''

Northeast Regional The ''Northeast Regional'' is an intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. In the past it has been known as the ''NortheastDirect'', ''Acela Regional'', or ''Regional''. It is Amtrak's busies ...

'' and '' Carolinian''/''

'' routes.

Fredericksburg Regional Transit Fredericksburg Regional Transit or FRED is a bus transit system that operates in and around Fredericksburg, VA. It provides year-round bus service to Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg, with commuter shuttles to the Fredericksburg station for connect ...

(FRED) is a bus service that started in 1996 in Fredericksburg and serves most area communities, retail shopping centers, two VRE stations, and downtown Fredericksburg. Four major airports serve Fredericksburg and the surrounding area. Reagan National and

Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and Fai ...

s are to the north within Virginia. Beyond them to the northeast is

Baltimore/Washington International Airport Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Internatio ...

in Maryland, and

Richmond International Airport Richmond International Airport is a joint civil-military airport in Sandston, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community (in Henrico County). The airport is about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of downtown Richmond, the capital of t ...

is south of Fredericksburg.

Notable people

19th century and earlier

20th century to present

Sister cities

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{authority control 1728 establishments in Virginia Cities in Virginia Former county seats in Virginia Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Fredericksburg, Virginia Populated places established in 1728 Washington metropolitan area