Greensville County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,391. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Emporia.

History

Greensville County was established in 1781 from Brunswick County. The county is probably named for Sir Richard Grenville, leader of the settlement on Roanoke Island, 1585. There is also belief that it may be named after

Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...

, a major general of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

and one of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's brightest officers. An early chapter of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

was formed in Greensville County and Emporia (the county seat) in May 1940, under the leadership of dentist Dr. F. A. Sealy, of Boydton, Virginia and president of the

Mecklenburg County, Virginia Mecklenburg County is a county (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 30,319. Its county seat is Boydton, Virginia, Boydton. His ...

branch. However, he died in 1943, as efforts to desegregate the county's schools began with the assistance of attorney Oliver Hill. After service in World War II, Hill's colleague Samuel W. Tucker moved to Emporia, married a schoolteacher and became the county's only African American attorney, as well as a leader in desegregating schools across Virginia.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water. The Meherrin River forms the boundary between Greensville County and Southampton County.

Adjacent counties / independent city

* Brunswick County – west * Dinwiddie County – north * Sussex County – northeast * Southampton County – east * Northampton County, North Carolina – south * Emporia – surrounded by Greensville County

Major highways

* , the major north–south

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

on the Eastern Seaboard enters Greensville County from

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Access to the county is available at Exits 4, 8, 11 (if you include Emporia) 12, and 13 before the road crosses the Greensville- Sussex County Line. * , the principal west–east route through southern Virginia at large, including Greensville County. The road connects the Cumberland Gap area of Tennessee to the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

area, entering the county from Brunswick County and leaving at Southampton County. A Business Route of US 58 exists within Emporia. * , the principal south–north route Greensville County and Emporia until it was supplanted by I-95. A spur of US Route 1, it enters Greensville County from North Carolina, serves as a major boulevard in Historic Emporia, and leaves at Sussex County south of Jarratt. * , a state spur route running northwest of US 301 from through Jarratt both in Greensville and Sussex Counties. * , a state route briefly entering Greensville County from North Carolina, only to cross into Southampton County at the bridge over the Meherrin River.

Demographics

2020 census

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 12,243 people living in the county. 59.8% were Black or African American, 38.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% Native American, 0.3% of some other race and 0.8% of two or more races. 1.4% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 11,560 people, 3,375 households, and 2,396 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 3,765 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 59.75%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 38.94%

, 0.10% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 0.47% from other races, and 0.32% from two or more races. 0.93% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 3,375 households, out of which 29.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.80% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 16.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.00% were non-families. 25.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.99. In the county, the population was spread out, with 18.20% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 38.70% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 160.90 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 177.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $32,002, and the median income for a family was $38,810. Males had a median income of $24,919 versus $19,849 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $14,632. 14.70% of the population and 12.40% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 17.00% are under the age of 18 and 18.60% are 65 or older.

Government and infrastructure

Virginia Department of Corrections operates the Greensville Correctional Center in unincorporated Greensville County, near Jarratt. The facility houses the commonwealth's former

execution chamber An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which capital punishment is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a prison#Security levels, maximum-security prison, although not always at the same p ...

.Virginia Death Row/Execution Facts
" My FOX DC. Tuesday November 10, 2009. Retrieved on August 22, 2010. Greensville County has supported the Democratic nominee in every election since 1912, with the exception of 1972 when it backed

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

during his landslide victory over

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

. Its residents did not cast a single vote for

Alf Landon Alfred Mossman Landon (September 9, 1887October 12, 1987) was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the 1936 presidential ...

in 1936, making the county one of four in which Landon was locked out.

Communities

Although Emporia lies within the boundaries of Greensville County and serves as the county seat, it 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 ...

and thus not part of the county. But although they are separate, they do share the same public school system.

Town

* Jarratt (partially in Sussex County)

Unincorporated communities

* Brink * Durand * Low Ground * Moonlight * Purdy *

Radium Radium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in alkaline earth metal, group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, ...

* Skippers * Pleasant Shade * Washington Park * Westover Hills

Education

Greensville County Public Schools operates public schools for the whole county.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Virginia counties 1780 establishments in Virginia Populated places established in 1780 Black Belt (U.S. region) Majority-minority counties and independent cities in Virginia