Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city 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 ...

of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. Manassas borders the independent city of Manassas Park, Virginia. 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 ...

includes both Manassas and Manassas Park with Prince William County for statistical purposes. Manassas contains several historic sites dating from 1850 to 1870. Manassas surrounds the county courthouse, which is located on county property. Manassas is part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area and is in the Northern Virginia region.

History

In July 1861, the First Battle of Bull Run—also known as the Battle of First Manassas —was fought nearby, the first major land battle of the American Civil War. Manassas commemorated its 150th anniversary on July 21–24, 2011. The

Second Battle of Bull Run The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate ...

(or the Battle of Second Manassas) was fought near Manassas on August 28–30, 1862. At that time, Manassas Junction was little more than a railroad crossing, but a strategic one, with rails leading 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 ...

, Washington, D.C., and the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge- ...

. Despite these two

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

victories, Manassas Junction was in Union hands for most of the war. Following the war, the crossroads grew into the town of Manassas, which was incorporated in 1873. In 1894, Manassas was designated the county seat of Prince William County, replacing Brentsville. In 1975, Manassas was incorporated as an independent city, and as per Virginia law, was separated from Prince William County. Manassas is home to

Annaburg Annaburg () is a small town in Wittenberg district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was the seat of the former ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' Annaburg-Prettin. Constituent communities The town Annaburg consists of the following ''Ortschaften'' or mun ...

, built in 1892 by

Robert Portner Robert Portner (20 March 1837 - 29 May 1906) was a successful grocer-turned-brewer who supplied beer to Union troops during the American Civil War. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, Portner found success after the war with the Robert Portner Brewing ...

as a summer home. It is believed to be one of the first homes in the United States to have mechanical air conditioning. Annaburg was purchased by the City of Manassas in July 2019 to be restored and preserved as a public park. The Manassas Historic District;

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, a plantation house; the Manassas Water Tower; the

Cannon Branch Fort The Cannon Branch Fort is a historic American Civil War fortification at 10611 Gateway Boulevard in Manassas, Virginia. Details of the exact time and circumstances of its construction are not known; it is believed to have been built by Union Army ...

; the

Mayfield Fortification The Mayfield Fortification is a historic American Civil War earthworks at 8401 Quarry Road in Manassas, Virginia. It is one of a series of fortifications constructed by the Confederate Army to defend the critical Manassas railroad junction in 18 ...

; the

Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth The Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth, commemorated as the Jennie Dean Memorial Site, was a former school for African-American children in Manassas, Virginia. The current site name honors the school's founder, Jennie Dean, a charismatic ...

; and

are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

Manassas is mainly served by I-66,

U.S. 29 U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Washington m ...

, Virginia State Route 234 Business and Virginia State Route 28. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Manassas has a

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° ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. Average monthly temperatures range from in January to in July. The local

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

is 7a.

Demographics

2020 census

According to the census of 2020, the population of the City of Manassas was 42,772 which represented a 13.1% growth in population since the last census in 2010. The racial breakdown per the 2020 Census for the city is as follows: * 51.1% White (34.6% Non-Hispanic White) * 14.2% Black (11.5% non-Hispanic Black) * 7.8% Asian *3.2% Native American (Including Alaska, Hawaii and Pacific Islands) * 24% Other 42.9% of the population was of Hispanic or Latino origin. This can be broken up ethnically as follows (

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

numbers): * 9.9% Mexican * 1.1% Puerto Rican * 0.2% Cuban * 20.2% other Hispanic or Latino The population density for the city is 3,782.1 people per square mile, and there are an estimated 13,103 housing units in the city with an average housing density of 1,310.3 per square mile.American Community Survey (ACS) The greatest percentage of housing values of owner-occupied homes (34.8%) is $300,000 to $499,999, with a median owner-occupied housing value of $259,100. The city's highest period of growth was from 1980 to 1989, when 35% of the city's housing stock was constructed. The ACS estimated median household income for the city in 2020 was $86,227. 36% of the population has a college degree. Almost as many people commute into the City of Manassas for work (13,316) as out (13,666), with the majority of out commuters traveling to Fairfax and Prince William counties for their jobs. Unemployment in the city as of February, 2022 was 2.5%, which was below that of the United States at 3.8%. Of the 21,221 working age residents, 20,620 were employed. City residents are primarily employed in Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, and Health Care and Social Assistance.

Economy

The Manassas Regional Airport has 26 businesses operating out of the airport property. There are 415 based airplanes and two fixed-base operators, APP Jet Center and Dulles Aviation. The Manassas Regional Airport has land available for development. The city's third-largest employer is

Micron Technology Micron Technology, Inc. is an American producer of computer memory and computer data storage including dynamic random-access memory, flash memory, and USB flash drives. It is headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Its consumer products, including ...

. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, this manufacturer of semiconductors operates its wafer factory in Manassas, where it employs 1,650 people directly, and several hundred others through vendor contracts. In December 2018, Micron began a $3 billion-dollar expansion project at the Manassas site, and it's expected to create 1,100 jobs by 2030. Other major employers include Lockheed Martin (1500 employees) and the Novant Prince William Health System (1400 employees). In 2019 High Purity Systems, a locally based high-tech contracting company, announced plans to invest $8.5 million in new facilities to triple production capability, marking the continued expansion of high-tech firms in the area. 11% of people working in Manassas live in the city, while 89% commute in. 36% commute from Prince William County and 18% commute from Fairfax. Additionally 16,700 people commute from Manassas to the surrounding areas. In 2016, 3.3% of Manassas residents were unemployed. In 2017 the city created new "streetscape standards" and announced plans for the Mathis Avenue Streetscape Project, aimed at developing Mathis Avenue from Sudley Road to Liberia Avenue into a more pedestrian-friendly, walkable area with significantly improved traffic congestion. The plan is estimated to cost the city $7.3 million and to be completed by 2024.

Arts and culture

First Friday festivals occur on the first Friday of every month, when the city showcases local art and organizes themed activities. The city museum opened in 1973 in preparation for the city's centennial and is currently undergoing a renovation and expansion to be completed in Fall 2023.

Parks and recreation

* Sumner Lake Community Clubhouse & Pool * Annaburg Historic Site * Liberia House Historic Site * Central Park Aquatic Center *

* Baldwin Park * Vertical Rock Climbing & Fitness Center * Dean Park

Government

Manassas has a council-manager system of government. As of October 2021 the city manager is William Patrick Pate; the mayor is Michelle Davis-Younger; and the vice mayor is Pamela J. Sebesky.

Education

The City of Manassas is served by the

Manassas City Public Schools Manassas City Public Schools is a school division that serves the city of Manassas, Virginia, United States. Administration Superintendent The superintendent of Manassas City Public Schools is Kevin Newman. He became superintendent on July 2 ...

. There are five elementary schools in Manassas, two intermediate schools, a middle school, and a high school. In 2006, Mayfield Intermediate School opened, serving students in fifth and sixth grade. Due to growth, Baldwin Intermediate School opened in September 2017, also serving 5th and 6th graders. Some schools in the Prince William County Public Schools district have Manassas addresses, though they are located, and serve areas, outside the Manassas city limits. Seton School, a private Roman Catholic junior and senior high school affiliated with the

Diocese of Arlington The Diocese of Arlington ( la, Dioecesis Arlingtonensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Mid-Atlantic United States. The Diocese of Arlington comprises 70 parishes across 21 counties and se ...

, provides Catholic education from its Manassas location. The All Saints Catholic School at the All Saints Parish provides Catholic Education from pre-K through 8th grade. The All Saints Catholic School was a Presidential Blue Ribbon Award winner in 2009. Also in the vicinity of Manassas are branch campuses of American Public University System,

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

, Northern Virginia Community College,

ECPI College of Technology ECPI University, or East Coast Polytechnic Institute, is a private, for-profit educational institution based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It provides undergraduate- and graduate-level education in an accelerated format. ECPI University has six ...

and

Strayer University Strayer University is a private for-profit university with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1892 as Strayer's Business College and later became Strayer College, before being granted university status in 1998. Strayer Univer ...

. Though some of these are just outside the city limits in Prince William County, NVCC and Strayer call these branches their Manassas Campuses. Public schools in Manassas:Manassas City Public Schools
- MCPS Home"> * Baldwin Elementary School * Jennie Dean Elementary School * Richard C. Haydon Elementary School * George C. Round Elementary School * Weems Elementary School * Baldwin Intermediate School * Mayfield Intermediate School * Grace E. Metz Middle School *

Osbourn High School Osbourn High School is a public school for grades 9–12 located in Manassas, Virginia, United States and the sole high school of the Manassas City Public Schools system. History Osbourn High School history goes back to 1890 when it was named t ...

Infrastructure

Transportation

Major highways

The major roads into and out of Manassas are Virginia State Route 28, Virginia State Route 234 and Virginia State Route 234 Business. I-66 and US-29 service Manassas, but neither passes through the city itself.

Airports

Manassas Regional Airport Manassas Regional Airport (Harry P. Davis Field) is five miles southwest of the center of Manassas. Manassas Regional Airport is the largest regional airport in Virginia, and it is located from Washington, D.C. History An airport for Manassas ...

is within the city limits. It is the busiest general aviation airport in Virginia, with more than 415 aircraft and 26 businesses based onsite, including charter companies, avionics, maintenance, flight schools and aircraft services. Between 2019 and 2021 APP Jet Center, a jet servicing company, built three new hangars fit for larger private planes along with extensive renovations to their existing hangars. Cardinal arriving in Manassas

Rail transportation

Manassas began life as Manassas Junction, so named for the railroad junction between the

Orange and Alexandria Railroad The Orange and Alexandria Railroad (O&A) was a railroad in Virginia, United States. Chartered in 1848, it eventually extended from Alexandria to Gordonsville, with another section from Charlottesville to Lynchburg. The road played a crucial rol ...

and the Manassas Gap Railroad. The O&A owned the railway from Alexandria through Manassas to points south, ending in Orange, Virginia, while the MGRR was an independent line constructed from Manassas Junction through the

Manassas Gap Manassas Gap is a wind gap of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the border of Fauquier County and Warren County in Virginia. At an elevation of 887 feet above sea level, it is the lowest crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the state. "The origins o ...

westward. In addition Manassas was the site of the first large scale military use of railroad transportation. These original routes are now owned by the Norfolk Southern railroad. Amtrak and 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 ...

(VRE) provide regular inter-city and commuter service to the city and surrounding area on the tracks owned by NS.

Manassas station Manassas station is a train station in Manassas, Virginia. It was originally built by the Southern Railway in 1914. Today it serves as a station along the Virginia Railway Express Manassas Line, as well as a stop on Amtrak's , , and train rou ...

is served by VRE and three Amtrak routes: the New York City to Chicago ''Cardinal'', Boston to Roanoke '' Northeast Regional'', and New York to New Orleans ''Crescent''. The train station was also used for the cover photo of

Stephen Stills Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has com ...

' album '' Manassas''.

Notable people

* Wilmer McLean (1814-1882), Wholesale

grocer A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food preservation, packaged ...

, owner of the McLean House * Jim Bucher (1911–2004),

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and outfielder in Major League Baseball *

Ryan Burroughs Ryan Burroughs (born August 26, 1991) is an American professional rugby football player who has played primarily rugby league he has represented the United States National Rugby League team in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, as well as the 2019 ...

, professional rugby league

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

currently playing for Toronto Wolfpack * Mason Diaz, NASCAR driver * Danny Doyle, Irish folk singer * Wilmer Fields, pitcher and third baseman in

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

Brandon Hogan Brandon Hogan (born April 1, 1988) is a former American football player. He played college football at West Virginia University. Early life Brandon Hogan played football at Osbourn High School, where he began to earn respect on the collegiate re ...

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Elizabeth Friench Johnson Elizabeth Friench Johnson (March 21, 1890 – February 21, 1979) was an American college professor. She was head of the modern languages department at Winthrop College in South Carolina, from 1922 to 1955. She also taught at Sweet Briar College ...

(1890–1979), college professor * Chaney Kley (1972–2007), American film and television actor *

Jon Knott Jonathan David Knott (born August 4, 1978 in Manassas, Virginia) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres and Baltimore Orioles. Career After graduating in 2001 with a M ...

, Major League Baseball outfielder *

Jeremy Linn Jeremy Porter Linn (born January 6, 1975) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Linn set an American record in the 100-meter breaststroke while winning the silver medal in that event at ...

, 1996 Summer Olympics swimmer and current swimming coach *

Mike O'Meara Michael Sean Patrick O'Meara (born June 22, 1959 in Glastonbury, Connecticut) is a podcast personality, the host of '' The Mike O'Meara Show'', previously a nationally syndicated radio show that returned as a podcast. Previously he was the co-ho ...

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

Harry J. Parrish Harry Jacob Parrish (February 19, 1922 – March 28, 2006) was a longtime member of the Virginia House of Delegates at the time of his death. Born February 19, 1922, Parrish served as a colonel in the United States Air Force from 1942 and 194 ...

(1922–2006), longtime member of the Virginia House of Delegates *

Leven Powell Leven Powell (1737August 23, 1810) was a Virginia planter, merchant, Continental Army officer and Federalist Party (United States), Federalist politician who served several terms in the Virginia House of Delegates as well as in the Virginia Ra ...

, also Levin, (1737–1810), U.S. Representative from Virginia * Jason Richardson, American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Kevin Ricks Kevin Ricks (born 1960) is a convicted sexual predator who targeted mostly high-school age boys from at least the late 1970s until his arrest in 2010. 1970s Ricks's first known victim was targeted at a summer camp in North Carolina in 1978. This ...

, convicted sex offender * David Robinson, American basketball player * Danica Roem, the first ever openly transgender woman to be elected to a US legislature * Ravi Shankar, American poet * Joanna Mary Berry Shields, teacher and founder of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

Sorority, Inc. * C. J. Sapong, American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player currently playing for

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

Leeann Tweeden Leeann Tweeden is an American radio broadcaster, model and sports commentator. She is co-host of ''Dr. Drew Midday Live'' on Radio 790 KABC in Los Angeles. Early life Tweeden was born in Manassas, Virginia, to Bill Tweeden, a retired Air For ...

, model * Lucky Whitehead, former National Football League wide receiver * Ryan Williams, running back for the Dallas Cowboys * George Zimmerman, shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a minor, and later acquitted in Florida

In popular culture

* A season 6 episode of the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

series '' A Haunting'', called ''Marked by Evil'', takes place in Manassas in 2008-2011. * Portions of the music video for the

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

song " Back in the High Life Again" were filmed at the train station in Manassas. *In episode three of Marvel’s “What if…?” Manassas, Virginia is featured as Natasha Romanoff travels to a library. *In crime drama Criminal Minds, BAU profiler Aaron Hotchner ( Thomas Gibson) is from Manassas.

Notes

References

{{authority control Manassas Northern Virginia Washington metropolitan area County seats in Virginia Majority-minority counties and independent cities in Virginia