Mecklenburg 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 ...

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 30,319. 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 Boydton.

History

Mecklenburg County was organized on March 1, 1765, having split from Lunenburg County in 1764 as the result of the passage of an act by 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, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

. Due to new settlement and population increases in the area, the legislature divided Lunenburg into three counties: Lunenburg, Charlotte, and Mecklenburg.Bracey, S. (1977). ''Life by the Roaring Roanoke'', Whittet and Shepperson. It was named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a British queen of German origin. The first county government consisted of 13 members: Robert Munford, Richard Witton, John Speed, Henry Delony, Edmund Taylor, Benjamin Baird, John Camp, Thomas Erskine, John Potter, John Cox, Thomas Anderson, John Speed, Jr., and Samuel Hopkins, with Benjamin Baird acting as the first mayor.

Government

Mecklenburg County is governed by a nine-member Board of Supervisors, each elected from a single-member district. They serve as the county's legislative and policy body, enacting laws, ordinances, and taxes. They appoint a county administrator to conduct day-to-day operations. H. Wayne Carter, III is the current county administrator and Judy P. Sheffield is the current assistant county administrator. The board members are: * District 1 - Andy R. Hargrove * District 2 - Glanzy M. Spain, Jr.―Vice Chairman * District 3 - Tom Tanner * District 4 - Claudia H. Lundy * District 5 - Glenn E. Barbour—Chairman * District 6 - Sterling Wilkinson * District 7 - James D. Jennings * District 8 - David A. Brankley * District 9 - Charles Jones

Constitutional officers

Mecklenburg County operates under what is commonly referred as the "traditional form" of county government under the Virginia Constitution, under which voters elect five countywide "constitutional officers": * Clerk of Circuit Court - Michelle Gordon * Commonwealth's Attorney - Allen Nash * Commissioner of Revenue - Lisa Carlton Wagstaff * Treasurer - Marsha Coleman Seamans * Sheriff - Robert (Bobby) Hawkins

County departments and department heads

Listed below are the County facilities, the department housed in that facility and its head. * Goode Bank Building ** Board of Supervisors (See Supervisor's List Above) ** County Administrator's Office- H. Wayne Carter, III (Administrator) ** Economic Development Director's Office- Angela D. Kellett (Director) ** Tourism Office- Jacob P. Bower (Coordinator) ** Building Inspector's Office- Eddie Harris (Chief Inspector) ** Zoning Administrator's Office- Robert L. Hendrick (Zoning Administrator) ** Animal Warden's Office- Doug Blanton (Animal Warden) ** Information Technology Department (IT) - Alex Wells (IT Specialist) * Courthouse ** Circuit Court-Leslie M. Osborn (Judge) ** Circuit Court Clerk's Office- Michelle Gordon (Clerk) ** Commonwealth Attorney's Office- J. Miller (Commonwealth's Attorney) * Mark I. Burnett Building ** Commissioner of Revenue's Office- Lisa Carlton Wagstaff (Commissioner) *** Real Estate Department- Jo Harrell McLellan (Chief Deputy Commissioner/Real Estate Assessor) *** Personal Property Department- Violet Puryear(Chief Deputy Commissioner) ** Treasurer's Office- Marsha Coleman Seamans(Treasurer) ** VPI Extension Office- C. Taylor Clarke (Unit Coordinator/ANR Extension Agent) * Hudgins Court Facility ** Social Services- Sandra S. Gregory (Director) ** General District Court- Charles Warren (Judge) *** General District Clerk's Office- Tammy T. Taylor (Clerk) ** Juvenile & Domestic Court- M. Rand (Judge), S. Anderson Nelson (Judge) *** J&D Court Clerk's Office- Rebecca D. Inge (Clerk) *** J&D Court Service Unit ** Sheriff's Office- R.W. (Bobby) Hawkins (Sheriff) * 911 Center ** 911 Emergency Communications Office and Dispatch- Ben Duncan (Director) * Jail ** Jail Division of the Sheriff's Office- Roosevelt Terry (Jail Captain) * Post Office Building ** Piedmont Court Services- Jackie T. Boxley (Director) * White Building ** Voter Registrar- Jason Corwin (General Registrar)

Politics

Education

The county's education department is the Mecklenburg County Public Schools. It is managed by the Board of Education. Scott Worner is the County Schools Superintendent.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (7.9%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Lunenburg County - north * Brunswick County - east * Warren County, North Carolina - southeast * Vance County, North Carolina - south *

Granville County, North Carolina Granville County is a county located on the northern border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,992. Its county seat is Oxford. The county has access to Kerr Lake and Falls Lake and is part of t ...

- southwest * Halifax County - west * Charlotte County - northwest

Major highways

* * * * * * * * *

Demographics

2020 census

2010 Census

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 2010, there were 32,727 people, 12,951 households, and 8,962 families residing 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 17,403 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 59.24%

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 ...

, 39.08%

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 ...

, 0.21% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.48% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. 1.21% 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 12,951 households, out of which 26.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.00% 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, 14.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.80% were non-families. 27.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.87. In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.60% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 26.00% from 45 to 64, and 17.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 97.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,380, and the median income for a family was $37,752. Males had a median income of $26,852 versus $19,609 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 $17,171. About 11.60% of families and 15.50% of the population 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 ...

, including 20.60% of those under age 18 and 17.30% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Towns

* Boydton (county seat) * Brodnax (partial) * Chase City * Clarksville * La Crosse * South Hill

Census-designated places

* Baskerville * Bracey * Fairview * Thynedale * Union Level

Other unincorporated communities

* Buffalo Junction * Nelson * Palmer Springs * Shiny Rock * Skipwith

References

External links

*
Official tourism site
{{authority control Virginia counties 1765 establishments in the Colony of Virginia