Prince William County is located on the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 sits at 482,204, making it Virginia's second-most populous county. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is the

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 ...

of Manassas. A part of

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 ...

, Prince William County is part of the

Washington 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 ...

. In 2019 it had the 20th-highest income of any county in the United States.

History

At the time of European colonization, the native tribes of the area that would become Prince William County were the Doeg, an Algonquian-speaking sub-group of the

Powhatan 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 ...

tribal confederation. When John Smith and other English explorers ventured to the upper Potomac River beginning in 1608, they recorded the name of a village the Doeg inhabited as ''Pemacocack'' (meaning "plenty of fish" in their language). It was located on the west bank of the

about 30 miles south of present-day

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 ...

. Unable to deal with European diseases and firepower, the Doeg abandoned their villages in the area by 1700.

Creation and divisions in colonial and early statehood era

As population increased in the area, the General Assembly of the colony of Virginia split

Stafford County, Virginia Stafford County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is a suburb outside of Washington D.C. It is approximately south of D.C. It is part of the Northern Virginia region, and the D.C area. It is one of the fastest growing, and highest ...

in 1731, and added a section which had previously been part of

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 ...

in order to create Prince William County. The county was named for

Prince William, Duke of Cumberland Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (15 April 1721 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S..html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki> N.S.">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="/nowiki>Old_Style_and_New_St ...

, the third son of King

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

. The area encompassed by the 1731 act creating Prince William County originally included all of what later became the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, and

Loudoun Loudoun ( gd, Lughdan) is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston Parish (which encompasses the ...

; and the independent cities of

, Fairfax,

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 ...

, Manassas, and

Manassas Park Manassas Park is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 17,219. Manassas Park is bordered by the city of Manassas, Virginia, Manas ...

. Fairfax County was split from Prince William County in 1742, and first Loudoun (in 1757) and then the incorporated town of Alexandria (in 1779, part of which later became Arlington County) would later be split from Fairfax County. Fauquier County was created from western Prince William County in 1759. In 1790 Prince William County's population was 58% white; most of the remainder were enslaved African Americans. The county had been an area of tobacco plantations, but planters were changing to cultivate mixed crops due to soil exhaustion and changes in the market. In the first two decades after the Revolution, the number and percentage of free blacks increased in Virginia as some whites freed their slaves, based on revolutionary ideals.

Post-Reconstruction era to present

On March 19, 1892, two men, Lee Heflin and Joseph Dye, were

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

in Haymarket. They had been convicted of the murder of a girl and sentenced to death, but the mob did not want to wait for the legal system. The men were hanged from trees at the edge of woods; then the mob shot into their bodies. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' said, "mob law...is a dangerous thing to encourage. There is too much of it already throughout the country, and it spreads like a contagion so long as public sentiment tacitly approves it." It was unusual that white men were lynched; in Virginia and the rest of the South, black men were overwhelmingly the victims of lynching, the violence by which whites maintained dominance."Mob Carries Out Death Sentence"
''History Engine'', University of Richmond, 2008-2015"Killing Grounds Lynchings re: Haymarket"
''Washington Post'', July 24, 2005; accessed March 16, 2018 The county was rural and agricultural for decades. Into the early 20th century, the population was concentrated in two areas, one at Manassas (site of a major railroad junction), and the other near Occoquan and

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

along the

, which was an important transportation route. Beginning in the late 1930s, suburban residential development began and new housing was developed near the existing population centers, particularly in Manassas. In 1960 the population was 50,164. Continued suburbanization and growth of the

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, ...

metropolitan area caused that to increase rapidly in the following decades. There was expansion of federal, military and commercial activities in Northern Virginia in the late 20th century. By 2000, this was the third-most populous local jurisdiction in Virginia. From 2000 to 2010, the population increased by 43.2%. This was the first county in Virginia to be

minority-majority A majority-minority or minority-majority area is a term used to refer to a subdivision in which one or more racial, ethnic, and/or religious minorities (relative to the whole country's population) make up a majority of the local population. Ter ...

: the new majority is composed of Hispanic (of any race, largely of Central and South American ancestry), African American, and Asian. In 2012 it was the seventh-wealthiest county in the country. The estimated population of 2014 is more than 437,000. In 1994

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

bought extensive amounts of land in

Haymarket Haymarket may refer to: Places Australia * Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia Germany * Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market) Russia * Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...

for a proposed

Disney's America Disney's America was a proposed Disney theme park in the early 1990s. A site was selected in Haymarket, Virginia, approximately from Manassas National Battlefield Park and west of Washington, D.C., accessible from Interstate 66. Disney's Ameri ...

theme park. Local resistance to the resort, because of its perceived adverse effects on the historic Manassas Battlefield, led to its end as a viable idea. William B. Snyder, a local business man convinced Disney to sell the property to him. Snyder, in turn, sold off most of the land to developers, except for the donated to the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts, who used the land to create Camp Snyder for Cub Scouts. The Marine Corps Heritage Museum and the Hylton Performing Arts Center opened in the 21st century. The American Wartime Museum is also to be located in this county. During the commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, re-enactment of the famous First and Second Battles of Manassas was planned.

Geography

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 county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.5%) is water. It is bounded on the north by

and Fairfax Counties; on the west by

Fauquier County Fauquier is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,972. The county seat is Warrenton. Fauquier County is in Northern Virginia and is a part of the Washington metropolitan area. History In 160 ...

; on the south by Stafford County; and on the east by the

(

Charles County, Maryland Charles County is a county in Southern Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert (1637–1715), third Baron Baltimore. Charles County is part of the Wash ...

lies across the river). The western half of the county is occupied by a

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

known as the rural crescent. 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 ...

combines the independent cities of Manassas and

with Prince William County (within which the two cities are enclaves) for statistical purposes:

Adjacent jurisdictions

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun C ...

– north *

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

– northeast *

– southeast * Stafford County – south *

– west * Manassas – center (

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

) *

– center (enclave)

National protected areas

Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge The Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located along the Potomac River in Virginia, at the point where it meets Neabsco Creek. The of tidal marsh has been administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv ...

Manassas National Battlefield Park Manassas National Battlefield Park is a unit of the National Park Service located in Prince William County, Virginia, north of Manassas that preserves the site of two major American Civil War battles: the First Battle of Bull Run, also called th ...

Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge The Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located where the Occoquan River meets the Potomac River in Woodbridge, Virginia, United States between Belmont Bay and Occoquan Bay. The site, about half of which is wetla ...

Prince William Forest Park Prince William Forest Park is protected forest in the U.S. state of Virginia within Prince William County (and very partially Stafford County), located adjacent to the Marine Corps Base Quantico near the town of Dumfries. Established as Chopawa ...

Government

County elected offices

The county is divided into seven magisterial districts: Brentsville, Coles, Potomac, Gainesville, Neabsco, Occoquan, and Woodbridge. The magisterial districts each elect one supervisor to the

Board of Supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

which governs Prince William County. There is also a chairman elected by the county

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

, bringing total board membership to 8. A vice-chairman is selected by the board from among its membership. The county operates under the county form of the

county executive A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county. The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...

system of government, with an elected Board of Supervisors. The board appoints a professional, nonpartisan county executive to manage operations of government agencies. Prince William County Judicial Center

In other elected County offices, the Prince William County

Commonwealth's Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

, Amy Ashworth, and the Prince William County

Clerk of Circuit Court A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include Records management, maintaining records of a court, admin ...

, Jacqueline Smith are Democrats. The Prince William

County Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

, Glen Hill, is a Republican.

State elected offices

Republicans formerly held six of the eight

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

seats that include parts of the county, with that delegation having consisted of Robert G. Marshall,

Scott Lingamfelter Lee Scott Lingamfelter (born March 27, 1951) is a retired US Army officer, combat veteran, American politician, and author. He was a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 to 2018, representing the 31st district in Fauquie ...

Tim Hugo Timothy Douglas Hugo (born January 7, 1963) is an American businessman, military veteran, and Republican politician in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2003 to 2020, representing the 40 ...

Jackson Miller Jackson Hunter Miller (born April 30, 1967) is an American politician. From 2006 to 2018, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates representing the 50th district, made up of the city of Manassas and part of Prince William County in the subu ...

, Rich Anderson, and

Mark Dudenhefer Leon Mark Dudenhefer (born September 25, 1952) is an American politician. A Republican, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2011. He represented the 2nd district, made up of parts of Prince William and Stafford counties in Norther ...

. In the 2017 legislative election, which saw the Democrats cut a Republican majority in the House of Delegates from 66 to 51, Prince William County saw its number of Republican Delegates be reduced from six to one, with Tim Hugo being the sole Republican to represent the county. Marshall, Lingamfelter, Miller, and Anderson all ran for reelection and were defeated by Democratic challengers

Danica Roem Danica Anthony Roem ( ; born September 30, 1984) is an American journalist and politician of the Democratic Party. In the 2017 Virginia elections she was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, winning the Democratic primary for the 13th di ...

Elizabeth Guzmán Elizabeth Rosalina Guzmán is a Peruvian-American politician and social worker elected to represent Virginia's 31st House of Delegates district in Virginia's House of Delegates. She serves on the House committees on Privileges and Elections a ...

Lee Carter Lee Carter may refer to: *Lee Carter (baseball), American baseball player *Lee Carter (comics), British fantasy artist * Lee Carter (''EastEnders''), fictional character *Lee J. Carter (born 1987), member of the Virginia House of Delegates *Viper ( ...

, and

Hala Ayala Hala S. Ayala (born 1973) is an American politician who represented the 51st district in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2018 to 2022. She was the Democratic nominee in the 2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election, losing to Repub ...

respectively. Dudenhefer opted to retire and instead successfully ran for a seat on the Stafford County Board of Supervisors, and he was replaced by Democrat

Jennifer Carroll Foy Jennifer Denise Carroll Foy (born September 25, 1981) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a public defender by occupation. Carroll Foy was elected to represent Virginia's 2nd House of Delegates district ...

. Democrats

Luke Torian Luke E. Torian (born May 30, 1958) is an American politician. Since 2010 he has served in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 52nd district in the Prince William County suburbs of Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Democratic Pa ...

and John Bell were already representing the county in the House at the time of the 2017 elections, and with the addition of the five newcomers, Democrats held seven of the eight House seats that include parts of Prince William County. Hugo was then defeated in the 2019 election by Democrat

Dan Helmer Daniel Isaac Helmer (born September 27, 1981) is an American politician. He is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2018, he lost the Democratic primary for . In 2019, he successfully ran for the Virginia House of Delegates in district 40, defea ...

and Democrats now hold all eight House seats. Four of the five

Virginia State Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 Senate, senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor ...

seats that include parts of the county are held by Democrats, including Democratic Sen. Jeremy Mc Pike, the

President pro tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

of the Senate,

Toddy Puller Linda Todd "Toddy" Puller (born January 19, 1945, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) is an American politician. A Democrat, she served in the Virginia House of Delegates 1992–1999 and was elected to the Senate of Virginia in November 1999. For sixtee ...

, George Barker and John Bell. Republican

Richard Stuart Richard Henry Stuart (born January 6, 1964) is an American politician and attorney. A Republican, he was elected to the Senate of Virginia in November 2007. He currently represents the 28th district, made up of six counties and parts of two ot ...

also represents portions of the county. In 2005, Democratic Gubernatorial candidate

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...

won the county with 49.95% of the vote.

National politics

Republicans hold one of the three U.S. Congressional seats ( VA-1) that include parts of Prince William County. In 2006, Democratic U.S. Senator candidate

Jim Webb James Henry Webb Jr. (born February 9, 1946) is an American politician and author. He has served as a United States senator from Virginia, Secretary of the Navy, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Counsel for the United States ...

carried the county with 50.51% of the vote. In the

2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

, Democrat

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 ...

carried Prince William with 57.51% of the vote, compared to Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

who received 41.62%. Obama's final rally the night before the election was held at the Prince William County Fairgrounds, just outside the city of Manassas. He was the first Democrat to carry the county since 1964. Continuing demographic changes in the county, such as an increasingly diverse and urbanized population, were cited by ''The New York Times'' as contributing to Obama's success in the

2012 United States presidential election The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-el ...

and suggesting the future appeal of the Democratic Party in the United States. Between 2000 and 2010, county population had increased by 121,189 persons (43.2%)."Demographic and Economic Newsletter"
, ''Prince William Report,'' Second Quarter 2014, April–June 2014 It had changed from a primarily white, rural county. Prince William by 2012 had an educated professional population with the seventh-highest income in the country; it is the first county in Virginia to be composed of a majority of minorities:

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 ...

, African American, and Asian. Obama and the Democrats attracted their votes. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' identified Prince William as one of five critical counties in Virginia for the election. Obama defeated Romney soundly by 16 percentage points with a margin of 57%–41%, narrowly beating his 2008 margin. The county continued its trend toward Democratic candidates in the

2016 United States presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...

, Prince William County voted 57.6% for Hillary Clinton to Trump's 36.5%. Clinton's victory represented the largest margin of victory for any presidential candidate in the county since 1988. In 2020, Prince William County voted for Joe Biden with 62.6% of the vote, the largest share of the vote for a Democratic candidate since 1944.

Economy

Top employers

According to the county's 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the county are:

Education

Secondary

Prince William County Public Schools Prince William County Public Schools is a Virginian school division with its headquarters in the Kelly Leadership Center in unincorporated Prince William County, Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population of the county was 402,002. Prince W ...

is the second largest school system in

(having, circa 2007, overtaken

Virginia Beach City Public Schools Virginia Beach City Public Schools is the branch of the government of the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia responsible for public K-12 education. Like all public school systems in the state, it is legally classified as a school division instead o ...

). The system consists of 57 elementary, 16 middle, and 13 high schools, as well as a virtual high school, two traditional schools, three special education schools, and two alternative schools. The Superintendent of Prince William County Public Schools is Dr. LaTanya McDade. The system has a television station calle
PWCS-TV
It is programmed and operated by Prince William County Public Schools' Media Production Services Department and is accessible to Comcast and Verizon subscribers in Prince William County. The county system serves all parts of the county except for

Marine Corps Base Quantico Marine Corps Base Quantico (commonly abbreviated MCB Quantico) is a United States Marine Corps installation located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly of southern Prince William County, Virginia, northern Stafford County, and southeaster ...

, which is served by the

Department of Defense Education Activity The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is a federal school system headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and managing prekindergarten through 12th grade educational programs on behal ...

(DoDEA). The DoDEA high school is

Quantico Middle High School Quantico Middle High School is a public secondary school on Marine Corps Base Quantico, and in unincorporated Prince William County, Virginia. It is a part of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). History It originated from the Q ...

Higher

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.''

2010 census

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 2010, there were 402,002 people, 137,115 housing units, and 130,785 households residing in the county. The population density was 1,186 people per square mile (458/km²). There were 137,115 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile (156/km²). The racial makeup of the county (reporting as only one race) was: * 57.8% White * 20.2% Black or African American * 0.6% Native American * 7.5% Asian (1.5% Indian, 1.2% Filipino, 1.2% Korean, 0.8% Vietnamese 0.6% Chinese, 0.1% Japanese, 2.1% Other Asian) * 0.1% Pacific Islander * 9.1% from other races * and 5.1% from two or more races * 20.3% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race (6.8% Salvadoran, 3.7% Mexican, 1.8% Puerto Rican, 1.1% Guatemalan, 1.0% Peruvian, 0.9% Honduran, 0.7% Bolivian, 0.4% Colombian, 0.3% Nicaraguan, 0.3% Dominican) Also according to census figures, there were 130,785 households in Prince William County as of April 1, 2010. According to the Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey, 76.1% of the county's households are occupied by families, (compared to 66.5% in the United States). This represents a decrease of 4.6 percentage points since 1990, when 80.7% of households in the county were families. Approximately 42.2% of Prince William County's households are family households occupied by parents with their own children under 18 years of age. According to the Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey, 29.3% of the total County population is under 18 years of age; approximately 6.5% is aged 65 and over. The median age of the population is 33.2 years. The 2009 American Community Survey also indicated that 50.0% of the county's population is male and 50.0% is female. According to the 2009 American Community Survey, the 2009 median household income in Prince William County was $89,785. The per capita income for the county was $35,890. The 2009 American Community Survey reported that in 2009, 6.0% of Prince William County's population was living below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over. It is a

majority-minority A majority-minority or minority-majority area is a term used to refer to a administrative division, subdivision in which one or more minority group, racial, ethnic, and/or religious minorities (relative to the whole country's population) make up a ...

county, with "White, not Hispanic or Latino" at 44.8%, "Hispanic or Latino" at 22.3%, and "Black or African American" at 21.8% the chief groups.

Sports

Northern Virginia FC Northern Virginia FC (formerly Northern Virginia Royals and Evergreen FC) is an American soccer club from Leesburg, Virginia competing in USL League Two, USL W League, Eastern Premier Soccer League and the Major Arena Soccer League 3. The clu ...

is an American minor league

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 ...

team, also located in

Woodbridge, Virginia Woodbridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south of Washington, D.C.. Bounded by the Occoquan and Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the 2020 census. Woodbridge o ...

. NoVa FC has minor league affiliation with

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

franchise. The historic

Old Dominion Speedway Dominion Raceway is a motorsport complex currently operating in Thornburg, Virginia. The facility includes 4/10-mile oval track, a 2-mile road course, and a 1/8-mile drag strip. The track hosts NASCAR, SCCA, and Superkart events along with amat ...

was located in Manassas. Opened in 1948, it was the location of the first commercial drag race held on the East Coast, and was a stop on the NASCAR Grand National schedule in the late 50s and early 60s. Old Dominion Speedway closed in the Fall of 2012 because of noise complaints.

Museums

The

National Museum of the Marine Corps The National Museum of the Marine Corps is the historical museum of the United States Marine Corps. Located in Triangle, Virginia near MCB Quantico, the museum opened on November 10, 2006, and is now one of the top tourist attractions in the st ...

is located in

Triangle, Virginia Triangle is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,188 at the 2010 census. It is bounded to the south by the Marine Corps Base Quantico, which surrounds the town of Quantico. Geogra ...

and is free to the public. The Historic Preservation Division of Prince William County also operates five museums: Rippon Lodge Historic Site, Brentsville Historic Centre, Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park, Lucasville Historic Site, and Ben Lomond Historic Site.

Libraries

The

Prince William Public Library System Prince William Public Library System (PWPLS) is a public library system in Virginia started in 1965. The system consists of 11 branches that include six full-service branches and five neighborhood branches across Prince William County and the cit ...

is a regional

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

system that serves Prince William County, the City of Manassas and the City of Manassas Park. The system consists of 6 full-service branches and 5 neighborhood branches that covers the entire Prince William area.

Parks

Two

National Parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

lie within the county.

was established as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area in 1936 and is located in eastern Prince William County. This is the largest protected natural area in the

metropolitan region at over .

, located north of Manassas in Prince William County, preserves the site of two major American Civil War battles: the

First Battle of Manassas The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassas

on July 21, 1861, and the

Second Battle of Manassas 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 ...

which was fought between August 28 and 30, 1862. Outside the South, these battles are commonly referred to as the first and second battles of Bull Run. The

Prince William County Department of Parks & Recreation The Prince William County Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism is responsible for developing and maintaining the various parks, historical sites, and recreational areas owned by Prince William County, Virginia. The Department manages nearly 4 ...

operates fifty parks, two water parks, two recreation centers (Birchdale Rec. Center and Sharron Baucom Dale City Rec. Center), two community centers, six sports complexes, and an ice skating rink. *

, the largest National Park Service property in the

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 ...

Leesylvania State Park Leesylvania State Park is located in the southeastern part of Prince William County, Virginia. The land was donated in 1978 by philanthropist Daniel K. Ludwig, and the park was dedicated in 1985 and opened full-time in 1992. History At the time ...

, the ancestral home of the

Lee family The Lee family of the United States is a historically significant Virginia and Maryland political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military. The family became prominent in colonial Bri ...

, with a range of recreational activities and views of the river *

, a

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 ...

battlefield

Transportation

The county is traversed by many major highways and roads, including the following: * I-66

Interstate 66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washingt ...

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 ...

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 ...

(Richmond Highway) * US 15

U.S. Route 15 U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Caro ...

(James Madison Highway) * US 29

U.S. Route 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 me ...

(Lee Highway) * Virginia 28

State Route 28 (Nokesville Road/Centerville Road) * Virginia 55

State Route 55 (John Marshall Highway/Washington Street * Virginia 123

State Route 123 (Gordon Boulevard) * Virginia 215

State Route 215 (Vint Hill Road) * Virginia 234

State Route 234 (Dumfries Road/Prince William Parkway/Sudley Road) * Virginia 234

State Route 234 Business (Dumfries Road/Grant Avenue/Sudley Road) * Virginia 294

State Route 294 (Prince William Parkway) * Virginia 393

State Route 393 (Campus Drive) * Virginia 394

State Route 394 (College Drive) * Circle_sign_612

State Route 612 (Yates Ford Road) * Circle_sign_619

State Route 619 (Linton Hall Road/Bristow Road/Joplin Road/Fuller Heights Road) * Circle_sign_784

State Route 784 (Dale Boulevard)

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 ...

lies near its namesake city; for commercial passengers, both

Dulles 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 ...

and

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

are located nearby. Public busing in the county is provided by the

Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) is an American public transportation system in Prince William County, Virginia, Stafford County, Virginia, and Spotsylvania County, Virginia, plus two adjacent independent cities, Manass ...

. Services provided by PRTC include OmniRide, OmniLink, and OmniMatch. The county is served by both

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) lines. The Manassas line has the

, Manassas, and Broad Run / Airport stations. The Fredericksburg line has the

, Rippon, and Quantico stations. The Manassas, Quantico and Woodbridge stations are also served by

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 ...

Communities

Towns

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

* Occoquan * Quantico

Census-designated places

* Buckhall * Bull Run * Bull Run Mountain Estates * Cherry Hill * County Center *

Dale City Dale City is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located 25 miles south west of Washington, D.C. It is an annex of Woodbridge, Virginia. As of 2017, the total population was 73,384. The community is ...

* Gainesville * Independent Hill *

Innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...

* Lake Ridge * Leesylvania * Linton Hall *

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Ce ...

* Quantico Base * Montclair * Nokesville *

Potomac Mills Potomac Mills is a shopping mall located in Woodbridge, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The first mall developed by the Mills Corporation, it was acquired in 2007 by Simon Property Group. Simon claims it to be the largest o ...

* Sudley *

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

Other unincorporated communities

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

* Ashland *

Bethel Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...

* Brentsville *

Bristow Bristow, or Bristowe, can refer to the following. People * Bristow (surname) * W.S. Bristowe (1901–1979), English naturalist Places ;In the United States * Bristow, Indiana * Bristow, Iowa * Bristow, Mississippi * Bristow, Missouri * Bristow ...

* Buckland *

Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the cl ...

Catharpin Catharpin is a nautical term, which is often pronounced ''cat-harping''. It describes one of the short ropes or iron clamps used to brace in the shrouds toward the masts so as to give a freer sweep to the yards. The expression has been borrowed t ...

Cornwell Cornwell can refer to: People * Almon Cornwell (1820–1893), American farmer-politician in Wisconsin * Anita Cornwell (1923–2023), American author * Bernard Cornwell (born 1944), British historical novelist * Charlotte Cornwell (1949–2021), Bri ...

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

* Hoadly * Joplin *

Quantico Station Quantico station is a train station in Quantico, Virginia, served by two Amtrak trains and the Virginia Railway Express's Fredericksburg Line. The existing station house was originally built by the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad in ...

* Rixlew * Southbridge * Sudley Springs *

Thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highway ...

Waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

* West Gate

Former communities

* Agnewville * Batestown * Groveton * Hickory Grove * Hickory Ridge * Kopp * Minnieville * Pamacocack * Woolsey

Independent cities

The independent cities of Manassas and

are surrounded by Prince William County. Before becoming independent cities in 1975, as are all cities in Virginia, both were towns and officially part of the county. The Prince William County Circuit, District, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts, Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney's Office, Prince William County Adult Detention Center, Prince William County Sheriff's Office, and other county agencies are located at Prince William County Courthouse complex. The courthouse complex itself is located in a Prince William County enclave surrounded by the city of Manassas. Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park share a single judicial system (courts) and Constitutional offices (Commonwealth's Attorney, Sheriff, Circuit Court Clerk).

Notable local residents

Austin Steward Austin Steward (1793 – February 15, 1869) was an African-American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and author. He was born a slave in Virginia then moved at age 7 with the Helm household to New York State in 1800. The househ ...

, abolitionist

Other important features

, a large military installation * Hylton Performing Arts Center *

Jiffy Lube Live Jiffy Lube Live (originally known as the Nissan Pavilion) in Bristow, Virginia, is an outdoor amphitheater in suburban Prince William County, about 35 miles west of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Live Nation, the amphitheater can seat 25,2 ...

concert venue *

, a tourist destination and largest

outlet mall An outlet store, factory outlet or factory shop is a brick and mortar or online store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowin ...

in the region *

FBI Academy The FBI Academy is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's law enforcement training and research center near the town of Quantico in Stafford County, Virginia. Operated by the bureau's Training Division, it was first opened for use on May 7, 197 ...

, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's training and research facility. * Camp William B. Snyder, one of the largest Cub Scout Camps in the United States.

References

External links

* * * * {{authority control Virginia counties Northern Virginia counties Virginia counties on the Potomac River Washington metropolitan area 1731 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies Majority-minority counties and independent cities in Virginia