Mecklenburg County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the Commonwealth of

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 are ...

. 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 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 ...

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, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

. Due to new settlement and population increases in the area, the legislature divided Lunenburg into three counties: Lunenburg, Charlotte County, 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

Under the Virginia Constitution, each county and city in the state must install constitutional officers. Counties under the Traditional Form of Government must install all five officers. The majority of Virginia counties operate under the Traditional Form. Counties with the County Executive Form, Urban County Executive, or County Manager Plan of Government usually install just three (Clerk, Commonwealth Attorney, and Sheriff), opting for a Director of Finance appointed by the Board to take the place of the Commissioner of Revenue and Treasurer. Examples are Fairfax, Henrico and Prince William Counties. These officers are heads of their respective departments. They consist of: * Clerk of Circuit Court - responsible for all circuit court records civil and criminal, along with all deeds, wills, plats and other records. * Commonwealth's Attorney - responsible to represent the Commonwealth of Virginia in Mecklenburg County Court in all cases, chief prosecuting officer for their jurisdiction. * Commissioner of Revenue - chief assessor of all real estate and personal property within the county, recommends a tax rate to the Board of Supervisors and maintains accurate real estate records for the Land Book. *

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

- manages all finances within the county, helps prepare the budget for submission to the Board, and is responsible for the collection of all taxes. *

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 ...

- Chief law enforcement officer for their jurisdiction. These offices are currently held by: * Clerk of Court - Michelle Gordon * Commonwealth Attorney - Allen Nash * Commissioner of Revenue - Joseph E. (Ed) Taylor * Treasurer - Sandra P. Langford * 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- Joseph E. Taylor (Commissioner) *** Real Estate Department- Lisa C. Wagstaff (Chief Deputy Commissioner/Real Estate Assessor) *** Personal Property Department- Joseph E. Taylor (Commissioner) ** Treasurer's Office- Sandra P. Langford (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 Mecklenburg County Public Schools is a school district headquartered in Boydton, Virginia, United States. It provides the public school education for students who live in Mecklenburg County. Organization Mecklenburg County Public Schools is gove ...

. It is managed by the Board of Education. Paul Nichols is the County Schools Superintendent.

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 an area of , of which is land and (7.9%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Lunenburg County - north * Brunswick County - east *

Warren County, North Carolina Warren County is a county located in the northeastern Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, on the northern border with Virginia, made famous for a landfill and birthplace of the environmental justice movement. As of the 202 ...

- southeast * Vance County, North Carolina - south * Granville County, North Carolina - southwest * Halifax County - west * Charlotte County - northwest

Major highways

* * * * * * * * *

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 inc ...

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 or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 52 people per square mile (20/km²). There were 17,403 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile (11/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 59.24%

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

, 39.08%

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

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

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

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.48% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. 1.21% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...

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 recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

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

for the 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 Chase City is a town in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States. Chase City was incorporated in 1873 and named for Salmon P. Chase, United States Chief Justice and Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury. The population was 2,351 at the 2010 censu ...

* Clarksville *

La Crosse La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census ...

* South Hill

Census-designated places

* Baskerville * Bracey * Fairview * Thynedale * Union Level

Other unincorporated communities

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

Skipwith Skipwith is a village and civil parish about north-east of Selby and south-east of York in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England. Until the 1974 local government reorganisation Skipwith was part of the East Riding of Yorkshire. Ma ...

References

External links

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