Lunenburg County, Virginia
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Lunenburg County is a
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
located in the Commonwealth of
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,936. 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 Lunenburg.


History

Lunenburg County was established on May 1, 1746, from Brunswick County. The county is named for the former Duchy of Brunswick-Lünenburg in Germany, because one of the titles also carried by Britain's Hanoverian kings was Duke of Brunswick-Lünenburg. Bedford, Charlotte, Halifax, and Mecklenburg Counties were later formed from Lunenburg County. It is nicknamed "The Old Free State" because during the buildup of the Civil War, it let Virginia know the county would break off if the state did not join The Confederacy. Among the earliest settlers of the county was William Taylor, born in
King William County, Virginia King William County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,810. Its county seat is King William. King William County is located in the Middle Peninsula and is included in the Greate ...
. He was the son of Rev. Daniel Taylor, a Virginia native and
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
priest educated at Trinity College, Cambridge University in England, and his wife Alice (Littlepage) Taylor. William Taylor married Martha Waller, a daughter of Benjamin Waller of
Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...
. In 1760 Taylor purchased three adjoining tracts of land in Lunenburg County totaling . Taylor soon became one of the county's leading citizens, representing Lunenburg in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1765 until 1768. In that capacity, Taylor voted in 1765 to support statesman
Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 ld Style and New Style dates, O.S. May 18, 1736une 6, 1799) was an American politician, planter and orator who declared to the Virginia Conventions, Second Virginia Convention (1775): "Give me liberty or give m ...
's Virginia Resolves in 1765. Taylor served as County Clerk for 51 years (1763–1814). Taylor was succeeded as County Clerk by his son William Henry Taylor, who held the office for another 32 years—from 1814 until 1846. Another son, General Waller Taylor, represented Lunenburg in the Virginia legislature, then moved to Vincennes, Indiana. There he became a judge and subsequently Adjutant General of the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
under General
William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...
in the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
. General Waller Taylor later served as one of the first
United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
s from the newly created state of Indiana from 1816 to 1825. He died on a visit home to see his relatives in Lunenburg County in 1826.Pattie B. Seay, ''Survey Report, The Taylor Cemetery''
, Library of Virginia Digital Collection During much of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, the family of Missionary Bishop Henry C. Lay lived in Lunenberg County, where Mrs. Lay (the former Eliza Withers Atkinson) grew up. Both of Bishop Lay's brothers served as Confederate colonels, and Mrs. Lay's uncle, Thomas Atkinson was bishop of North Carolina. Cases surrounding an 1895 Lunenburg County murder are the subject of historian Suzanne Lebsock's book, '' A Murder in Virginia: Southern Justice on Trial''.


Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.16%) is water.


Adjacent counties

* Brunswick County (east) * Charlotte County (west) * Mecklenburg County (south) * Nottoway County (northeast) * Prince Edward County (north)


Major highways

* (Eastbound Only – Three-Sixty Hwy) * (Lunenburg County Rd; joins SR 49 and becomes Courthouse Rd; Court St and Main St in Victoria; K-V Rd; Main St and S Broad St in Kenbridge, Blackstone Rd) * (Falls Rd; joins SR 40 in Victoria and becomes Main St; Courthouse Rd * (E 5th Ave; S Hill Rd; Dundas Rd) * (E 5th Ave; S Hill Rd)


Demographics


2020 census


2000 Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,146 people, 4,998 households, and 3,383 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 5,736 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 59.12%
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 ...
, 38.58%
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 ...
or
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 ...
, 0.16% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.05%
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 ...
, 0.75% from other races, and 1.14% from two or more races. 1.79% 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 4,998 households, out of which 27.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.50% were married couples living together, 13.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.30% were non-families. 28.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.91. In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.30% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 25.80% from 45 to 64, and 16.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 113.80 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 115.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $27,899, and the median income for a family was $34,302. Males had a median income of $26,496 versus $20,237 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,951. About 14.90% of families and 20.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.30% of those under age 18 and 22.80% of those age 65 or over.


Education

Lunenburg County Public Schools operates the following schools: * Kenbridge Elementary School- Kenbridge, VA * Victoria Elementary School- Victoria, VA * Lunenburg Middle School- Victoria, VA * Central High School- Victoria, VA There are no private or independent schools in Lunenburg County, and no colleges or universities are located there. Kenston Forest School in Nottoway County, approximately 20 minutes away, offers the closest K-12 private education available to Lunenburg County residents.


Communities


Towns

* Kenbridge * Victoria


Census-designated place

* Lunenburg


Other unincorporated communities

* Dundas * Fort Mitchell * Meherrin * Rehoboth


Notable people

* Lewis Archer Boswell, experimented with flying aircraft. Local legends claim he achieved heavier-than-air flight before the
Wright Brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...
, though there is no historical evidence. * Justice Paul Carrington (1733–1818), second member appointed of the Virginia Supreme Court. * Roy Clark, born in Meherrin, he became a highly acclaimed country musician and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. * Henry W. Collier, born in the county, was elected fourteenth
Governor of Alabama A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
, from 1849 to 1853. * Alfred L. Cralle, born in the county, became an inventor and businessman in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, Pennsylvania. He is best remembered for inventing the lever-operated ice cream scoop in 1897. * Anthony Davis, an NFL football player, currently for the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...
(beginning 2009). From Lunenburg County, he attended Central High School in Victoria, Virginia. * Richard Ellis, born and raised in Lunenburg County, settled in Alabama where he was a member of Alabama's Constitutional Convention in 1818 and an associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court (1819–1826). * James Greene Hardy, a county native, was elected Lt. Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, serving from 1855 to 1856. * John A. Murrell (1806?–1844), born in the county, bandit, known for the Mystic Clan or Mystic Confederacy and Murrell Insurrection Conspiracy * John Hampden Randolph (1813-1883) Louisiana planter * Verner Moore White (1863–1923), born in the county, was a noted landscape and portrait artist.


Politics


See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Lunenburg County, Virginia


References

{{Coord, 36.95, -78.24, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-VA_source:UScensus1990 Virginia counties 1746 establishments in the Colony of Virginia Populated places established in 1746