Penhook is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

Franklin County, Virginia Franklin County is a county located in the Blue Ridge foothills of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 54,477. Its county seat is Rocky Mount. Franklin County is part of the Roanoke metro ...

, United States. The population was 801 at the 2010 census, up from 726 in 2000. It is part of the

Roanoke metropolitan area The Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Virginia as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Roanoke MSA is sometimes referred to as the Roanoke Valley, even though the ...

Geography

Penhook is located in eastern Franklin County at (37.004501, −79.628747). It is bordered to the east by the

Pittsylvania County Pittsylvania County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 60,501. The county seat is Chatham. Pittsylvania County is included in the Danville, VA Micropolitan Statistical ...

line and by the Cool Branch arm of

Smith Mountain Lake Smith Mountain Lake is a large reservoir in the Roanoke Region of Virginia, United States, located southeast of the City of Roanoke and southwest of Lynchburg, Virginia, Lynchburg. The lake was created in 1963 by the Smith Mountain Dam impoundin ...

. The northern edge of the CDP is the center of the

Blackwater River A blackwater river is a type of River#Classification, river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. Most major blackwater rivers are in the Amazon Basin and the Southern United States. The term is used in fluvial ...

part of the lake, while the northwestern edge follows the Bull Run arm of the lake and then Bull Run itself upstream to

Virginia State Route 40 State Route 40 (SR 40) is a primary state highway in the southern part of the U.S. state of Virginia. It runs from State Route 8 (Virginia), SR 8 at Woolwine, Virginia, Woolwine east to State Route 10 (Virginia), SR 10 at Spring Grove, Virginia ...

, which runs east–west through the center of the CDP. The southern half of the CDP extends nearly to the

Pigg River The Pigg River is a river in south-west Virginia in the United States. It is a tributary of the Roanoke River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean via Albemarle Sound. The Pigg River rises on Fivemile Mountain in western Franklin County and flows ...

, an east-flowing tributary of the

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the ...

. Route 40 leads west to Rocky Mount, the Franklin County seat, and east to Gretna at

U.S. Route 29 U.S. Route 29 or U.S. Highway 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida, to Ellicott City, Maryland, just west of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, in the Eastern United Stat ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the Penhook CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 11.70%, is water.

History

One of the older buildings in Penhook is the Old Chapel Church, located at 436 Old Chapel Road. This church house, also known as "Snow Creek Chapel", was built as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

by the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, by the Camden vestry, in 1769. In 2017, the Old Chapel Church was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Gov.

Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the List of governors of Virginia, 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...

has also deemed the church a “Virginia Treasure,” a designation for ecological, cultural, scenic and recreational assets.Hairston, Stacey. 2017
"18th century church in Penhook added to national register." Franklin News Post, reprinted in the Roanoke Times.
/ref>

Demographics

Penhook was first listed as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2000 U.S. Census. The 2000

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 ...

recorded 726 people, 308 households, and 243 families residing in the CDP. 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 65.0 people per square mile (25.1/km²). There were 694 housing units at an average density of 62.2/sq mi (24.0/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 80.85%

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 ...

, 18.18%

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 ...

, 0.28% Asian, and 0.69% from two or more races.

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 were 0.41% of the population. There were 308 households, out of which 21.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.5% 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, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.8% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.65. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 17.8% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 35.0% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.7 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $55,278, and the median income for a family was $71,667. Males had a median income of $32,778 versus $23,125 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 CDP was $48,663. About 5.7% of families and 15.6% 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 32.7% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

References

{{Franklin County, Virginia Census-designated places in Franklin County, Virginia