Pittsylvania 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 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 ...

, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 60,501. The

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 Chatham. Pittsylvania County is included in the Danville, VA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The largest undeveloped

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

deposit in the United States (seventh largest in the world) is located in Pittsylvania County. (see '' Uranium mining in Virginia''.)

History

Originally "Pittsylvania" was a name suggested for an unrealized British colony to be located primarily in what is now

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. Pittsylvania County would not have been within this proposed colony, which subsequently was named Vandalia. Pittsylvania County was formed in 1767 with territory annexed from Halifax County. It was named for

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British people, British British Whig Party, Whig politician, statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pit ...

, who served as

Prime Minister of Great Britain The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pr ...

from 1766 to 1768, and who opposed some harsh colonial policies of the period. In 1777 the western part of Pittsylvania County was partitioned off to became Patrick Henry County. Maud Clement's ''History of Pittsylvania County'' notes the following: "Despite the settlers' intentions, towns failed to develop for two reasons: the generally low level of economic activity in the area and the competition from

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

settlements already providing the kind of marketing and purchasing services typically offered by a town. Plantation settlements along the rivers, particularly at ferrying points, became commercial centers. The most important for early Pittsylvania was that of Sam Pannill, a Scots-Irishman, who at the end of the eighteenth century, while still a young man, set up a plantation town at Green Hill on the north side of the Staunton River in Campbell County. (Clement 15) "Its economy was tobacco-dominated and reliant on a growing

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

labor force. It was a county without towns or a commercial center. Plantation villages on the major river thoroughfares were the only centers of trade, until the emergence of Danville. (Clement 23)" The city of Danville's history up through the antebellum period overall is an expression of the relationship between the town and the planters who influenced its development.

Geography

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 county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.9%) is water. It is the largest county in Virginia by land area and second-largest by total area. The county is bounded on the north by 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 ...

(this stretch of the river is known as the Staunton River), bisected by the Banister River running eastward through the center, and is drained on the south by the Dan River, flowing eastward.

Districts

The county is divided into seven districts: * Banister * Callands-Gretna * Chatham- Blairs * Dan River * Staunton River * Tunstall * Westover

Adjacent counties and cities

In Virginia: * Bedford County - Northwest (across

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 ...

) * Campbell County - North/Northeast * Franklin County - West/Northwest * Halifax County - East * Henry County - West/Southwest * Danville - South (independent city partially within borders of Pittsylvania County) In North Carolina: *

Caswell County, North Carolina Caswell County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the Piedmont Triad region of the state. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 22,736. Its county seat is Yancey ...

- South/Southeast * Rockingham County, North Carolina - South/Southwest

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

According to the 2010 United States Census, there are 60,949 people, and 26,687 households 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 31,656 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 76.20%

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 ...

, 21.50%

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 ...

, 0.30% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.37% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. 2.70% 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 26,687 households, out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.93. The median income for a household in the county was $44,356. 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 $23,597. About 12.60% 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 ...

Government

Pittsylvania County is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Supervisors. Management of the county is vested in a Board-appointed

County Administrator 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 ...

. {, class=wikitable , +Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors , - ! colspan=2 align=center , Name ! valign=bottom, Party ! valign=bottom, First Election ! valign=bottom, District , - , style="background-color:" , , Ken Bowman , Rep , 2023 , Chatham-Blairs , - , style="background-color: , , Darrell Dalton (Chair) , Ind , 2021 , Callands-Gretna , - , style="background-color: , , Robert M. Tucker Jr. (Vice Chair) , Ind , 2022 , Banister , - , style="background-color: , , Eddie Hite , Ind , 2023 , Dan River , - , style="background-color:" , , Tim Dudley , Rep , 2019 , Staunton River , - , style="background-color:{{ , , William 'Vic' Ingram , Ind , 2019 , Tunstall , - , style="background-color: , , Murray Whittle , Ind , 2023 , Westover , - There are also five elected Constitutional Officers: * Clerk of the Circuit Court: Angie Reece Harris (R) * Commonwealth's Attorney: Robert Bryan Haskins (R) * Sheriff: Michael "Mike" Taylor (I) * Commissioner of Revenue: Robin Goard (I) * Treasurer: Vincent Shorter (I)

Politics

Pittsylvania County is a Republican stronghold. The last Democrat to carry the county was John F. Kennedy in 1960 (although Independent candidate

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

won it in 1968). {{PresHead, place=Pittsylvania County, Virginia, source={{cite web, url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS, title=Atlas of US Presidential Elections, first=David, last=Leip, website=uselectionatlas.org, access-date=December 9, 2020 {{PresRow, 2024, Republican, 24,310, 9,599, 247, Virginia {{PresRow, 2020, Republican, 23,751, 10,115, 361, Virginia {{PresRow, 2016, Republican, 21,554, 9,199, 845, Virginia {{PresRow, 2012, Republican, 19,263, 10,858, 560, Virginia {{PresRow, 2008, Republican, 18,730, 11,415, 288, Virginia {{PresRow, 2004, Republican, 17,673, 9,274, 470, Virginia {{PresRow, 2000, Republican, 15,760, 7,834, 661, Virginia {{PresRow, 1996, Republican, 12,127, 7,681, 1,906, Virginia {{PresRow, 1992, Republican, 11,467, 7,675, 2,752, Virginia {{PresRow, 1988, Republican, 12,229, 6,612, 360, Virginia {{PresRow, 1984, Republican, 15,743, 7,791, 290, Virginia {{PresRow, 1980, Republican, 12,022, 7,653, 605, Virginia {{PresRow, 1976, Republican, 9,173, 7,929, 811, Virginia {{PresRow, 1972, Republican, 12,108, 4,429, 200, Virginia {{PresRow, 1968, American Independent, 5,096, 5,427, 9,367, Virginia {{PresRow, 1964, Republican, 7,120, 5,228, 25, Virginia {{PresRow, 1960, Democratic, 3,788, 4,089, 77, Virginia {{PresRow, 1956, Democratic, 2,870, 4,136, 788, Virginia {{PresRow, 1952, Democratic, 2,893, 3,976, 31, Virginia {{PresRow, 1948, Democratic, 1,164, 3,149, 1,353, Virginia {{PresRow, 1944, Democratic, 1,224, 3,492, 8, Virginia {{PresRow, 1940, Democratic, 728, 3,710, 17, Virginia {{PresRow, 1936, Democratic, 556, 3,694, 5, Virginia {{PresRow, 1932, Democratic, 656, 3,124, 60, Virginia {{PresRow, 1928, Republican, 2,598, 1,688, 0, Virginia {{PresRow, 1924, Democratic, 880, 2,563, 113, Virginia {{PresRow, 1920, Democratic, 1,162, 2,715, 19, Virginia {{PresRow, 1916, Democratic, 801, 2,012, 40, Virginia {{PresFoot, 1912, Democratic, 527, 1,558, 341, Virginia

Communities

Incorporated Towns

* Chatham * Gretna * Hurt

Census-designated places

* Blairs * Motley *

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( / ALA-LC: ('Mountain of the Sheikh', ), , ) is a mountain, mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the Lebanon–Syria border, border between Syria and Lebanon a ...

Other unincorporated communities

{{div col, colwidth=15em *

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

* Bachelors Hall * Banister * Beaver Park * Brosville * Brights * Brutus * Buford * Callahans Hills * Callands * Cartersville *

Cascade Cascade, or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science * Air shower (physics), a cascade (particle shower) of subatomic particles and ionized nuclei ** Particle shower, a cascade of secondary particles produced as the result of a high ...

Cedar Forest The Cedar Forest ( ) is the glorious realm of the gods of Mesopotamian mythology. It is guarded by the Demigod, demigod Humbaba and was once entered by the hero Gilgamesh who dared cut down Cedrus libani, cedar trees from its Old-growth forest ...

* Cedar Hill * Chalk Level * Climax * Coles Hill * Dry Fork *

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

* Ebenezer * Flint Hill *

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

* Glenland * Grady * Green Acres * Green Pond * Greenfield * Grit * Henrys Mill * Hermosa * Hill Grove * Hinesville * Hollywood * Hopewell *

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

* Keeling * Kentuck * Lakewood * Laniers Mill * Laurel Grove * Leaksville Junction * Level Run * Lucks * Markham * Motleys Mill * Mount Airy * Mount Cross * Mountain Hill * Museville * Natal * Peytonsburg * Pickaway * Pickerel * Pittsville * Pleasant Gap * Pleasant Grove * Pullens * Ray * Red Oak Hollow *

Redeye ''RedEye'' was a publication put out by the ''Chicago Tribune'' geared toward 18 to 34-year-olds. It was published every weekday since its inception in 2002 until February 3, 2017. Publication was reduced to weekly starting February 9, 2017. ...

* Renan * Riceville * Ridgeway * Ringgold *

Rondo The rondo or rondeau is a musical form that contains a principal theme (music), theme (sometimes called the "refrain") which alternates with one or more contrasting themes (generally called "episodes", but also referred to as "digressions" or "c ...

* Sandy River *

Sharon Sharon ( 'plain'), also spelled Saron, is a given name as well as a Hebrew name. In Anglosphere, English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, ...

* Sheva * Shockoe * Soapstone * Sonans * Spring Garden * Stony Mill * Straightstone * Sutherlin * Swansonville *

Sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning . Species of otherwise unrelated trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', a ...

* Tightsqueeze * Toshes * Transco Village * Weal * West Fork * Whitfield * Whitmell * Whittles * Witt * Woodlake Park * Woodlawn * Worlds * Vance * Vandola {{div col end

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Pittsylvania County Official Website

WMDV TV44/Danville
{{Geographic Location , Centre = Pittsylvania County, Virginia , North = Bedford County , Northeast = Campbell County , East = Halifax County , Southeast =

, South = City of Danville , Southwest = Rockingham County, North Carolina , West = Henry County , Northwest = Franklin County {{Pittsylvania County, Virginia {{Virginia {{coord, 36.82, -79.40, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-VA_source:UScensus1990 {{authority control Virginia counties 1767 establishments in the Colony of Virginia Danville, Virginia micropolitan area Populated places established in 1767 William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham