Pulaski is a town in
Pulaski County, Virginia
Pulaski County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,800. Its county seat is Pulaski. Pulaski County is part of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg metropolitan a ...
, United States. The population was 9,086 at the 2010 census. It is 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 ...
of Pulaski County.
Pulaski is part of the
Blacksburg-Christiansburg metropolitan area.
History
Pulaski was incorporated as a town in 1886. The town was named for Count
Casimir Pulaski
Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski (; March 4 or 6, 1745 October 11, 1779), anglicised as Casimir Pulaski ( ), was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called "The Father of American cavalry" or "The So ...
, a
Revolutionary War hero from
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
.
On April 8, 2011, two
tornadoes
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
hit Pulaski, which destroyed 31 buildings and damaged 77 others.
The tornadoes caused an estimated
$1.68 million in damage.
Historic sites
Calfee Athletic Field,
Dalton Theatre Building
Dalton Theatre Building is a historic theatre building located at Pulaski, Pulaski County, Virginia. It was built in 1921, and is a three-story, five-bay, brick Commercial Style building with a flat roof topped by a one-story square central tow ...
,
Pulaski County Courthouse,
Pulaski Historic Commercial District,
Pulaski Historic Residential District, and
Pulaski South Historic Residential and Industrial District are listed 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 ...
.
Geography
Pulaski is located at (37.050094, −80.772193).
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 town has a total area of 7.8 square miles (12.5 km
2), all land.
Climate
Demographics

As of the
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 ...
of 2000, there were 9,473 people, 4,173 households, and 2,670 families living in the town. 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 1,211.2 people per square mile (467.7/km
2). There were 4,517 housing units at an average density of 577.6 per square mile (223.0/km
2). The racial makeup of the town was 89.55%
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 ...
, 7.75%
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 ...
, 0.12%
Native American, 0.36%
Asian, 0.08%
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 ...
, 0.96% from
other races, and 1.18% 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 2.02% of the population.
There were 4,173 households, out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.8% 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, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.80.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $25,481, and the median income for a family was $36,339. Males had a median income of $28,054 versus $20,177 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 town was $21,338. About 16.1% of families and 21.8% 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 30.7% of those under age 18 and 19.2% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Pulaski County High School is Pulaski County's sole
high school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
. The school is located in
Dublin, Virginia
Dublin is a town in Pulaski County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,682 as of the 2020 Decennial Census. It is part of the Blacksburg– Christiansburg Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The town was named after Dublin in Irelan ...
and has around 1500 students.
New River Community College is Pulaski County's closest school of higher learning within the county lines. New River Community College (NRCC) is a comprehensive community college located in the New River Valley of Virginia with the school physically located in Dublin, Virginia. Other significant institutions of higher learning located in the region are
Wytheville Community College
Wytheville Community College (WCC) is a public community college in Wytheville, Virginia, United States. It is part of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). The college serves the citizens of Bland, Carroll, Grayson, Smyth (Marion an ...
located in the nearby city of
Wytheville, Virginia
Wytheville ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Wythe County, Virginia, Wythe County, Virginia, United States. It is named after George Wythe, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and mentor to Thomas Jefferson. Wytheville ...
;
Radford University
Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia, United States. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate ...
, a four-year public, state-funded university located in
Radford, Virginia
Radford (formerly Lovely Mount, Central City, English Ferry and Ingle's Ferry) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of 2020, the population was 16,070 by the United States Census Bureau. For ...
and
Virginia Tech
The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...
, which is a public land grant polytechnic university in
Blacksburg, Virginia
Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg and the surrounding county is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of Virginia T ...
.
Recreation
The town was home to the
Pulaski Yankees
The Pulaski Yankees were a minor league baseball team based in Pulaski, Virginia, United States. They were an Advanced Rookie League team in the Appalachian League. The team played its home games at Calfee Park. They were affiliated with severa ...
baseball club of the
Appalachian League
The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wooden ...
at
Calfee Park. In 2021, the team became the
Pulaski River Turtles
The Pulaski River Turtles are a summer collegiate baseball team of the Appalachian League. They are located in Pulaski, Virginia, and play their home games at Calfee Park.
History Previous Pulaski teams
Professional baseball was first playe ...
.
The northern end of
New River Trail State Park
New River Trail State Park is a rail trail and state park located entirely in southwest Virginia, extending from the trail's northeastern terminus in Pulaski, Virginia, Pulaski to its southern terminus in Galax, Virginia, Galax, with a spur f ...
is in Pulaski. There are 6 miles of purpose built mountain bike trails on Draper Mountain, and access to rural and scenic roads for road biking.
Gatewood Park and Reservoir is 400 scenic acres nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia. The park is owned by The Town of Pulaski and is accessible from Interstates 81 and 77.
Notable people
*
Lewis Kenneth Bausell
Corporal Lewis Kenneth Bausell (April 17, 1924 – September 18, 1944) was a United States Marine and posthumous recipient of the United States' highest military honor — the Medal of Honor — for his sacrifice of life, "above and beyond the ca ...
, Medal of Honor recipient
*
Ed Goodson
James Edward Goodson (born January 25, 1948) is an American former first baseman and third baseman in Major League Baseball. He played from 1970 to 1977 for the San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. In his one World Serie ...
, baseball player
*
Shayne Graham
Michael Shayne Graham (born December 9, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies. He made hi ...
, NFL football player
*
Jeff King, NFL football player
*
Scott Mactavish, filmmaker and author
*
Garnett Moore
Garnett St. Clair Moore (September 9, 1914 – July 25, 1984) was an American politician and lawyer from Virginia. He served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1954 to 1971.
Early life and education
Garnett St. Clair Moore was ...
(1914–1984), lawyer and state delegate
*
Temple Painter, American harpsichordist and organist
*
Matokie Slaughter
Matokie Worrell Slaughter (December 21, 1919 – December 31, 1999), sometimes known as "Tokie" Slaughter, was an American clawhammer banjo player.
Born in Pulaski, Virginia, to a large musical family, Slaughter performed regularly with her fa ...
, clawhammer banjo player
References
External links
Claytor Lake Online Website
{{authority control
*
Towns in Pulaski County, Virginia
Towns in Virginia
County seats in Virginia
Blacksburg–Christiansburg metropolitan area