Ruckersville 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 Greene County,

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, located in a rural area north of

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...

. The population as of the 2020 estimate was 1,321, a 17.7% increase from the 2010 census with 1,141. The community lies amidst hills, mountain views, trees, and farmland. It is located at the intersection of two major highways, north–south

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 ...

and east–west

U.S. Route 33 U.S. Route 33 (US 33) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs northwest–southeast for from northern Indiana to Richmond, Virginia, passing through Ohio and West Virginia en route. Although most odd-numbered U.S. routes are north– ...

. It was founded in 1732, by the same family that established Ruckersville, Georgia.

History

Ruckersville was originally founded by John Rucker in what was then Orange County. He settled east of here on Rippin's Run and named the village for his uncle, Captain John Rucker, who helped choose the site for St. Mark’s Parish Church in 1732. Several early families settled here, including John White, the emigrant of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, who, in 1739, received a land grant from

George II of Great Britain George II (George Augustus; ; 30 October / 9 November 1683 – 25 October 1760) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Electorate of Hanover, Hanover) and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Em ...

for bringing four convicts to the Colonies to work as indentured servants as he reportedly had done himself. The 235 acres was near the storied

Swift Run Gap Swift Run Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in the U.S. state of Virginia. Geography At an elevation of , it is the site of the mountain crossing of U.S. Highway 33 between the Piedmont region on the eastern side and the Sh ...

. Six years on, in 1745, White leased and later purchased land just north of Ruckersville, on the north side of the south branch of the

Rapidan River The Rapidan River, flowing U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 through north-central Virginia in the United States, is the largest tributary of the Rappahannoc ...

. White Run, a creek named for the family, begins at Ruckersville and joins Rippin's Run, east of Burtonsville. A ford on the

, north of Scuffletown in today's Greene County, is believed to have been named for this family. It was the site of regimental crossings and scuffles during 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 ...

. Ruckersville became part of Greene County when it was organized in the western portion of Orange County in 1838.

Geography

Ruckersville is located in southeastern Greene County. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the Ruckersville CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.79%, are water.

Transportation

Ruckersville has major routes going through it. They are

, and

. U.S. 33 heads east to Gordonsville, 15 miles west (24 km) to

Skyline Drive Skyline Drive is a National Parkway that runs the entire length of the National Park Service's Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, generally along the ridge of the mountains. The drive's northern terminus is at ...

and 38 (61 km) to Harrisonburg. U.S. 29 heads north to Madison, and 29 (47 km) to Culpeper, it heads south to Charlottesville.

Demographics

Ruckersville 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 2010 U.S. Census. 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 2010, there were 1,141 people, 461 households, and 316 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 . There were 512 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 85.5%

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 ...

, 6.9%

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 ...

, 0.6% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 2.7% some other race, and 3.2% 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 6.1% of the population. There were 461 households in the CDP, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.5% were headed by

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, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.5% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48, and the average family size was 2.93. In the CDP, 23.0% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.1% were from age 18 to 24, 22.8% were from 25 to 44, 28.6% were from 45 to 64, and 18.5% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.5 years. For every 100 females there were 96.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males. For the period 2011–15, the estimated median annual income for a household in the CDP was $53,962, and the median income for a family was $68,043. 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 $24,082.

Ruckersville Parkway

In 2005, a pair of local politicians proposed a road, dubbed the "Ruckersville Parkway", that would directly connect Ruckersville to the southern edge of Charlottesville. However, objections from residents and planners caused the proposal to fail.

References

{{Coord, 38, 13, 59, N, 78, 22, 09, W, type:city_region:US-VA_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Census-designated places in Greene County, Virginia Populated places established in 1734 1734 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies