Scott 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 far southwestern part of the U.S. state 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 ...

, on the border with

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,576. 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 Gate City. Scott County was formed by an act of the General Assembly on November 24, 1814, from parts of Washington, Lee, and Russell counties and was named for Virginia-born General Winfield Scott. Scott County is part of the Kingsport–

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

–

, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area, commonly known as the " Tri-Cities" region. The current County Administrator is Freda Russell Starnes.

History

The area was occupied for thousands of years by indigenous Native Americans. Early Anglo-European settlers found evidence of a former native village at the mouth of Stony Creek on the Clinch River. Bands of

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

lived in the area. In 1769 Thomas McCulloch was the first white settler in what was later organized as the county. Daniel Boone commanded several forts located here in 1774 during Dunmore's War, and several more were built in successive years. Increased settlement of colonial Americans encroached on Cherokee territory. A group known by the settlers as the Chickamauga Cherokee (but they were not a separate tribe), was led by Bob Benge. They had armed confrontations with settlers during the Cherokee–American wars. Benge was killed in 1794, years after the United States gained independence in the American Revolution. By the time houses were built in the 1790s, the largely Scots-Irish population had increased. They were mostly yeomen farmers who had moved into the backcountry where land was more available. They were served by the Wilderness Road which brought traders to the area. After Scott County was formed in 1814, the first court took place in 1815. The first public schools were not established here until 1870, years after the American Civil War and during the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

in Virginia and other former Confederate states. The wealthy planters of Virginia paid for their own children's education but nothing for the rest of the white people.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water. Scott County is one of the 423 counties served by the Appalachian Regional Commission, and it is identified as part of "Greater Appalachia" by Colin Woodard in his book '' American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America''.

Adjacent counties

* Wise County - north * Russell County - northeast * Washington County - east * Sullivan County, Tennessee - south * Hawkins County, Tennessee - south * Hancock County, Tennessee - southwest * Lee County - west

National protected area

* Jefferson National Forest (part)

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

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 23,177 people living in the county. 97.9% were

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 ...

, 0.6% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1%

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 ...

, 0.4% of some other race and 0.7 of two or more races. 1.0% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). 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 23,403 people, 9,795 households, and 7,023 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 11,355 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.51%

, 0.59%

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 ...

, 0.14% Native American, 0.07% Asian, 0.02%

, 0.15% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. 0.42% 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 9,795 households, out of which 27.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.40% were married couples living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.30% were non-families. 26.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.82. In the county, 20.60% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.50% was from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 26.80% from 45 to 64, and 17.80% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $27,339, and the median income for a family was $33,163. Males had a median income of $28,328 versus $20,553 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 county was $15,073. About 13.00% of families and 16.80% 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 20.10% of those under age 18 and 20.50% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public secondary schools

* Gate City High School, Gate City * Rye Cove High School, Rye Cove * Twin Springs High School, Nickelsville

Public intermediate schools

* Gate City Middle School, Gate City * Rye Cove Intermediate School, Rye Cove

Public primary schools

* Dungannon Elementary School, Dungannon * Duffield Primary School, Duffield * Fort Blackmore Center, Fort Blackmore * Hilton Elementary School, Hiltons * Nickelsville Elementary School, Nickelsville * Shoemaker Elementary School, Gate City * Weber City Elementary School, Weber City * Yuma Elementary School, Yuma

Technical schools

* Scott County Career and Technical Center, Gate City

Private schools

* Gate City Christian School ( United Pentecostal affiliation), Gate City

Former schools

* Clinchport Elementary School, Clinchport (Destroyed by flood, 1977) * Cleveland High School, Yuma (Closed, 1956) (Demolished) * Dungannon High School, Dungannon (Closed, 1968) * Fairview School, Fairview (Closed, 1990) * Hilton High School, Hiltons (Closed, 1956) (Demolished) * Midway School, Midway (Closed, 1968) (Demolished) * Manville School, Manville (Closed, 1972) * Nickelsville High School, Nickelsville (Closed, 1968) (Demolished) * Old Rye Cove School, Rye Cove ( Destroyed by tornado, 1929) * Old Shoemaker Elementary School, Gate City
Destroyed by fire
1957) * Prospect Elementary School, Gate City (Closed, 1965) (Demolished)

Communities

Towns

* Clinchport * Duffield * Dungannon * Gate City * Nickelsville * Weber City

Unincorporated communities

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

* Copper Creek * Daniel Boone * Fairview * Fort Blackmore * Fulkerson * Glenita * Hill Station * Hiltons * Kermit * Ketrontown * Mabe * Maces Spring * Manville * Midway *

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

* Pattonsville * Rye Cove * Slabtown * Slant * Snowflake * Speers Ferry * Stanleytown * Sunbright * Wadlow Gap * Wood * Yuma

Notable people

* June Carter Cash * The Carter Family * Claude M. Hilton * Jerry Kilgore * Riley Franklin McConnell ( USS McConnell) * Mac McClung * Terry Kilgore

Politics

Scott County has been a Republican stronghold for decades. It last voted for a Democrat in 1976, and from 2016 onward it gave Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

over 80% of the vote in every election.https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/

References

External links

Scott County, Virginia's Official Website

{{Coord, 36.72, -82.60, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-VA_source:UScensus1990 Virginia counties 1814 establishments in Virginia Populated places established in 1814 Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area