South Hill is a town in Mecklenburg 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. The population was 4,709 at the 2020 census. Located on major

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and

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highways, it has a full-service hospital (serving patients from several rural counties), a tobacco market, and several hotels. South Hill has a close relationship with the neighboring town of

La Crosse La Crosse ( ) is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population was 52,680 as of the 20 ...

Kerr Lake The John H. Kerr Reservoir (often called Kerr Lake in North Carolina and Bugg's Island Lake in Virginia) is a reservoir along the border of the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the John ...

, a large reservoir popular with boaters and fishermen, is a short distance to the southwest. The Colonial Theatre was 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 ...

in 2003.

Geography

South Hill is located at (36.726759, −78.130597). The town has a total area of 6.31 square miles (16.4 km²), of which 6.27 square miles (16.4 km²) is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1 km²) (0.47%) is water.

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 4,403 people, 1,809 households, and 1,190 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 696.2 people per square mile (269.0/km²). There were 1,988 housing units at an average density of 314.4/sq mi (121.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 58.37%

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 ...

, 39.43%

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, 1.00% Asian, 0.39% from other races, and 0.52% 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 1.57% of the population. There were 1,809 households, out of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% 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, 18.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.88. In the town the population was spread out, with 23.2% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 77.6 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 70.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $31,078, and the median income for a family was $38,156. Males had a median income of $30,128 versus $21,996 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 $19,319. About 14.3% of families and 18.8% 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 30.9% of those under age 18 and 11.2% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

In previous years, election returns have shown that South Hill citizens favored Republican candidates (more often at 60% or above) in state and national elections since 1996, though this slipped to only 57.5% support for Republican candidate

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

in the 2012 Presidential election. In the 2006 election cycle, while donations from residents to Democratic and Republican candidates and organizations were almost evenly divided, citizens favored Republican candidate George Allen over Democratic candidate Jim Webb. Webb eventually went on to win the election. In 2007–2008, contributions to presidential campaigns favored Republican candidates overall, although the top single recipient as of March was Democratic Senator

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. The 283 South Hill voters who participated in the state's February 12 Democratic primary also favored Obama over Senator

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, 58% to 41%; the 244 Republican primary voters supported Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

(62.3%) over Governor

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (, born August 24, 1955) is an American diplomat, political commentator, Baptist minister, and politician serving as the 29th United States Ambassador to Israel, United States ambassador to Israel since 2025. A member of ...

(34.8%).

Local government

South Hill is governed by a council/manager form of government, with an eight-member town council and a mayor. Members of the South Hill Town Council:
Lillie Feggins-Boone (Ward 1)
Ashley C. Hardee (Ward 2)
Gavin Honeycutt (Ward 3)
Carl Sasser (Ward 3)
Delores Luster (Ward 1)
Mike Moody (Ward 2)
Michael Smith (Ward 2)
Jenifer Freeman-Hite (Ward 3) Mayor: Mike Moody Vice Mayor: Gavin Honeycutt The daily operation of South Hill is overseen by a town manager, Keli Reekes. The town council and mayor seats are non-partisan, and elections are held every four years.

References

{{authority control Towns in Mecklenburg County, Virginia Towns in Virginia