Surry County, Virginia
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Surry 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 ...
in the southeastern part of the
Commonwealth 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 ...
. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,561. In 1652, Surry County was formed from the portion of James City County south of the
James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...
. For more than 350 years it has depended on an agricultural economy. The county has 19 sites listed on the National Register, including a landmark occupied in 1676 known as Bacon's Castle and Chippokes Plantation (now a state park). The Jamestown Ferry provides easy access to Virginia's Historic Triangle, featuring Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown, linked by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
's Colonial Parkway. The county is known for farming, curing Virginia Hams, and harvesting lumber, notably
Virginia pine ''Pinus virginiana'', the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York (state), New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennesse ...
.


History

During the times of the Virginia Colony, Surry County was formed in 1652 from a portion of James City County (one of the original 8 counties formed in 1634) south of the
James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...
. It was named for the English county of
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
. Surry County initially consisted of two parishes of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
: Lawne's Creek and Southwark. Nearby, in 1665, Arthur Allen built a Jacobean brick house. A decade later it became known as Bacon's Castle because it was occupied as a fort or "
castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
" during
Bacon's Rebellion Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion by Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon against Colonial Governor William Berkeley, after Berkeley refused Bacon's request to drive Native American India ...
against the Royal Governor, Sir William Berkeley. ( Nathaniel Bacon never lived at Bacon's Castle, but rather at Curles Neck Plantation in Henrico County, about 30 miles upriver on the James River's northern bank). The first town, Cobham, was established in 1691 at the mouth of Gray's Creek, where it flows into the James River. Neighboring Sussex County was formed from the southwestern end of Surry County in 1754. After the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, during which the
British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British Charitable organization, charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. ...
looted the county, Surry County became part of the new Commonwealth of Virginia, one of the first 13 United States. 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 ...
, the
Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...
included the Surry Light Artillery and the Surry Cavalry. In 1873, a New Jersey timberman, David Steele, with financing from Baltimore interests, began a lumber business in Surry County but went bankrupt a decade later. Baltimore investors Waters and Company incorporated the Surry Lumber Company in 1885. In 1886 it incorporated the Surry, Sussex, and Southampton Railway, which delivered lumber to Scotland wharf on the James River (now the Jamestown Ferry terminal). The company (headquartered at Sedley, Virginia) and SS&S railroad grew, reaching their heyday around 1920. But the company did not replant after it cut the old-growth pine, and found further logging in the area difficult after 1925. In 1927, it closed its mills in Dendron, Virginia, causing considerable economic distress in the county. The railway went bankrupt in 1930. Gray Lumber Company of Waverly, Virginia, which replanted its timber cuts, bought 15,000 acres from the Surry Lumber Company in 1941, and other companies soon bought the rest of the company's acreage. The Temperance, Industrial and Collegiate Institute, a school for black Americans, was located in Surry County from 1892 to 1928. A Virginia State Historic Marker is located at the site of the former campus in Claremont, and a memorial to the school's founder, John Jefferson Smallwood, is located at the Abundant Life Church Cemetery in Spring Grove. As part of Virginia's "Massive Resistance" to integration following ''
Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...
'', Surry County closed its white public schools so no black students could attend. Foundation's School, a private, whites-only school was established. Grants and other provisions were made to provide public support for private education for the white students affected. The two-unit Surry Nuclear Power Plant was commissioned in 1972 and 1973 and is expected to remain active until 2053.


Transportation


Major highways

* * * * State Route 31 and State Route 40 bisect the county. Its major artery is the historic path along the south bank of the James River now known as State Route 10 between Prince George County and Isle of Wight County.


Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (10.1%) is water.


Adjacent counties

* Charles City County (northwest) * Isle of Wight County (southeast) * James City County (northeast) * Prince George County (west) * Southampton County (south) * Sussex County (southwest)


Education

Surry County is ran by Surry County Public Schools. It currently has 3 elementary schools (Surry Elementary, Luther P. Jackson Middle, and Surry County High School) all located in Dendron, Virginia


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 census of 2010, there were 7,058 people, 2,619 households, and 1,917 families residing 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 3,294 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 51.3%
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 ...
, 46.1%
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 ...
or
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 ...
, 0.3% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.0%
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 ...
, 0.3% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. 1.2% 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 2,619 households, out of which 30.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% were married couples living together, 14.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.80% were non-families. 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.09. In the county, the age distribution of the population shows 25.20% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 25.70% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 92.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $37,558, and the median income for a family was $41,234. Males had a median income of $31,123 versus $21,143 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 $16,682. About 9.70% of families and 10.80% 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 13.40% of those under age 18 and 14.80% of those age 65 or over.


Public services

Blackwater Regional Library is the regional library system that provides services to the citizens of Surry.


Communities


Towns

* Claremont * Dendron * Surry


Census-designated place

*
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...


Other unincorporated communities

* Bacon's Castle * Cabin Point * Carsley * Elberon * Spring Grove


Politics

Surry County had long been a stronghold for the Democratic Party, however, it has been shifting toward the Republican Party. Republican Donald Trump won the county in the 2024 presidential election, flipping it. He became the first Republican to do so in a presidential election since
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
in
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
.


Notable incidents in Surry County


Dog fighting investigation

Beginning on April 25, 2007, Surry County Sheriff Harold D. Brown and part-time county Commonwealth's Attorney (prosecutor) Gerald G. Poindexter led a high-profile dog fighting investigation. Authorities investigating Davon T. Boddie, 26, on a narcotics issue found evidence of dogfighting activities at home and property in Surry County where he lived. It was owned by his cousin, then
Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...
NFL-football player
Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player who is the Head coach, head football coach at Norfolk State Spartans football, Norfolk State University. He played quarterback in the National F ...
. Officials confiscated 66 dogs, 55 of which were pit bulls, and other evidence. An
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
source alleged that Vick was a "heavyweight" in dogfighting and had been known to wager $40,000 on the outcome of a single fight. By August 20, 2007, all the defendants charged in Federal court, including Vick, had agreed to guilty pleas under
plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...
agreements. They were sentenced to terms ranging from 6 to 23 months, to be served in federal prisons. The abused dogs were placed in foster or adoptive homes. On February 26, 2009, Vick was approved for release to home confinement. He was released on May 21, 2009, to be confined for the remainder of his 23-month term of imprisonment under home confinement.


Points of interest

* Bacon's Castle * Chippokes Plantation State Park * Jamestown-Scotland Ferry * National Register of Historic Places listings in Surry County, Virginia * Surry County Courthouse Complex * Surry Nuclear Power Plant


Notable people

* Leslie Garland Bolling (1898–1955), Early 20th century black American woodcarver * Robert Butler (1784–1853), European-American politician and physician; served as Adjutant General of Virginia and State Treasurer of Virginia * John Hartwell Cocke (1780–1866), European-American military officer, planter, and businessman * Joseph T. Deal (1860–1942), Virginia politician and businessman * Curtis W. Harris (1924–2017), minister, civil rights activist, and politician in Virginia * Thomas Person (1733–1800), European-American politician and Anti-Federalist organizer * Peyton Short (1761–1825), land speculator and politician in Kentucky * Claude V. Spratley (1882–1976), Virginia jurist * Karen Huger, '' Real Housewives of Potomac'' personality.


References


External links

* {{coord, 37.11691, -76.88831, format=dms, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-VA_source:wikidata Virginia counties 1652 establishments in the Colony of Virginia Counties on the James River (Virginia) Populated places established in 1652