Viola is a town in

Kent County, Delaware Kent County is a County (United States), county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 181,851, making it the least populous county in Delaware. The county ...

, United States. It is part of the Dover metropolitan area. The population was 140 in 2020.

History

Viola was built in 1856 after the

Delaware Railroad The Delaware Railroad Company (DRC) was a railroad company that operated in the US state of Delaware from the mid-1850s until 1976, during which time it was the largest in the state. Its original main line began in Bear, Delaware and extended sout ...

opened a station. The town was laid out on a grant called Golden Thicket, owned by William Shores in 1681.

Geography

Viola is located at (39.0428907, –75.5718695). 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 , all land.

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 156 people, 62 households, and 48 families living in the town. The population density was . The racial makeup of the town was 93.59%

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 ...

, 4.49%

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 ...

and 1.92% Asian.

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 made up 1.92% of the population. Of the 62 households, 30.6% have at least one person under the age of 18, 62.9% had

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 ...

, 11.3% had a single woman householder, 21.0% had non-families, and 19.4% were owned by a single person, with 8.1% who were 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.78. About 21.2% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 32.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% 65 years or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.6 males. The median income for a household was $47,813 and the median income for a family was $49,531. Males had a median income of $39,250 versus $24,250 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 $21,687. About 3.4% of the population live 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 ...

, 16.7% of which are 65 or older. The only non-residential structures within town limits are a post office, a VCF Ruritan hall, and the Felton-Viola United Methodist Church. The town council has recently implemented strict zoning regulations designed to prevent suburban sprawl. The regulations prohibit businesses with more than two employees, restrict the construction of multi-family dwellings, and forbid any annexation of outlying parcels into the original town proper.

Education

Viola is within the Lake Forest School District. The zoned high school is Lake Forest High School.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Main Street is the main north–south road through Viola. The road is called Turkey Point Road outside the town limits and leads north toward Woodside and south toward Felton. Evens Road is the main east–west road through Viola and leads east to an intersection with U.S. Route 13 in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. US 13 heads north toward

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

and south toward Harrington. The

Delmarva Central Railroad The Delmarva Central Railroad is an American short-line railroad owned by Carload Express that operates of track on the Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The railroad operates lines from Porter, Delaware to Ha ...

's Delmarva Subdivision line passes north–south through Viola.

Utilities

Delmarva Power Delmarva Power is an energy company that provides electricity and natural gas to customers on portions of the Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware and Maryland. The company is a subsidiary of Exelon. Electricity and natural gas Delmarva P ...

, a subsidiary of

Exelon Exelon Corporation is an American public utility headquartered in Chicago, and incorporated in Pennsylvania. Exelon is the largest electric parent company in the United States by revenue and is the largest regulated electric utility in the Uni ...

, provides electricity to Viola. Chesapeake Utilities provides natural gas to the town.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Towns in Kent County, Delaware Towns in Delaware