e-ReferenceDesk's College and 50 State Learning Resource Guide

Find Online Colleges

Find Campus Colleges

Virginia State...

Virginia

Choose a County

Accomack, Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Arlington, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Brunswick, Buchanan, Buckingham, Campbell, Caroline, Carroll, Charles City, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Clarke, Craig, Culpeper, Cumberland, Dickenson, Dinwiddie, Essex, Fairfax, Fauquier, Floyd, Fluvanna, Franklin, Frederick, Giles, Gloucester, Goochland, Grayson, Greene, Greensville, Halifax, Hanover, Henrico, Henry, Highland, Isle Of Wight, James City, King And Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Lee, Loudoun, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison, Mathews, Mecklenburg, Middlesex, Montgomery, Nelson, New Kent, Northampton, Northumberland, Nottoway, Orange, Page, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, Prince William, Pulaski, Rappahannock, Richmond, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Russell, Scott, Shenandoah, Smyth, Southampton, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Surry, Sussex, Tazewell, Warren, Washington, Westmoreland, Wise, Wythe, York

Virginia Counties

Click Image to Enlarge

Virginia Counties

The Commonwealth of Virginia is divided into 95 counties and 39 independent cities, which are considered county-equivalents for census purposes.

Town Of Clifton Forge, Virginia

City Of Clifton Forge History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Mr. William Lyle Alexander of Lexington owned a forge in the Rainbow Gorge near Iron Gate, and he named the forge "Clifton" in honor of his father’s estate in Lexington; thus, we have the name "Clifton Forge."

Demographics:

County QuickFacts:

County History

Clifton Forge, Virginia incorporated as a town in 1884. Chartered as an independent city in 1906. Located in Alleghany County, Virginia. Established in 1861 and known as Williamson's Station. [County Courthouse Book, by Elizabeth Petty Bentley, Genealogical Publishing Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1990.] [Virginia Genealogy, Sources & Resources, by Carol McGinnis, Genealogical Publishing Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1993.]

Williamson's Station, Virgina established in 1861. Later named Clifton Forge. [Virginia Genealogy, Sources & Resources, by Carol McGinnis, Genealogical Publishing Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1993.]

Clifton Forge was an independent city during the 2000 census. However, in 2001, Clifton Forge gave up its city status and reverted to a town. In previous decades, the railroad was a major employer. Clifton Forge is known for its beautiful mountain views and clear streams. It is home to one of the original 6 state parks of Virginia, Douthat State Park, built during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The Town of Clifton Forge, Virginia is a Municipal Corporation and a Political Subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Although the Town was chartered in 1906, its history dates back to the 1700s. The land that the Town now occupies was originally part of a 1770 land grant to a Robert Gallaspy by Lord Botetourt, the Governor of Virginia. The ownership of the land changed several times, and the Williamson and Smith families became the owners in the 1820s. A settlement developed along both sides of the Jackson River from Slaughter Pen Hollow to Smith Creek. The iron industry in Alleghany County and the completion of a road over North Mountain (now U.S. Route 60) in 1826 began the growth of the settlement. Mr. William Lyle Alexander of Lexington owned a forge in the Rainbow Gorge near Iron Gate, and he named the forge "Clifton" in honor of his father’s estate in Lexington; thus, we have the name "Clifton Forge."

The Town has a rich railroad heritage with the first passenger train arriving in Clifton Forge in 1857. Clifton Forge grew up with the railroad industry and it became a major maintenance facility for steam locomotives of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (C & O Railroad). The Town was a virtual boomtown during the heyday of the railroad with the C & O employing nearly 2,000 people. With the advent of the diesel engine, in the early 1950s the C & O Railroad located its maintenance diesel shops in West Virginia and many of the jobs were transferred to the new facility. Because of its rich railroad heritage, Clifton Forge is the home of the Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Society, Inc.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total area of 3.1 square miles (8.0 km²), all of it land.

Neighboring Counties:

Clifton Forge chartered in 1906 is a micro town located at Alleghany County, Virginia.

City Resources:

Clifton Forge

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."