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Virginia Counties

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Virginia Counties

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

City Of Franklin, Virginia

City Of Franklin History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Franklin, in Southampton County, came into existence during the 1830s as a stop along the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad line then under construction. The origin of the name is unclear. It could have been named for Benjamin Franklin, patriot and statesman; for a man named Franklin kept a store in the area; or for the exclamation of a railroad section foreman who drove a spike into a crosstie and said, "This shall be Franklin!"

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: City Of Franklin

County History

First incorporated as a Town in March of 1876, the first official census of 1880 indicated a population of 447 inhabitants. In 1900, the population had increased to 1,143; in 1910, 2,271; in 1920, 2.363; in 1930, 2,930; in 1940, 3,466; and in 1950, 4,670. On January 1st, 1960, the boundaries increased from 1.02 square miles to 3.92 square miles due to annexation.

In December 1961, the Town of Franklin became a City. Subsequent annexations in 1986 & 1996 increased the population and land area of the City. The population today is approximately 8,400 and the land area is 8.75 square miles. Located in Southampton County, Virginia.

Geography

Located at the head of the navigable portion of the Blackwater River, the City of Franklin lies in the highly agricultural Coastal Plain in southeastern (or Tidewater) Virginia. As with most communities, Franklin’s location has affected its history as a center of trade and transportation for the surrounding countryside. Being adjacent to the Blackwater River, water transportation has historically been an integral part in Franklin’s development. In addition, the city has also become an important rail point between the City of Norfolk and the Western Roanoke Basin.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.4 square miles (21.8 km²), of which, 8.4 square miles (21.6 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.60%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Located in Southampton County, Virginia.
Isle of Wight County, Virginia
Southampton County, Virginia

City Resources:

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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."