Clarke County, Virginia

Clarke County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Berryville
Year Organized: 1836
Square Miles: 177

Court House:

102 N. Church Street, 2nd Fl.
County Courthouse
Berryville, VA 22611-1110

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Clarke is named for George Rogers Clark, a Continental military leader of the American Revolutionary War.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Clarke County, Virginia formed from Frederick and Warren Counties. Warren County contributed only a small portion in 1859/60. [Virginia Counties: Those Resulting from Virginia Legislation, by Morgan Poitiaux Robinson, originally published as Bulletin of the Virginia State Library, Volume 9, January, April, July 1916, reprinted 1992 by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD.]

Clarke County was named for George Rogers Clark (spelled without an e), who helped win the Northwest Territory for Virginia during the Revolution. The county was formed from Frederick County in 1836, and part of Warren County was added in 1860. Its area is 174 square miles, and the county seat is Berryville. White Post was named for the large signpost pointing the way to Lord Fairfax's office. During the Civil War, John S. Mosby, "the Gray Ghost" of the Confederacy, raided General Sheridan's supply train in the summer of 1864, in Berryville. The Battle of Cool Spring was fought in Clarke County on July 17th and 18th, 1864. The population is 12,652 according to the 2000 census. Had pages cut from several record books during the Civil War.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 178 square miles (462 km²), of which, 177 square miles (457 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) of it (0.88%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Berkeley County, WV to the north
Fauquier County, VA to the southeast
Frederick County, VA to the west
Jefferson County, WV to the northeast
Loudoun County, VA to the east
Warren County, VA to the southwest

Cities and Towns:

- Berryville (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Boyce	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our 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."

Penn Foster High School

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