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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.

Franklin County, Virginia

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

County Seat: Rocky Mount
Year Organized: 1785
Square Miles: 692

Court House:

40 E. Court St.
County Courthouse
Rocky Mount, VA 24151-1304

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Franklin was named for American statesman Benjamin Franklin.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Franklin County, Virginia formed from Bedford, Henry, and Patrick Counties. Legislative enactment in 1785. Organized in 1786. Patrick County gave only small portions in 1847-1848 and 1872-1873. [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.]

Franklin County was named for Benjamin Franklin and was formed from Bedford and Henry Counties in 1785. Its area is 711.5 square miles, and the county seat is Rocky Mount.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 712 square miles (1,843 km²), of which, 692 square miles (1,792 km²) of it is land and 19 square miles (50 km²) of it (2.74%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Bedford County, Virginia - northeast
Pittsylvania County, Virginia - southeast
Henry County, Virginia - south
Patrick County, Virginia - southwest
Floyd County, Virginia - west
Roanoke County, Virginia - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Boones Mill	town	Incorporated Area
- Rocky Mount (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

Online High Schools

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."

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