Frederick County, Virginia

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

County Seat: Winchester
Year Organized: 1743
Square Miles: 415

Court House:

107 N. Kent Street
County Courthouse
Winchester, VA 22601-5039

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Frederick is named for Frederick, Prince of Wales.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Frederick County, Virginia formed from Orange and Augusta Counties, Virginia. Legislative enactment in 1738. Organized in 1743. Augusta County gave only a small portion, at a later date than Orange County. [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.]

Frederick County was named for Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales and eldest son of George II. It was formed from Orange County in 1738, but the county government was not organized until 1743. Part of Augusta County was added later. Its area is 426 square miles, and the county seat is Winchester.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 416 square miles (1,076 km²), of which, 415 square miles (1,074 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (3 km²) of it (0.24%) is water. This is the northernmost county in the state of Virginia.

Neighboring Counties:

Clarke County, Virginia - east
Warren County, Virginia - south
Shenandoah County, Virginia - southwest
Hardy County, West Virginia - southwest
Hampshire County, West Virginia - west
Morgan County, West Virginia - north
Berkeley County, West Virginia - northeast
Winchester, Virginia - center (enclave)

Cities and Towns:

- Middletown	town	Incorporated Area
- Stephens City	town	Incorporated Area
- Winchester (County Seat)	city	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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