Grayson County, Virginia

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

County Seat: Independence
Year Organized: 1793
Square Miles: 443

Court House:

P.O. Box 217
County Courthouse
Independence, VA 24348-0217

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Grayson is named for American Revolutionary William Grayson.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Grayson County, Virginia formed from Wythe and Patrick Counties. Legislative enactment in 1792. Organized in 1793. Patrick County gave only a small portion with boundaries shifting in 1809-1801, 1817-1818, 1824-1825, 1840-1842, and 1874-1875 . [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.]

Grayson County was named for William Grayson, a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1784 to 1787 and one of the first two United States senators from Virginia. It was formed from Wythe County in 1792, and a part of Patrick County was added in 1810. Its area is 454 square miles, and the county seat is Independence.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 446 square miles (1,155 km²), of which, 443 square miles (1,146 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (8 km²) of it (0.73%) is water. The state's highest peak, Mount Rogers, is in Grayson County.

The southernmost point in Virginia lies in Grayson County.

Neighboring Counties:

Alleghany County, NC to the south
Ashe County, NC to the south
Carroll County, VA to the east
Johnston County, NC to the southwest
Smyth County, VA to the northwest
Surry County, NC to the southeast
Washington County, VA to the west
Wythe County, VA to the north

Cities and Towns:

- Fries	town	Incorporated Area
- Independence (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Troutdale	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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