Isle Of Wight County, Virginia

Isle Of Wight County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Isle Of Wight
Year Organized: 1634
Square Miles: 316

Court House:

P.O. Box 80
Isle Of Wight, VA 23397-0080

Etymology - Origin of County Name

is named for the British island and county in the English Channel between three and five miles from the south coast of Great Britain, named Isle of Wight.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Isle of Wight County, Virginia formed from Warrosquyoake County (name change only). Later, portions added from Upper Norfolk and parts of Nansemond. [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.]

Isle of Wight County was most likely named for the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England. It was first known as Warrosquyoake and was one of the eight shires established in 1634. The present name was given in 1637. Part of Nansemond County was added in 1769. Its area is 319 square miles, and the county seat is Isle of Wight.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 363 square miles (940 km²), of which, 316 square miles (818 km²) of it is land and 47 square miles (121 km²) of it (12.93%) is water.

The county is bounded by the James River on the north and the Blackwater River to the south. The land is generally low-lying, with many swamps and pocosins.

Neighboring Counties:

Nansemond County, VA to the east
Southampton County, VA to the west
Surry County, VA to the northwest
Warwick County, VA to the northeast

Cities and Towns:

- Isle of Wight (County Seat)
- Smithfield	town	Incorporated Area
- Windsor	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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