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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.

Pittsylvania County, Virginia

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

County Seat: Chatham
Year Organized: 1767
Square Miles: 971

Court House:

P.O. Box 426
County Courthouse
Chatham, VA 24531-0426

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Pitt is named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Pittsylvania County, Virginia formed from Halifax County. Legislative entactment in 1766. Organized in 1767. [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.]

Pittsylvania County was named in honor of William Pitt, earl of Chatham, a great English statesman. It was formed from Halifax County in 1766. Its area is 1,012 square miles, and the county seat is Chatham.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 978 square miles (2,533 km²), making it the largest county in Virginia. 971 square miles (2,514 km²) of it is land and 7 square miles (19 km²) of it (0.76%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Bedford County, Virginia - northwest
Campbell County, Virginia - northeast
Halifax County, Virginia - east
Caswell County, North Carolina - southeast
Danville, Virginia - south
Rockingham County, North Carolina - southwest
Henry County, Virginia - west/southwest
Franklin County, Virginia - west/northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Chatham (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Gretna	town	Incorporated Area
- Hurt	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."

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