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Virginia Counties

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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.

Southampton County, Virginia

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

County Seat: Courtland
Year Organized: 1749
Square Miles: 600

Court House:

P.O. Box 400
County Courthouse
Courtland, VA 23837-0400

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Southampton is named for either Southampton in England or Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, a treasurer of the London Company.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Southampton County, Virginia formed from Isle of Wight and Nansemond Counties. Nansemond gave only a small portion, possibly at a later date. [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.]

Southampton County was named, in the opinion of many authorities, for Henry Wriothesley, third earl of Southampton and treasurer of the London Company from 1620 to 1624. It is more likely, however, that the county was named for the borough of Southampton in England. Southampton County was formed in 1749 from Isle of Wight County, and part of Nansemond County was added later. Its area is 604 square miles, and the county seat is Courtland.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 602 square miles (1,560 km²), of which, 600 square miles (1,553 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (7 km²) of it (0.46%) is water.

Southampton County is bounded by the Blackwater River on the east and the Meherrin River on the west. The Nottoway River flows through the center of the county. All three rivers are tributaries of the Chowan River, which flows south into Albemarle Sound, North Carolina. The Blackwater River separates Southampton County from Isle of Wight County, and the Meherrin River separates it from Greensville County.

Neighboring Counties:

Gates County, NC to the southeast
Greensville County, VA to the west
Hertford County, NC to the south
Isle of Wight County, VA to the east
Nansemond County, VA to the east
Northampton County, NC to the southwest
Surry County, VA to the north
Sussex County, VA to the north

Cities and Towns:

- Boykins	town	Incorporated Area
- Branchville	town	Incorporated Area
- Capron	town	Incorporated Area
- Courtland (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Ivor	town	Incorporated Area
- Newsoms	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."