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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.

Spotsylvania County, Virginia

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

County Seat: Spotsylvania
Year Organized: 1721
Square Miles: 401

Court House:

P.O. Box 99
County Courthouse
Spotsylvania, VA 22553-0099

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Spotsylvania is named for Alexander Spotswood, a lieutenant governor of Virginia during the colonial period

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Spotsylvania County, Virginia formed from Essex, King and Queen, and King William Counties. Legislative enactment in 1720. Organized in 1721. [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.]

Spotsylvania County was named for Alexander Spotswood, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1710 to 1722. It was formed from Essex, King and Queen and King William counties in 1720. Its area is 409 square miles, and the county seat is Spotsylvania.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 412 square miles (1,068 km²), of which, 401 square miles (1,038 km²) of it is land and 11 square miles (30 km²) of it (2.77%) is water.

It is bounded on the north by the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers and the independent city of Fredericksburg and the counties of Stafford and Culpeper; on the south by the North Anna River and its impoundment, Lake Anna, and by the counties of Hanover and Louisa; on the west by Orange County and Culpeper County; and on the east by Caroline County.

Neighboring Counties:

Culpeper County, Virginia - north
Stafford County, Virginia - northeast
Fredericksburg, Virginia - northeast
Caroline County, Virginia - southeast
Hanover County, Virginia - south
Louisa County, Virginia - southwest
Orange County, Virginia - west and northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Fredericksburg	city	Incorporated Area
- Spotsylvania (County Seat)

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."