Colonial Beach, Virginia

Colonial Beach is a town in Westmoreland County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,228 at the 2000 census. Colonial Beach was a popular resort town in the early to mid-20th century, before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge made ocean beaches on the Delmarva Peninsula more accessible to visitors from Washington, D.C. Through a loophole in the law, it also had slot machines for a brief while, built on piers over Maryland waters. They are rebuilding the Riverboat casino, which was where all the slot machines were, after it was destroyed during Hurricane Isabel. Sloan Wilson, author of The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, retired and died in Colonial Beach.

[edit] Geography

Colonial Beach is located at 38°15′14″N, 76°58′8″W (38.253840, -76.968941)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.4 km² (2.8 mi²). 6.7 km² (2.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (8.80%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 3,228 people, 1,437 households, and 863 families residing in the town. The population density was 481.2/km² (1,246.7/mi²). There were 2,030 housing units at an average density of 302.6/km² (784.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 79.21% White, 16.95% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 1.64% from other races, and 1.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.38% of the population.

There were 1,437 households out of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 15.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.9% were non-families. 34.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.77.

In the town the population was spread out with 22.0% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 26.0% from 45 to 64, and 22.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 82.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $31,711, and the median income for a family was $38,080. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $19,535 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,991.20 About 23.0% of families and 25.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 45.7% of those under age 18 and 16.6% of those age 65 or over.