Front Royal, Virginia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Front Royal, VA | |
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| Founded | 1788 |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Incorporated town within Warren County |
| Mayor | James Eastham |
| http://www.ci.front-royal.va.us | |
Front Royal is a town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 13,798 as of 2006. It is the county seat of Warren CountyGR6.
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[edit] Geography
Front Royal is located at (38.925768, -78.191914)GR1.
It is roughly 76 miles west of Washington DC.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 24.6 km² (9.5 mi²). 24.0 km² (9.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (2.52%) is water.
[edit] About Front Royal
Originally called LeHewtown (after Peter LeHew, a French Huguenot who purchased 200 acres here in 1754), the Town was later purchased by a group of real estate speculators who arranged to have it incorporated as Front Royal in 1788. Rail service was established in 1854 with the construction of the[Alexandria, Orange and Manassas Gap Railroad between Manassas and Riverton. This line was soon extended to Strasburg in time to become a factor in the Battle of Front Royal on May 23, 1862 and throughout the Civil War. Lumber, agriculture, manufacturing and grain mills provided employment in the region for decades after the Civil War.
Front Royal was also known as "Helltown" in the 18th century, due to the readiness of its residents to fight at the slightest provocation. This was possibly due to the abundance of rough and wild mountaineers and river travelers in the area who came into town looking for alcohol and women.
Front Royal is situated near the junction of the North Fork and the South Fork of the Shenandoah River.
The origin of the name "Front Royal" remains uncertain. The first of two current versions of the origin holds that, in early decades of European settlement, the area was referred to in French as "le front royal," meaning the British frontier. French settlers, trappers, and explorers in the Ohio Territory of the mid-1700's were referring to the land grant made by King Charles II, then in control of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron. In English, "le front royal" is translated to the "Royal Frontier."
However, the more colorful and legendary version of the origin of the name has it that, during colonial days, a giant oak tree - the "Royal" Tree of England - stood in the public square where Chester and Main Streets now join. It was there that the local militia, composed of raw recruits slow to learn military commands and maneuvers, were drilled. On one occasion, the sorely tired drill sergeant became so exasperated by the clumsy efforts of his troops and their failure to follow his command that he hit upon a phrase that all could understand and shouted, "front the Royal Oak!" Among the spectators was a Mr. Forsythe who had been a professional soldier. He was so amused by the officer's coined order that he and his friends found much sport in telling the story, repeating "front the Royal Oak" until Front Royal was the resulting derivation.
[edit] Government
Front Royal is the county-seat of Warren County, Virginia. It has a six-member town council with four-year terms.
[edit] City Council
- Mayor James Eastham, 2004
- Vice Mayor J. Daniel Pond III, 2002
- Fred P. Foster, 2002
- Joseph T. McDaniel, 2002
- Stanley W. Brooks, Jr., 2004
- Timothy W. Darr, 2004
- M. Eileen Grady, 2004
[edit] Points of interest
Front Royal is the home of Randolph-Macon Academy (founded 1893) which features an Air Force JROTC program. Front Royal is also the home of Christendom College and the Smithsonian's Conservation and Research Center.
Commercially, it is the home to a Virginia Inland Port situated on Interstate 66.
Like many outer suburbs, Front Royal is facing the challenge of providing jobs to its community and preventing a slide into being a bedroom community. It also faces tensions between long-time residents, recent (10-20 years ago) arrivals and newly-arrived residents. This struggle is reflected in Centex's huge 1,862-home "The Villages at Twin Rivers" proposal, which seeks to transform 579 agriculturally-zoned acres just outside the town into a residential district. The proposal is large enough that Centex is offering to build a new interchange on Interstate 66 and help fund a new elementary school.
Front Royal is also home to the Avtex Fibers Superfund Site. Once Virginia's largest Superfund site, this former rayon manufacturing facility is being recovered to provide a 175 acre eco-friendly office park, 30 acres of soccer fields, and 240 acres of conservancy park along the Shenandoah River.
Important tourist attractions include Skyline Caverns, the northern entrance to Shenandoah National Park, and Skyline Drive. It also has a large number of American Civil War attractions, both in the town and the surrounding Shenandoah Valley.
The Front Royal Cardinals baseball team joined the Valley League in 1984. Games are played in Bing Crosby Stadium. Bing Crosby donated the land and money to build the original stadium when he became aware of Front Royal in 1953 as a result of a fellow Irish Catholic named Frank Nesbitt. In 1953, Frank Nesbitt coached a Little League team from Front Royal which came in 3rd in the world tournament. Freddie Moore was one of the players on that team. Freddie Moore later became active in Front Royal Little League. After Moore died of cancer one of Front Royal's Little League fields was named in his honor.
The Confederate Museum on Chester Street has many interesting artifacts from the 1860's.
Front Royal has been designated the canoe capital of Virginia
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 13,589 people, 5,425 households, and 3,585 families residing in the town. The population density was 565.4/km² (1,464.9/mi²). There were 5,752 housing units at an average density of 239.3/km² (620.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 88.31% White, 8.68% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.63% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.13% of the population.
There were 5,425 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.8% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $34,786, and the median income for a family was $42,675. Males had a median income of $32,373 versus $24,182 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,901. About 9.1% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] External links
- Town of Front Royal
- Front Royal/Warren County Chamber of Commerce
- Shenandoah Valley Web
- Historic Front Royal, Virgina
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
