Glade Spring, Virginia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Glade Spring is a town in Washington County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,374 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Schools
4 Demographics
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The name of the town comes from the nearby glade with many springs. According to early records, near the town is a field where Native American tribes held a type of Olympics in the fall, with athletic competitions, dancing and socializing. The Porterfield family, who arrived about 1760, was one of the earliest permanent settlers. For many years, Glade Spring was a small, quiet village, but this changed when the railroad was connected in the 1850s. The American Civil War slowed down its growth, and local men made up a military unit called The Glade Spring Rifles.

Federal and Confederate troops passed through the town several times, and cannon emplacements can still be seen just outside Glade Spring on the road to Saltville. After the war, the railroad access made the town into a prime shipping yard for produce, livestock and other local goods. Virginia Intermont College was located in Glade from 1884 to 1892, when it moved to the present location near Bristol.

After the train service discontinued, the growth in the town slowed down, and today, it's a peaceful home to small businesses and residences.

Confederate General William "Grumble" Jones was born in Glade Spring and is also buried in the Old Glade Spring Presbyterian Church graveyard. Robert Porterfield, the founder of the Barter Theatre was also born in Glade Spring.

[edit] Geography

Glade Spring is located at 36°47′25″N, 81°46′24″W (36.790338, -81.773220)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.3 km² (1.3 mi²), all land.

[edit] Schools

Glade Spring is home to Glade Spring Middle School. GSMS was built in 1968 and then modified to meet middle school specifications in 1991. It is one of four middle schools in Washington County. According to the GSMS homepage <http://gsms.wcs.k12.va.us/> the school has almost 400 students and employs 45 teachers and staff.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,374 people, 565 households, and 402 families residing in the town. The population density was 421.0/km² (1,093.4/mi²). There were 626 housing units at an average density of 191.8/km² (498.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 92.36% White, 7.06% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 0.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.07% of the population.

There were 565 households out of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the town the population was spread out with 22.9% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 85.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $31,552, and the median income for a family was $36,902. Males had a median income of $27,847 versus $20,982 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,842. About 8.1% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.9% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.