Manassas, Virginia

In 1861, the First Battle of Manassas – also widely known as the First Battle of Bull Run – the first major land battle of the American Civil War, was fought near here. Second Manassas (or the Second Battle of Bull Run) was fought near here on August 21-10, 1862. At that time, Manassas Junction was little more than a railroad crossing, but a strategic one, with rails leading to Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the Shenandoah Valley. Despite these two Confederate victories, Manassas Junction was in Union hands for most of the war.

The crossroads grew into the town of Manassas following the war, incorporated in 1873. In 1892, it became the county seat of Prince William County, replacing Brentsville. In 1970, Manassas became an independent city.

In modern times, Manassas's development has been strongly influenced by its position as a suburb of Washington, D.C. It has developed major problems with traffic and urban sprawl.

Manassas gained notoriety in 1998 as the hometown of John and Lorena Bobbitt, even though they resided outside the city and closer to the city of Manassas Park.[1] Their separate trials (John Wayne Bobbitt's for rape, Lorena Bobbitt's for malicious wounding) occurred at the Prince William County courthouse, which is in the city of Manassas.

On October 9, 2002, the eleventh of the Beltway sniper attacks occurred outside Manassas city limits when 53-year old Dean Harold Meyers was shot pumping gas at a Sunoco station on Sudley Road near Interstate 66 in Prince William County.

In October 2005, Manassas became the site of the first wide-scale Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) implementation in the United States. Currently, 19 MBit/s service is offered for less than $30/month to city residents.

[edit] Geography

Manassas is located at 38°45′5″N, 77°28′35″W (38.751415, -77.476396)^[3]. The city is mainly served by I-66, US-29, and Virginia State Route 28.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.0 square miles (25.8 km²), of which, 9.9 square miles (25.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.20%) is water.

Manassas uses a council-manager system of government. The current city manager is Lawrence Hughes.

[edit] Adjacent county / Independent city

Prince William County, Virginia - northwest, west, south, east
Manassas Park, Virginia - northeast

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 35,135 people, 11,757 households, and 8,441 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,537.0 people per square mile (1,366.1/km²). There were 12,114 housing units at an average density of 1,219.5/sq mi (471.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.05% White, 12.91% African American, 0.36% Native American, 3.43% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 7.89% from other races, and 3.26% from two or more races. Hispanic of any race were 15.13% of the population.

In 2005 non-Hispanic whites were 56.8% of Manassas' population. 13.3% of the population was African-Americans. 0.5% were Native Americans. 3.8% were Asian. 25.6% were Latinos.

There were 11,757 households out of which 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.39.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.6% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 35.8% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 103.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $60,409, and the median income for a family was $70,141. Males had a median income of $43,646 versus $30,678 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,453. About 3.7% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.6% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2007, local Hispanic leaders estimate that the Manassas Hispanic community has grown to about 20,000 to 30,000 members. Other civic groups are expressing concern about the number of illegal immigrants and their attendant problems, including neighborhood quality of life issues. An accurate count of illegal immigrants for Manassas is not available ^[4].

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Airports

Manassas Regional Airport is mostly located within the city limits.

[edit] Rail transportation

Manassas began life as Manassas Junction, so-named for the railroad junction between the Orange and Alexandria Railroad and the Manassas Gap Railroad. The O&A owned the trackage from Alexandria through Manassas to points south, ending in Orange, Virginia, while the MGRR was a new line being constructed from Manassas Junction through the Manassas Gap westward.

The current trackage, which roughly follows these original routes, is now owned by the modern day Norfolk Southern system.

Amtrak and the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) supply both regular and commuter service to the city and surrounding area on the tracks owned by the NS. Two Amtrak routes, the Cardinal and Crescent, provide service to and from the west and south, respectively. The Cardinal terminates in Chicago, while the Crescent ends at New Orleans. VRE is a very popular commuting option to Alexandria and Washington, D.C..

[edit] Schools

The city of Manassas is served by the Manassas City Public Schools. There are five elementary schools in Manassas, one middle school, and one high school. On September 5, 2006, Mayfield Intermediate School opened, serving students in fifth and sixth grade.

Some schools in the Prince William County Public Schools district have Manassas addresses; they serve areas outside of the Manassas city limits and are located outside of the Manassas city limits.

Also in the vicinity of Manassas are branch campuses of George Mason University, Northern Virginia Community College, ECPI College of Technology and Strayer University. Despite that some of these may in fact be just outside the city limits in Prince William County, NVCC and Strayer call these branches their "Manassas Campuses."