| Albemarle County, Virginia | ||
|
The Albemarle County Office Building
|
||
|
||
Location in the state of Virginia |
||
Virginia's location in the U.S. |
||
| Founded | 1744 | |
|---|---|---|
| Named for | William Ann Keppel, second Earl of Albemarle[1] | |
| Seat | Charlottesville | |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
726 sq mi (1,880 km²) 723 sq mi (1,873 km²) 4 sq mi (10 km²), 0.49% |
|
| Population - (2010) - Density |
98,970 137/sq mi (52.8/km²) |
|
| Congressional district | 5th | |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 | |
| Website | www.albemarle.org | |
Albemarle County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Figures from the 2010 US Census give a population of 98,970.[2][3]
The county seat is Charlottesville, which is an Independent city enclave entirely surrounded by the county.[4] Albemarle County is part of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Contents |
In 1744, the Virginia General Assembly created Albemarle County by taking the northern portion of Goochland County.[5] The county was named in honor of Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle and titular Governor of Virginia at the time.[6] The large county was divided in 1761, forming Buckingham and Amherst counties, at which time the county seat was moved from the formerly-central Scottsville to a piece of newly central land, christened Charlottesville.[6]
President Thomas Jefferson was born in the county at Shadwell, though it was then part of Goochland County.[7] However, his home of Monticello is located in the county.[8]
Albemarle is governed by a six-member Board of Supervisors. The body's key political issue is growth and development. The current board comprises:
Albemarle County has two branches of law enforcement, the Albemarle County Police Department, which handles criminal matters and is directed by the appointed police chief, Colonel Steve Sellers. The second branch is the Albemarle County Sheriff's Office, which handles civil service in the county and they are directed by the elected Sheriff Chip Harding.
EMS services are provided by three volunteer rescue squads, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad, located in the City of Charlottesville, the Western Albemarle Rescue Squad, located in Crozet, and the Scottsville Volunteer Rescue Squad, located in the Town of Scottsville. The county government also provides EMS services managed by Albemarle County Fire Rescue, and they operate 2 Advance Life Support ambulances, one out the Monticello Fire/Rescue Station, and another out of the Hollymead Fire/Rescue Station.
Fire suppression services are provided by seven volunteer fire companies, two county career stations, and an automatic mutual aid contract with the Charlottesville Fire Department. The Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Airport also maintains an Airport Crash/Rescue department which is staffed by airport personnel and is assisted by county stations in the event of an aircraft emergency. Four of the seven volunteer county stations, East Rivanna Vol. Fire Dept, Earlysville Vol. Fire Company, Stony Point Vol. Fire Company, and Seminole Trail Vol. Fire Dept, are supplemented by county career firefighters during the daytime (6:00 am – 6:00 pm) to assist the volunteers. The county also operates two fire stations managed by Albemarle County Fire Rescue office, they are Monticello Fire/Rescue and Hollymead Fire/Rescue. These two stations are staffed 24/7 with county career firefighters and have supplemental volunteer staffing. The City of Charlottesville fire department maintains a contract with the county with automatic mutual aid for areas that border the city boundaries. Albemarle County Fire Rescue also plans to build two more county career stations, one in the eastern portion of the county near Pantops Mountain, and another near the Ivy area in the western part of the county, however with economic downturn and the desire to study the needs for the two stations, construction and planning for these two stations have been halted indefinitely.
Fire Stations by Number
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 726 square miles (1,880 km2), of which 723 square miles (1,870 km2) is land and 4 square miles (10 km2) (0.49%) is water.[9]
The Rivanna River
See also: List of counties in Virginia
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1790 | 12,585 |
|
|
| 1800 | 16,439 | 30.6% | |
| 1810 | 18,268 | 11.1% | |
| 1820 | 19,750 | 8.1% | |
| 1830 | 22,618 | 14.5% | |
| 1840 | 22,294 | −1.4% | |
| 1850 | 25,800 | 15.7% | |
| 1860 | 26,625 | 3.2% | |
| 1870 | 27,544 | 3.5% | |
| 1880 | 32,618 | 18.4% | |
| 1890 | 32,379 | −0.7% | |
| 1900 | 28,473 | −12.1% | |
| 1910 | 29,871 | 4.9% | |
| 1920 | 26,005 | −12.9% | |
| 1930 | 26,981 | 3.8% | |
| 1940 | 24,652 | −8.6% | |
| 1950 | 26,662 | 8.2% | |
| 1960 | 30,969 | 16.2% | |
| 1970 | 37,780 | 22.0% | |
| 1980 | 55,783 | 47.7% | |
| 1990 | 68,040 | 22.0% | |
| 2000 | 79,236 | 16.5% | |
| 2010 | 98,970 | 24.9% | |
| [10] | |||
As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 79,236 people, 31,876 households, and 21,070 families residing in the county. The population density was 110 people per square mile (42/km²). There were 33,720 housing units at an average density of 47 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.16% White, 9.65% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 2.86% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.86% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races. 2.56% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 31,876 households out of which 32.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.20% were married couples living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.90% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the county, the population was spread out with 24.80% under the age of 18, 7.30% from 18 to 24, 30.90% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.60 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $50,749, and the median income for a family was $63,407. Males had a median income of $39,622 versus $30,645 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,852. About 4.20% of families and 6.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.50% of those under age 18 and 4.70% of those age 65 or over.
The only incorporated town in Albemarle County is Scottsville, the original county seat. Unincorporated communities include Barboursville, Crozet, Earlysville, Free Union, Ivy, Keene, and Keswick, among with many smaller hamlets. Some parts of Albemarle County are considered unincorporated Charlottesville.
In addition, the city of Charlottesville is enclaved within Albemarle County. Under Virginia law in effect since 1871, all municipalities in the state incorporated as cities are legally and politically independent of any county.
The Albemarle County Public School System operates public education in the county, including the Murray High School, a charter school, that is located in the city of Charlottesville.
Many private schools in Albemarle serve the county and students from surrounding areas. These include:
County children also attend several private schools in the city of Charlottesville.
| Rockingham County | Greene County | Orange County | ||
| Augusta County | Louisa County | |||
| Albemarle County, Virginia | ||||
| Nelson County | Buckingham County | Fluvanna County |
|
||||||||||||||||||||