Prince George County, Virginia


Prince George County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,010. Its county seat is Prince George.
Prince George County is located within the Greater Richmond Region of the U.S. state of Virginia.

History

Prince George County was formed in 1703 in the Virginia Colony from the portion of Charles City County that was south of the James River. It was named in honor of Prince George of Denmark, husband of Anne, Queen of Great Britain.
In 1619, "Charles Cittie" was one of four "boroughs" or "incorporations" created by the Virginia Company. The first Charles City County courthouses were located along the James River at Westover Plantation on the north side and City Point on the south side. The Virginia Company lost its charter in 1624, and Virginia became a royal colony. Charles City Shire was formed in 1634 in the Virginia Colony by order of Charles I, King of England. It was named as Charles City County in 1643.
Charles Cittie, Charles City Shire, and Charles City County all extended to both sides of the James River, which was the major transportation thoroughfare of the Virginia Colony throughout the 17th century. The original central city of Charles City County was Charles City Point, which was in an area south of the James River at the confluence of the Appomattox River. The name was later shortened to City Point.
In 1703, all of the original area of Charles City County south of the James River was severed to form Prince George County. As population increased, portions were divided and organized as several additional counties. City Point became an incorporated town in Prince George County.

20th century to present

Annexed by the independent city of Hopewell in 1923, City Point is no longer in the county.
Nearby the current bridges, this water-only section of the county at the Appomattox River was the site of a fatal bus accident at an open drawbridge on December 22, 1935; thirteen people died.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. The northwestern corner of the county near the cities of Hopewell and Petersburg, and the location of Fort Gregg-Adams is exurban, but the rest of the county is rural with most land devoted to agriculture and timber production.

Adjacent counties / independent cities

Top employers

According to the County's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Year Ended June 30, 2023, the top employers in the county were:
#Employer# of Employees
1United States Department of Defense1,000+
2Prince George County Public Schools500-999
3Perdue Products / Perdue Farms Inc.500–999
4Delhaize America Distribution, LLC / Food Lion Distribution Center250-499
5U.S. Department of Justice / National Finance Center250–499
6Cunningham Food Services LLC250–499
7Standard Motor Products Inc.250–499
8County of Prince George250–499
9Service Center Metals250–499
10U.S. Army Non-Appropriated Funds Division / Fort A.P. Hill250-499

Goya Foods has its Virginia offices south of the Prince George CDP.

Government

In modern times, there are no centralized cities or towns in the county. Prince George Court House, which uses the postal address Prince George, Virginia, is the focal point of government. The County Administrator answers to the elected Board of Supervisors, who are elected from single-member districts.

Politics

Law enforcement

Prince George County is served primarily by the Prince George County Police Department and the Prince George County Sheriff's Office. The police department's responsibility is the enforcement of the laws of the Commonwealth and local ordinances. The primary responsibility of the Sheriff's Office is the security of the courts and service of court papers. The Sheriff's Office also assists the police department in the enforcement of the laws of the Commonwealth as a secondary responsibility.

Correctional institutions

Riverside Regional Jail is located west of 295 and south of the Appomattox River in the county. It serves seven member localities. It is overseen by the Riverside Regional Jail Authority Board.
In addition, the Federal Correctional Institution, Petersburg is located west of the regional jail, closer to the Appomattox River as it curves south. This complex for male inmates, located west of the independent city of Hopewell, Virginia, consists of both a low-security facility, with 1,111 inmates; 293 at the adjacent minimum-security satellite camp; and 1,595 at the associated medium-security facility. All are managed by the Bureau of Prisons.

Towns, communities, region

There are currently no incorporated towns within Prince George County. Unincorporated towns or communities in the county include:

Census-designated places

s 95 and 295 pass through the county, as does north-south U.S. Route 301 and east-west U.S. Route 460. State Route 10 runs along the southern shore of the James River near several of the James River plantations located in the county. State Route 106 runs through Prince George, the county seat.
Freight railroad service for the county is provided by CSX Transportation, which interchanges with Norfolk Southern at Petersburg. The famous 52-mile long tangent rail line between Petersburg and Suffolk of the former Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad was built by William Mahone in the 1850s, and now forms a vital link of the Norfolk Southern system. A Norfolk Southern Railway automobile transloading facility is located nearby. There are future plans underway for a large Intermodal freight transport railroad-trucking transfer facility in Prince George County as well.

Major highways

  • , the major north-south highway on the Eastern Seaboard, enters Prince George County from Sussex County. Access to the county is available at Exits 37, 41, 45, and 46 before the road enters the City of Petersburg.
  • is the north-south bypass around Petersburg and Richmond, further north. Besides its southern terminus at Exit 46 on I-95, access to the county is available at Exits 3A and 3B before the road enters the City of Hopewell.
  • , the principal south-north route Sussex County until it was supplanted by I-95. A spur of US Route 1, it enters Prince George County from Sussex County and serves as a frontage road along I-95, until reaching Carson, where it moves further away from the interstate. However, it does cross over I-95 at exit 41 along with an overlap of VA 35, and again at Exit 45 eventually entering Petersburg.
  • , a major west-to-east corridor that runs southeasterly in the south-central of Prince George County, as a connecting route between the Central Appalachian Mountains and the Hampton Roads area. A spur of US 60, it enters the county from Petersburg entering New Bohemia, then later runs through Disputanta before leaving the county at the Sussex County line northwest of Waverly.
  • , is a state route that runs west to east along the south side of the James River. Named James River Drive throughout the county, it enters the county from Hopewell at the bridges over the Bailey Creek, and briefly takes an overlap of VA 106/156 between Ruffin Road and Jordan Point Road. From there it passes south of the privately owned Henshaw Airport near Garysville, then passes through Burrowsville, and after the intersection with Chippokes Road, crosses the Prince George-Surry County Line.
  • , a south-north state road that enters the county from rural areas north of Disputanta. The route runs mainly southeast to northwest along Courtland Street from the Sussex-Prince George County Line and terminates at a pair of Virginia Secondary Routes northwest of the US 301/VA 35 overlap in Templeton. Both VA 35 and US 301 were part of the historic Jerusalem Plank Road, which was the site of a Civil War Battle in Petersburg.
  • runs northeast from Petersburg as Courthouse Road, through Prince George, where it runs under I-295 with no interchange. It then encounters VA 156 which joins VA 106 in an overlap towards the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge.
  • runs northeast from Templeton at the southeast end of the US 301/VA 35 overlap. It passes through Disputanta, then joins VA 106 in an overlap east of Prince George where it too heads towards the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge.

    Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 43,010. The median age was 34.2 years. 19.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 13.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 126.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 134.2 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 55.4% White, 30.2% Black or African American, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.0% Asian, 0.3% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 4.4% from some other race, and 7.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 10.1% of the population.
50.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 49.1% lived in rural areas.
There were 12,579 households in the county, of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 24.5% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 13,378 housing units, of which 6.0% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 69.5% were owner-occupied and 30.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.4%.