Culpeper County, Virginia
| Culpeper County, Virginia | |||
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Culpeper County Courthouse
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 Location in the U.S. state of Virginia |
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 Virginia's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1749 | ||
| Named for | Thomas Colepeper | ||
| Seat | Culpeper | ||
| Largest town | Culpeper | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 383 sq mi (992 km2) | ||
| • Land | 379 sq mi (982 km2) | ||
| • Water | 3.3 sq mi (9 km2), 0.9% | ||
| Population (est.) | |||
| • (2016) | 49,388 | ||
| • Density | 130/sq mi (50/km²) | ||
| Congressional district | 7th | ||
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 | ||
| Website | www |
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Culpeper County is a county located in the central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 46,689. Its county seat and only incorporated community is Culpeper.
Home to many of Virginia's antebellum plantation homes and thousands of acres of farmland, the rolling hills of the Piedmont region and the westernmost flats of the Northern Neck collide in rural Culpeper County.
Culpeper County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.
At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that became Culpeper County were a Siouan-speaking sub-group of the Manahoac tribe called the Tegninateo. Culpeper County was established in 1749 from Orange County. The county is named for Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper, colonial governor of Virginia from 1677 to 1683. During the Civil War the Battle of Cedar Mountain took place on August 9, 1862 and the Battle of Brandy Station on June 9, 1863, in Culpeper County.
In May 1749, the first Culpeper Court convened in the home of Robert Coleman, not far from where the Town of Culpeper is now located. In July 1749, 17-year-old George Washington was commissioned as the first County surveyor. One of his first duties was to lay out the County's courthouse complex, which included the courthouse, jail, stocks, gallows and accessory buildings. By 1752 the complex stood at what is now the northeast corner of Davis and Main Streets. The courthouse village was named the Town of Fairfax after Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693–1781).
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