James City County, Virginia

James City County, Virginia
James City County-Williamsburg Combined Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Virginia
Virginia's location in the U.S.
Founded	1619 (as James Cittie)
Named for	James I of England
Seat	Williamsburg
Largest city	Williamsburg
Area
• Total	179 sq mi (464 km2)
• Land	142 sq mi (368 km2)
• Water	37 sq mi (96 km2), 20.5%
Population
• (2010)	67,009
• Density	472/sq mi (182/km²)
Congressional district	1st
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.jamescitycountyva.gov

James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 67,009. The county seat is Williamsburg.

Located on the Virginia Peninsula, James City County is included in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is often associated with Williamsburg, an independent city, and Jamestown which is within the county. As of 2007^[update], the median household income was $70,487.

First settled by the English colonists in 1607 at Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, the County was formally created in 1634 as James City Shire by order of King Charles I. James City County is considered one of only five original shires of Virginia to still be extant today in essentially the same political form. The Jamestown 2007 celebration marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown.

Today, James City County remains an important site of growth and economic development. With an increasing population and a generous endowment of skilled labor, the County attracts not only new businesses and entrepreneurs looking to take advantage of an ideal mid-Atlantic location, and one of the northernmost "right to work" counties in the country, but also retirees seeking the mild seasonal climate and the abundance of cultural events, economic opportunities and historic activities offered. The County is home to the Busch Gardens Williamsburg theme park, the massive Kingsmill Resort, and the Williamsburg Pottery Factory. The Historic Jamestowne and Jamestown Settlement attractions combine with Colonial Williamsburg, and are linked to Yorktown by the National Park Service's bucolic Colonial Parkway, to make worldwide tourism to the Historic Triangle a major economic activity for the county. This highly developed tourist industry coupled with an open business climate, many favorable labor realities, high endowments of human capital from the nearby College of William and Mary and the presence of NASA, Jefferson Laboratory, and numerous defense contractors which give the region the highest concentration of scientists and engineers per capita in the nation.