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Winchester, VA

Winchester, Virginia
Independent city
City of Winchester
Loudoun Street Mall, May 2016
Loudoun Street Mall, May 2016
Official seal of Winchester, Virginia
Seal
Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Coordinates: 39°11′N 78°10′W / 39.183°N 78.167°W / 39.183; -78.167Coordinates: 39°11′N 78°10′W / 39.183°N 78.167°W / 39.183; -78.167
Country United States
State Virginia
County None (Independent city)
Founded 1752
Government
 • Mayor Elizabeth Minor
Area
 • Independent city 9.3 sq mi (24 km2)
 • Land 9.2 sq mi (24 km2)
 • Water 0.0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation 725 ft (221 m)
Population (2010)
 • Independent city 26,203
 • Density 2,800/sq mi (1,100/km2)
 • Urban 53,559
 • Metro 122,369
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Zip Code 22601, 22602, 22603, 22604
Area code(s) 540
FIPS code 51-86720
GNIS feature ID 1498552
Website http://www.winchesterva.gov/

Winchester is an Independent City located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 26,203. As of 2015, its population is an estimated 27,284. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester with surrounding Frederick County for statistical purposes.

Winchester is the principal city of the Winchester, Virginia-West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a part of the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area. Winchester is home to Shenandoah University and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

Indigenous peoples lived along the waterways of present-day Virginia for thousands of years before European contact. Archeological, linguistic and anthropological studies have provided insights into their cultures. Though little is known of specific tribal movements before European contact, the Shenandoah Valley area, considered a sacred common hunting ground, appears by the 17th century to have been controlled mostly by the local Iroquoian-speaking groups, including the Senedo and Sherando.

The Algonquian-speaking Shawnee began to challenge the Iroquoians for the hunting grounds later in that century. The explorers Batts and Fallam in 1671 reported the Shawnee were contesting with the Iroquoians for control of the valley and were losing. During the later Beaver Wars, the powerful Iroquois Confederacy from New York (particularly Seneca from the western part of the territory) subjugated all tribes in the frontier region west of the Fall Line.


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