Louisa County, Virginia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Louisa County
U.S. county
Louisa County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Virginia
Virginia's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Founded	1742
Named for	Louise of Great Britain
Seat	Louisa
Largest town	Louisa
Area
• Total	511 sq mi (1,320 km2)
• Land	496 sq mi (1,280 km2)
• Water	15 sq mi (40 km2)  2.9%
Population  (2020)
• Total	37,596
• Density	73.57/sq mi (28.407/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	7th

Louisa County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,596. The county seat is Louisa.

History

St. John's Chapel, near Boswells Tavern, Louisa County, Historic American Buildings Survey

Prior to colonial settlement, the area comprising Louisa County was occupied by several indigenous peoples including the Tutelo, the Monacan, and the Manahoac peoples, who eventually fled to join the Cayuga Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) people in New York state under pressure from English settlers. Louisa County was established in 1742 from Hanover County. The county is named for Princess Louise of Great Britain, youngest daughter of King George II, and wife of King Frederick V of Denmark. Patrick Henry lived for some time in Louisa County on Roundabout Creek in 1764. Henry was being mentored at that time by the Louisa County magnate Thomas Johnson the representative of Louisa County in the House of Burgesses. In 1765, Patrick Henry won his first election to represent Louisa County in the House of Burgesses. At the end of the eighteenth century and in the early nineteenth century, numerous free mixed-race families migrated together from here to Kentucky, where neighbors began to identify them as Melungeon.

The Virginia Central Railroad was completed through Louisa County in 1838–1840. During the Civil War, it was an important supply line for the Confederate armies. As a result, several significant cavalry actions took place in the county, particularly one fought at Trevilians in 1864.

20th century to present

Cooper Vineyards in Louisa is the first winery on the East Coast and the second in the country to be awarded the fourth and highest, Platinum certification by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

The Twin Oaks Community is one of the country's oldest secular communes, established by its first eight members in 1967. This was part of a national movement among numerous young people to "get back to the land" and live in more simple ways based in community. Louisa is also home to the Acorn Community, a rural, cooperative, income sharing community on about 80 acres, founded in 1993 by one of the founding members of Twin Oaks, Kat Kincade. Another newly forming community as of 2011 is the Living Energy Farm, a 'neo-Amish' farm, where no fossil fuels will be used but new technologies such as solar will be embraced. Louisa is becoming a hub of cooperative rural communities.

Lake Anna, a 13,000-acre (53 km²) artificial lake, and the associated North Anna Nuclear Generating Station were built by Virginia Power in the 1970s. In recent years the predominantly rural county has grown because of retirees' settling near Lake Anna, and because of its convenient location for commuters. It is an hour's drive or less from Richmond, Fredericksburg and Charlottesville.

For a discussion and additional information on Louisa County history, see: Louisa County Historical Notes.

2011 earthquake

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit Virginia on Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 1:51 PM EST. The quake occurred at an approximate depth of 3.7 miles and was centered in Louisa County (location at 37.944°N, 77.942°W), 5 miles SSW of Mineral and 38 miles NW of Richmond. According to Associated Press, "Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Charleston, S.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated." It was also felt in parts of Canada.

Damage totals in Louisa County totaled over $70 million:

• $57.5 million in damages to public school structures
• $11.5 million in damages to residential structures
• $400,000 in damages to religious structures
• $400,000 in damages to commercial structures
• $500,000 in damages to government structures

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 511 square miles (1,320 km²), of which 496 square miles (1,280 km²) is land and 15 square miles (39 km²) (2.9%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Orange County – north
• Spotsylvania County – northeast
• Hanover County – east
• Goochland County – south
• Fluvanna County – southwest
• Albemarle County – west

Major highways

• I-64
• US 15
• US 33
• US 250
• US 522
• SR 22
• SR 208
• SR 231

Demographics

2020 census

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.

Communities

Towns

• Louisa
• Mineral

Census-designated place

• Blue Ridge Shores

Other unincorporated communities

A local train of the Buckingham Branch railroad passes the C&O Depot and water tower in Louisa.

Historical places and points of interest

• Green Springs Historic District
• Jerdone Castle
• Lake Anna
• Twin Oaks Community, arguably America's most successful secular commune, is located in Louisa County.
• Acorn Community another income sharing community in the county, which runs the successful Southern Exposure Seed Exchange business as its principal source of income.

Notable people

• James Waddel Alexander (1804–1859), born in Louisa County, noted Presbyterian minister and professor at Princeton Theological Seminary
• Arthur P. Bagby (1794–1858), born in Louisa County, was the tenth Governor of Alabama from 1837 to 1841.
• Henry "Box" Brown (c.1816–after 1889), a slave who escaped to freedom by having himself mailed in a wooden crate to Pennsylvanian abolitionists.
• Paxus Calta (b. 1957), anti-nuclear activist, blogger and member of Twin Oaks Community and Acorn Community.
• Dabney Carr (1743–1773), celebrated Louisa County patriot.
• Patrick Henry (1736–1799), at Roundabout Plantation, eight miles southwest of Louisa Court House, Patrick Henry lived in Louisa County from 1765 to 1768, when he sat for Louisa County in the House of Burgesses. This was the beginning of his political career.
• Charles W. Kent (1860-1917), English scholar
• Charles Henry Langston (1817–1892), born free and of mixed racial ancestry, one of two men tried and convicted after Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, abolitionist and political activist in Ohio and Kansas.
• John Mercer Langston (1829–1899), abolitionist, activist, educator and politician – in 1855 first black person in Ohio elected to public office, first dean of Howard University law school, first president of Virginia State University, in 1888 first black person to be elected to the United States Congress from Virginia.
• Flora Molton (1908–1990), singer.
• John Overton (1766–1833), born in Louisa County, notable political leader who was an adviser to Andrew Jackson and co-founder of Memphis, Tennessee.
• Lenwood S. Sharpe (b. 1988), American folklorist and humorist.
• James Waddel (1739–1805), celebrated Presbyterian preacher

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Louisa (Virginia) para niños