Prince William County lies beside the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 482,204, making it Virginia's second most populous county. The county seat is the independent city of Manassas.

A part of Northern Virginia, Prince William County is part of the Washington metropolitan area. In 2020, it had the 24th highest income of any county in the United States.

History

The old county courthouse (c.1897) in March 2007.

At the time of European encounter, the main inhabitants of the area that would become Prince William County were the Doeg, an Algonquian-speaking sub-group of the Powhatan tribal confederation. When John Smith and other English explorers ventured to the upper Potomac River beginning in 1608, they recorded the name of a village the Doeg inhabited as Pemacocack (meaning "plenty of fish"). It was located on the west bank of the Potomac River about 30 miles south of present-day Alexandria. Unable to deal with European diseases and firepower, the Doeg had abandoned their villages in the area by 1700.

Prince William County was created by an act of the General Assembly of the colony of Virginia in 1731; it was organized largely from the western section of Stafford County as well as a section of King George County. The area encompassed by the act creating Prince William County originally included all of what later became the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, and Loudoun; and the independent cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park. These later became independent jurisdictions. The county was named for Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, the third son of King George II.

In 1790 the population of the county was 58% white; most of the remainder was black and enslaved. The county had been an area of tobacco plantations, where crops were being changed to mixed crops due to soil exhaustion and changes in the market. In the first two decades after the Revolution, the number and percentage of free blacks increased in Virginia as some whites freed their slaves, based on revolutionary ideals. Most free people of color in the state were descended from colonial unions between white women and African-American men, slave, indentured servant or free. Under colonial law since 1662, children took the status of their mother, so children born to white women were free, even if of mixed race.

The county was rural and agricultural for decades. The population into the early 20th century was centered in two areas, one at Manassas (home to a major railroad junction), the other near Occoquan and Woodbridge along the Potomac River. Beginning in the late 1930s, a larger suburban population was attracted to new housing that was developed near the existing population centers, particularly in Manassas.

In 1960 the population was 50,164, but suburbanization caused that to increase rapidly in the following decades, supported by expansion of federal, military and commercial activities in Northern Virginia in the late 20th century. By 2000, this was the third-most populous local jurisdiction in Virginia. From 2000 to 2010, the population increased by 43.2%. This was the first county in Virginia to be minority-majority: the new majority is composed of Hispanic (of any race, largely of Central and South American ancestry), African American, and Asian. In 2012 it was the seventh-wealthiest county in the country. The estimated population of 2014 is more than 437,000.

The Marine Corps Heritage Museum and the Hylton Performing Arts Center opened in the 21st century. The American Wartime Museum is also to be located in this county. During the commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, re-enactment of the famous First and Second Battles of Manassas was planned.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 348 square miles (900 km²), of which 336 square miles (870 km²) is land and 12 square miles (31 km²) (3.5%) is water. It is bounded on the north by Loudoun and Fairfax Counties; on the west by Fauquier County; on the south by Stafford County; and on the east by the Potomac River (Charles County, Maryland lies across the river).

Adjacent jurisdictions

Loudoun County, Virginia - North
Fairfax County, Virginia - Northeast
Charles County, Maryland - Southeast
Stafford County, Virginia - South
Fauquier County, Virginia - West
Manassas, Virginia - Center (enclave)
Manassas Park, Virginia - Center (enclave)

National protected areas

Economy

Top employers

According to the county's 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the county are:

#	Employer	# of Employees
1	Prince William County Public Schools	1,000 and over
2	U.S. Department of Defense	1,000 and over
3	Prince William County Government	1,000 and over
4	Walmart	1,000 and over
5	Morale, Welfare and Recreation	1,000 and over
6	Sentara Healthcare	1,000 and over
7	Wegmans Food Markets	500 to 999
8	Minnieland Private Day School	500 to 999
9	Northern Virginia Community College	500 to 999
10	Target Corporation	500 to 999

Prince William and neighboring Loudoun County are home to millions of square feet of data centers.

Education

Secondary

Prince William County Public Schools is the second largest school system in Virginia (having, circa 2007, overtaken Virginia Beach City Public Schools). The system consists of 57 elementary, 16 middle, and 13 high schools, as well as a virtual high school, two traditional schools, three special education schools, and two alternative schools. The Superintendent of Prince William County Public Schools is Dr. LaTanya McDade. The system has a television station called PWCS-TV. It is programmed and operated by Prince William County Public Schools' Media Production Services Department and is accessible to Comcast and Verizon subscribers in Prince William County.

The county system serves all parts of the county except for Marine Corps Base Quantico, which is served by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). The DoDEA high school is Quantico Middle High School.

Higher

George Mason University
National University
Northern Virginia Community College
Strayer University

Catholic Schools

The Diocese of Arlington provides education from pre-K through middle school at multiple diocesan run schools, and grades 9-12 at Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School in Dumfries.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	11,615	—
1800	12,733	9.6%
1810	11,311	−11.2%
1820	9,419	−16.7%
1830	9,330	−0.9%
1840	8,144	−12.7%
1850	8,129	−0.2%
1860	8,565	5.4%
1870	7,504	−12.4%
1880	9,180	22.3%
1890	9,805	6.8%
1900	11,112	13.3%
1910	12,026	8.2%
1920	13,660	13.6%
1930	13,951	2.1%
1940	17,738	27.1%
1950	22,612	27.5%
1960	50,164	121.8%
1970	111,102	121.5%
1980	144,636	30.2%
1990	215,686	49.1%
2000	280,813	30.2%
2010	402,002	43.2%
2020	482,204	20.0%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010 2020

2020 census

**Prince William County, Virginia - Demographic Profile**
(*NH = Non-Hispanic*)
Race / Ethnicity	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	195,656	185,048	48.67%	38.38%
Black or African American alone (NH)	78,492	94,939	19.53%	19.69%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	984	745	0.24%	0.15%
Asian alone (NH)	29,986	49,836	7.46%	10.34%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	414	507	0.10%	0.11%
Some Other Race alone (NH)	1,227	3,384	0.31%	0.70%
Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH)	13,783	26,221	3.43%	5.44%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	81,460	121,524	20.26%	25.20%
Total	402,002	482,204	100.00%	100.00%

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.

2010 Census

As of the census of 2010, there were 402,002 people, 137,115 housing units, and 130,785 households residing in the county. The population density was 1,186 people per square mile (458/km²). There were 137,115 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile (156/km²). The racial makeup of the county (reporting as only one race) was:

57.8% White
20.2% Black or African American
0.6% Native American
7.5% Asian (1.5% Indian, 1.2% Filipino, 1.2% Korean, 0.8% Vietnamese 0.6% Chinese, 0.1% Japanese, 2.1% Other Asian)
0.1% Pacific Islander
9.1% from other races
and 5.1% from two or more races
20.3% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race (6.8% Salvadoran, 3.7% Mexican, 1.8% Puerto Rican, 1.1% Guatemalan, 1.0% Peruvian, 0.9% Honduran, 0.7% Bolivian, 0.4% Colombian, 0.3% Nicaraguan, 0.3% Dominican)

Also according to census figures, there were 130,785 households in Prince William County as of April 1, 2010. According to the Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey, 76.1% of the county's households are occupied by families, (compared to 66.5% in the United States). This represents a decrease of 4.6 percentage points since 1990, when 80.7% of households in the county were families. Approximately 42.2% of Prince William County's households are family households occupied by parents with their own children under 18 years of age.

According to the Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey, 29.3% of the total County population is under 18 years of age; approximately 6.5% is aged 65 and over. The median age of the population is 33.2 years. The 2009 American Community Survey also indicated that 50.0% of the county's population is male and 50.0% is female.

According to the 2009 American Community Survey, the 2009 median household income in Prince William County was $89,785. The per capita income for the county was $35,890. The 2009 American Community Survey reported that in 2009, 6.0% of Prince William County's population was living below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

It is a majority-minority county, with "White, not Hispanic or Latino" at 44.8%, "Hispanic or Latino" at 22.3%, and "Black or African American" at 21.8% the chief groups.

Sports

Northern Virginia FC is an American minor league soccer team, also located in Woodbridge, Virginia. NoVa FC has minor league affiliation with D.C. United, Washington, D.C. Major League Soccer franchise.

The historic Old Dominion Speedway was located in Manassas. Opened in 1948, it was the location of the first commercial drag race held on the East Coast, and was a stop on the NASCAR Grand National schedule in the late 50s and early 60s. Old Dominion Speedway closed in the Fall of 2012 because of noise complaints.

Museums

The National Museum of the Marine Corps in November 2010

The National Museum of the Marine Corps is located in Triangle, Virginia and is free to the public. The Historic Preservation Division of Prince William County also operates five museums: Rippon Lodge Historic Site, Brentsville Historic Centre, Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park, Lucasville Historic Site, and Ben Lomond Historic Site.

Libraries

The Prince William Public Library System is a regional public library system that serves Prince William County, the City of Manassas and the City of Manassas Park. The system consists of 6 full-service branches and 5 neighborhood branches that covers the entire Prince William area.

Parks

The Manassas National Battlefield Park visitor center in July 2003

Two National Parks lie within the county. Prince William Forest Park was established as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area in 1936 and is located in eastern Prince William County. This is the largest protected natural area in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region at over 15,000 acres (6,070 ha). Manassas National Battlefield Park, located north of Manassas in Prince William County, preserves the site of two major American Civil War battles: the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861, and the Second Battle of Manassas which was fought between August 28 and 30, 1862. Outside the South, these battles are commonly referred to as the first and second battles of Bull Run.

The Prince William County Department of Parks & Recreation operates fifty parks, two water parks, two recreation centers (Birchdale Rec. Center and Sharron Baucom Dale City Rec. Center), two community centers, six sports complexes, and an ice-skating rink:

Prince William Forest Park, the largest National Park Service property in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area
Leesylvania State Park, the ancestral home of the Lee family, with a range of recreational activities and views of the river
Manassas National Battlefield Park, a Civil War battlefield

Transportation

I-95 in Woodbridge

I-66 in Gainesville

The county is traversed by many major highways and roads, including the following:

Interstate 66
Interstate 95
U.S. Route 1 (Richmond Highway)
U.S. Route 15 (James Madison Highway)
U.S. Route 29 (Lee Highway)
State Route 28 (Nokesville Road/Centerville Road)
State Route 55 (John Marshall Highway/Washington Street)
State Route 123 (Gordon Boulevard)
State Route 215 (Vint Hill Road)
State Route 234 (Dumfries Road/Prince William Parkway/Sudley Road)
State Route 234 Business (Dumfries Road/Grant Avenue/Sudley Road)
State Route 294 (Prince William Parkway)
State Route 393 (Campus Drive)
State Route 394 (College Drive)
State Route 612 (Yates Ford Road)
State Route 619 (Linton Hall Road/Bristow Road/Joplin Road/Fuller Heights Road)
State Route 784 (Dale Boulevard)

Manassas Regional Airport lies near its namesake city; for commercial passengers, both Dulles Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport are located nearby.

Public bus service in the county is provided by the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission. Services provided by PRTC include OmniRide, OmniLink, and OmniMatch.

The county is served by both Virginia Railway Express (VRE) lines. The Manassas line has the Manassas Park, Manassas, and Broad Run / Airport stations. The Fredericksburg line has the Woodbridge, Rippon, and Quantico stations. The Manassas, Quantico and Woodbridge stations are also served by Amtrak.

Communities

Towns

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated communities

Former communities

Agnewville
Batestown
Groveton
Hickory Grove
Hickory Ridge
Joplin
Kopp
Minnieville
Pamacocack
Woolsey

Independent cities

The independent cities of Manassas and Manassas Park are surrounded by Prince William County. Before becoming independent cities in 1975, as are all cities in Virginia, both were towns and officially part of the county. The Prince William County Circuit, District, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts, Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney's Office, Prince William County Adult Detention Center, Prince William County Sheriff's Office, and other county agencies are located at Prince William County Courthouse complex. The courthouse complex itself is located in a Prince William County enclave surrounded by the city of Manassas.

Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park share a single judicial system (courts) and Constitutional offices (Commonwealth's Attorney, Sheriff, Circuit Court Clerk).

Notable people

Margaret Kempe Howell, mother-in-law of Jefferson Davis
Austin Steward, abolitionist

Other important features

Potomac Mills in August 2005

Marine Corps Base Quantico, a large military installation
Hylton Performing Arts Center
Jiffy Lube Live concert venue
Potomac Mills, a tourist destination and largest outlet mall in the region
FBI Academy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's training and research facility.
Camp William B. Snyder, one of the largest Cub Scout Camps in the United States.

Prince William County, Virginia facts for kids

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