Culpeper, Virginia

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.8 square miles (17.5 km²), of which, 6.7 square miles (17.4 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.44%) is water.

[edit] History

After forming Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1748, the Virginia House of Burgesses voted to establish the Town of Fairfax on February 22, 1759. The name honored the Sixth Lord Fairfax, who was proprietor of the Northern Neck, a vast domain north of the Rappahannock River stretching from the Chesapeake Bay to what is now Hampshire County, West Virginia. The original plan called for 10 blocks, which form the core of Culpeper's downtown area today. In 1795, the town received a post office under the name Culpeper Court House, although most maps continued to show the Fairfax name. The confusion resulting from the difference in official and postal name coupled with the existence of Fairfax Court House and Fairfax Station post offices in Fairfax County finally was reolved when the Virginia Assembly formally renamed the town Culpeper in 1869 (Acts, 1869-1870, chapter 118, page 154).

During the American Revolutionary War, the Culpeper Minutemen, a pro-Independence militia group, formed in the town of Culpeper, in what was then known as "Clayton's Old Field," near today's Yowell Meadow Park.

During the Civil War, Culpeper was a crossroads for a number of armies marching through central Virginia. Both Union and Confederate forces occupied the town at various times. In the heart of downtown, the childhood home of Confederate General A.P. Hill stands at the corner of Main and Davis streets.

Culpeper has grown dramatically since the 1980s, becoming a "bedroom community" of the more densely populated Northern Virginia and its Washington, DC, suburbs, where a growing number of residents of the town and county of Culpeper once lived and continue to work. The increased population, economic development, and influx of both people with urban sensibilities and foreign-born persons, particularly from Latin America, have caused a rising tension in Culpeper's identity, as many residents press to maintain its small-town rural character as it shifts to a more and more exurban community.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 9,664 people, 3,933 households, and 2,442 families residing in the town. The population density was similar to lead, at 554.4/km² (1,436.2/sq mi). There were 4,139 housing units at an average density of 615.1/sq mi (237.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 78.27% White, 18.15% African American, 0.21% Native American, 1.32% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.98% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.55% of the population.

There were 3,933 households out of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% were married couples living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.97.

The town's population included 25.7% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $35,438, and the median income for a family was $41,894. Males had a median income of $28,658 versus $25,252 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,842. About 13.0% of families and 16.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.8% of those under age 18 and 12.1% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Rail transportation

Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, provides service to Culpeper. Amtrak Train 19, the southbound Crescent, is scheduled to depart Culpeper at 7:55pm daily with service to Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Danville, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury, Charlotte, Gastonia, Spartanburg, Greenville, Clemson, Toccoa, Gainesville, Atlanta, Anniston, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Meridian, Laurel, Hattiesburg, Picayune, Slidell, and New Orleans. Amtrak Train 20, the northbound Crescent, is scheduled to depart Culpeper at 8:12am daily with service to Manassas, Alexandria, and Washington, DC, before continuing on to New York City.

Amtrak Train 51, the westbound Cardinal, is scheduled to depart Culpeper at 12:35pm on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday with service to Charlottesville, Staunton, Clifton Forge, White Sulphur Springs, Alderson, Hinton, Prince, Thurmond, Montgomery, Charleston, Huntington, Ashland, South Portsmouth, Maysville, Cincinnati, Connersville, Indianapolis, Crawfordsville, Lafayette, Rensselaer, Dyer, and Chicago. Amtrak Train 50, the eastbound Cardinal, is scheduled to depart Culpeper at 4:00pm on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday with service to Manassas, Alexandria, and Washington, DC, before continuing on to New York City.

[edit] Notable residents

(Kenny Alphin), of the country music group Big & Rich.
John S. Barbour, Jr., U.S. Congressman, 1881–1887 and U.S. Senator, 1889-1892.
Cary Travers Grayson, highly-decorated U.S. Navy surgeon, onetime chairman of the American Red Cross, and personal aide to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.
General A. P. Hill, Confederate General during the American Civil War, commander of "Hill's Light Division," under Stonewall Jackson.
Keith Jennings, former NBA point guard, Golden State Warriors.
William Morgan, whose 1826 disappearance sparked a powerful anti-Freemasonry movement.
Waller T. Patton, Confederate Colonel during the American Civil War, great-uncle of World War II General, George S. Patton.
John Pendleton, American diplomat.
Eppa Rixey, Major League Baseball
J. Loren Wince, Lead Singer/Songwriter for the band HURT

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Culpeper was the first municipality south of the Mason-Dixon Line to install fluorescent street lighting.
Dinosaur tracks were uncovered in 1989 at a quarry run by the Culpeper Stone Co.
Brandy Station, a community lying several miles north of town, is the site of a house, whose interior walls bear numerous signatures, comments and images rendered in charcoal by soldiers, both Union and Confederate, during the Civil War. It's appropriately known as the "Graffiti House".
It is often misspelled Culpepper
There have been discussions about combining the town and the county, residents are divided.
Culpeper County was the area of land that student surveyor George Washington had been sent to survey by Lord Fairfax of the House of Burgesses.
Culpeper is the site of the first home for Aged Virginia Baptists, formed in 1945. Today known as Virginia Baptist Homes. The mother community for this organization operates today as Culpeper Baptist Retirement Community.
Culpeper is the setting where the Brannon family lives in the Civil War Battle Series of books by James Reasoner.
Culpeper is home to one of SWIFT's data centers
Culpeper is where the young adult's novel The Deep Cut by Susan Rosson Spain takes place.