Pittsylvania County, Virginia

Pittsylvania County, Virginia
Pittsylvania County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 60,501. Chatham is the county seat.
Pittsylvania County is included in the Danville, VA Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the United States (7th largest in the world) is located in Pittsylvania County. (see Uranium mining in Virginia.)
History
Originally "Pittsylvania" was a name suggested for an unrealized British colony to be located primarily in what is now West Virginia. Pittsylvania County would not have been within this proposed colony, which subsequently was named Vandalia.
Pittsylvania County was formed in 1767 with territory annexed from Halifax County. It was named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768, and who opposed some harsh colonial policies of the period.
In 1777 the western part of Pittsylvania County was partitioned off to became Patrick Henry County.
Maud Clement's History of Pittsylvania County notes the following:
"Despite the settlers' intentions, towns failed to develop for two reasons: the generally low level of economic activity in the area and the competition from plantation settlements already providing the kind of marketing and purchasing services typically offered by a town. Plantation settlements along the rivers, particularly at ferrying points, became commercial centers. The most important for early Pittsylvania was that of Sam Pannill, a Scots-Irishman, who at the end of the eighteenth century, while still a young man, set up a plantation town at Green Hill on the north side of the Staunton River in Campbell County. (Clement 15)
"Its economy was tobacco-dominated and reliant on a growing slave labor force. It was a county without towns or a commercial center. Plantation villages on the major river thoroughfares were the only centers of trade, until the emergence of Danville. (Clement 23)"
The city of Danville's history up through the antebellum period overall is an expression of the relationship between the town and the planters who influenced its development.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.9%) is water. It is the largest county in Virginia by land area and second-largest by total area. The county is bounded on the north by the Roanoke River (this stretch of the river is known as the Staunton River), bisected by the Banister River running eastward through the center, and is drained on the south by the Dan River, flowing eastward.
Districts
The county is divided into seven districts:
Banister
Callands-Gretna
Chatham-Blairs
Dan River
Staunton River
Tunstall
Westover
Adjacent counties and cities
In Virginia:
Bedford County - Northwest (across Smith Mountain Lake)
Campbell County - North/Northeast
Franklin County - West/Northwest
Halifax County - East
Henry County - West/Southwest
Danville - South (independent city partially within borders of Pittsylvania County)
In North Carolina:
Caswell County, North Carolina - South/Southeast
Rockingham County, North Carolina - South/Southwest
Major highways
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.
2010 Census
According to the 2010 United States Census, there are 60,949 people, and 26,687 households in the county. The population density was . There were 31,656 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 76.20% White, 21.50% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.37% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. 2.70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 26,687 households, out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.93.
The median income for a household in the county was $44,356. The per capita income for the county was $23,597. About 12.60% of the population were below the poverty line.
Government
Pittsylvania County is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Supervisors. Management of the county is vested in a Board-appointed County Administrator.
There are also five elected Constitutional Officers:
Clerk of the Circuit Court: Mark Scarce (I)
Commonwealth's Attorney: Robert Bryan Haskins (R)
Sheriff: Michael "Mike" Taylor (I)
Commissioner of Revenue: Robin Goard (I)
Treasurer: Vincent Shorter (I)
Communities
Incorporated Towns
Chatham
Gretna
Hurt
Census-designated places
Blairs
Motley
Mount Hermon
Other unincorporated communities
Ajax
Bachelors Hall
Banister
Beaver Park
Brosville
Brights
Brutus
Buford
Callahans Hills
Callands
Cartersville
Cascade
Cedar Forest
Cedar Hill
Chalk Level
Climax
Coles Hill
Dry Fork
Dundee
Ebenezer
Flint Hill
Galveston
Glenland
Grady
Green Acres
Green Pond
Greenfield
Grit
Henrys Mill
Hermosa
Hill Grove
Hinesville
Hollywood
Hopewell
Java
Keeling
Kentuck
Lakewood
Laniers Mill
Laurel Grove
Leaksville Junction
Level Run
Lucks
Markham
Motleys Mill
Mount Airy
Mount Cross
Mountain Hill
Museville
Natal
Peytonsburg
Pickaway
Pickerel
Pittsville
Pleasant Gap
Pleasant Grove
Pullens
Ray
Red Oak Hollow
Redeye
Renan
Riceville
Ridgeway
Ringgold
Rondo
Sandy River
Sharon
Sheva
Shockoe
Soapstone
Sonans
Spring Garden
Stony Mill
Straightstone
Sutherlin
Swansonville
Sycamore
Tightsqueeze
Toshes
Transco Village
Weal
West Fork
Whitfield
Whitmell
Whittles
Witt
Woodlake Park
Woodlawn
Worlds
Vance
Vandola
See also
List of Virginia counties
National Register of Historic Places listings in Pittsylvania County, Virginia
Uranium mining in the US, Virginia
References
External links
Pittsylvania County Official Website
WMDV TV44/Danville
Virginia counties
1767 establishments in Virginia
Danville, Virginia micropolitan area
Populated places established in 1767