About Us
|
Welcome to Isle of Wight County in Virginia!
 Isle of Wight County is one of the oldest county governments in the United States of America. Nestled on the shores of Virginia's James River, Isle of Wight's residents enjoy the rural nature of the County coupled with the quaint atmosphere of the two incorporated Towns, Smithfield and Windsor.
History
During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the settlement at Jamestown in 1607, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. Captain John Smith in 1608 crossed the James River and obtained fourteen bushels of corn from a tribe of Native Americans called Warrosquyoackes. In the next few years, several plantations were established along the shore in the area south of the river. By 1634, the Virginia Colony consisted of eight shires or counties with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. One of these was Warrosquyoake Shire, renamed Isle of Wight County in 1637, after the island in the English channel of the same name. The name was probably changed due to the difficulty of spelling and pronouncing its Native American name and because the Isle of Wight had been the home of some of the principal colonists. National Historic Landmark, St. Luke's Church, which was built in 1632, is located in the county and is the nation's only original Gothic church and the oldest existing church of English foundation in America.
In 1732 a considerable portion of the northwestern part of the original shire was added to Brunswick County; and in 1748 the entire county of Southampton was carved out of it. Geography The county has a total land area of 316 sq mi. The county is bounded by the James River on the north and the Blackwater River to the south. The land is generally low-lying, with many swamps and pocosins. Demographics As of the 2000 Census, there were 29,728 people, 11,319 households, and 8,670 families residing in the county. The population density was 94/sq mi. There were 12,066 housing units at an average density of 38/sq mi. The racial makeup of the county was 71.08% White, 27.15% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.28% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 0.85% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 11,319 households out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.40% were married couples living together, 12.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.40% were non-families. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 2.99. In the county, the population was spread out with 25.40% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 29.60% from 25 to 44, 26.20% from 45 to 64, and 12.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $45,387, and the median income for a family was $52,597. Males had a median income of $37,853 versus $22,990 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,235. About 6.60% of families and 8.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.80% of those under age 18 and 11.90% of those age 65 or over. |