Mecklenburg County, Virginia

Mecklenburg County
Mecklenburg County
County
	Mecklenburg County Courthouse
	Seal
	Location within the U.S. state of Virginia
	Virginia's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 36°41′N 78°22′W / 36.68°N 78.37°W
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Founded	1765
Named for	Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Seat	Boydton
Largest town	South Hill
Area
• Total	679 sq mi (1,760 km2)
• Land	625 sq mi (1,620 km2)
• Water	54 sq mi (140 km2) 7.9%
Population (2020)
• Total	30,319
• Density	45/sq mi (17/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	5th
Website	www.mecklenburgva.com

Mecklenburg County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,319.^[1] Its county seat is Boydton.^[2]

History

Mecklenburg County was organized on March 1, 1765, having split from Lunenburg County in 1764 as the result of the passage of an act by the Virginia General Assembly. Due to new settlement and population increases in the area, the legislature divided Lunenburg into three counties: Lunenburg, Charlotte County, and Mecklenburg.^[3] It was named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,^[4] a British queen of German origin.

The first county government consisted of 13 members: Robert Munford, Richard Witton, John Speed, Henry Delony, Edmund Taylor, Benjamin Baird, John Camp, Thomas Erskine, John Potter, John Cox, Thomas Anderson, John Speed, Jr., and Samuel Hopkins, with Benjamin Baird acting as the first mayor.^[3]

Government

Mecklenburg County is governed by a nine-member Board of Supervisors, each elected from a single-member district. They serve as the county's legislative and policy body, enacting laws, ordinances, and taxes. They appoint a county administrator to conduct day-to-day operations. H. Wayne Carter, III is the current county administrator and Judy P. Sheffield is the current assistant county administrator.

The board members are:^[5]

District 1 - Andy R. Hargrove
District 2 - Glanzy M. Spain, Jr.―Vice Chairman
District 3 - Tom Tanner
District 4 - Claudia H. Lundy
District 5 - Glenn E. Barbour—Chairman
District 6 - Sterling Wilkinson
District 7 - James D. Jennings
District 8 - David A. Brankley
District 9 - Charles Jones

Constitutional officers

Under the Virginia Constitution, each county and city in the state must install constitutional officers. Counties under the Traditional Form of Government must install all five officers. The majority of Virginia counties operate under the Traditional Form. Counties with the County Executive Form, Urban County Executive, or County Manager Plan of Government usually install just three (Clerk, Commonwealth Attorney, and Sheriff), opting for a Director of Finance appointed by the Board to take the place of the Commissioner of Revenue and Treasurer. Examples are Fairfax, Henrico and Prince William Counties. These officers are heads of their respective departments. They consist of:

Clerk of Circuit Court - responsible for all circuit court records civil and criminal, along with all deeds, wills, plats and other records.
Commonwealth's Attorney - responsible to represent the Commonwealth of Virginia in Mecklenburg County Court in all cases, chief prosecuting officer for their jurisdiction.
Commissioner of Revenue - chief assessor of all real estate and personal property within the county, recommends a tax rate to the Board of Supervisors and maintains accurate real estate records for the Land Book.
Treasurer - manages all finances within the county, helps prepare the budget for submission to the Board, and is responsible for the collection of all taxes.
Sheriff - Chief law enforcement officer for their jurisdiction.

These offices are currently held by:

Clerk of Court - Michelle Gordon
Commonwealth Attorney - Allen Nash
Commissioner of Revenue - Lisa Carlton Wagstaff
Treasurer - Marsha Coleman Seamans
Sheriff - Robert (Bobby) Hawkins

County departments and department heads

Listed below are the County facilities, the department housed in that facility and its head.

Goode Bank Building
- Board of Supervisors (See Supervisor's List Above)
- County Administrator's Office- H. Wayne Carter, III (Administrator)
- Economic Development Director's Office- Angela D. Kellett (Director)
- Tourism Office- Jacob P. Bower (Coordinator)
- Building Inspector's Office- Eddie Harris (Chief Inspector)
- Zoning Administrator's Office- Robert L. Hendrick (Zoning Administrator)
- Animal Warden's Office- Doug Blanton (Animal Warden)
- Information Technology Department (IT) - Alex Wells (IT Specialist)
Courthouse
- Circuit Court-Leslie M. Osborn (Judge)
- Circuit Court Clerk's Office- Michelle Gordon (Clerk)
- Commonwealth Attorney's Office- J. Miller (Commonwealth's Attorney)
Mark I. Burnett Building
- Commissioner of Revenue's Office- Lisa Carlton Wagstaff (Commissioner)
  - Real Estate Department- Jo Harrell McLellan (Chief Deputy Commissioner/Real Estate Assessor)
  - Personal Property Department- Violet Puryear(Chief Deputy Commissioner)
- Treasurer's Office- Marsha Coleman Seamans(Treasurer)
- VPI Extension Office- C. Taylor Clarke (Unit Coordinator/ANR Extension Agent)
Hudgins Court Facility
- Social Services- Sandra S. Gregory (Director)
- General District Court- Charles Warren (Judge)
  - General District Clerk's Office- Tammy T. Taylor (Clerk)
- Juvenile & Domestic Court- M. Rand (Judge), S. Anderson Nelson (Judge)
  - J&D Court Clerk's Office- Rebecca D. Inge (Clerk)
  - J&D Court Service Unit
- Sheriff's Office- R.W. (Bobby) Hawkins (Sheriff)
911 Center
- 911 Emergency Communications Office and Dispatch- Ben Duncan (Director)
Jail
- Jail Division of the Sheriff's Office- Roosevelt Terry (Jail Captain)
Post Office Building
- Piedmont Court Services- Jackie T. Boxley (Director)
White Building
- Voter Registrar- Jason Corwin (General Registrar)

Politics

United States presidential election results for Mecklenburg County, Virginia^[6]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	9,266	57.18%	6,803	41.98%	135	0.83%
2016	8,288	55.46%	6,285	42.05%	372	2.49%
2012	7,973	52.88%	6,921	45.90%	183	1.21%
2008	7,817	51.83%	7,127	47.26%	138	0.91%
2004	7,319	57.27%	5,293	41.42%	168	1.31%
2000	6,600	56.63%	4,797	41.16%	257	2.21%
1996	4,933	48.00%	4,408	42.89%	937	9.12%
1992	5,401	49.23%	4,273	38.95%	1,296	11.81%
1988	5,887	63.45%	3,275	35.30%	116	1.25%
1984	6,777	65.69%	3,438	33.33%	101	0.98%
1980	4,853	54.45%	3,790	42.52%	270	3.03%
1976	4,423	50.44%	4,076	46.48%	270	3.08%
1972	6,381	68.55%	2,804	30.12%	124	1.33%
1968	2,750	29.01%	2,667	28.14%	4,061	42.85%
1964	4,976	60.48%	3,238	39.36%	13	0.16%
1960	1,936	42.70%	2,533	55.87%	65	1.43%
1956	1,498	33.78%	2,004	45.20%	932	21.02%
1952	1,891	42.46%	2,525	56.69%	38	0.85%
1948	513	16.80%	2,117	69.34%	423	13.86%
1944	430	14.38%	2,561	85.62%	0	0.00%
1940	308	11.35%	2,402	88.54%	3	0.11%
1936	202	6.88%	2,730	93.05%	2	0.07%
1932	275	11.10%	2,188	88.30%	15	0.61%
1928	784	30.91%	1,752	69.09%	0	0.00%
1924	286	14.62%	1,649	84.30%	21	1.07%
1920	264	13.97%	1,619	85.66%	7	0.37%
1916	222	14.38%	1,317	85.30%	5	0.32%
1912	191	14.39%	1,039	78.30%	97	7.31%

Education

The county's education department is the Mecklenburg County Public Schools. It is managed by the Board of Education. Paul Nichols is the County Schools Superintendent.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 679 square miles (1,760 km²), of which 625 square miles (1,620 km²) is land and 54 square miles (140 km²) (7.9%) is water.^[7]

Adjacent counties

Lunenburg County - north
Brunswick County - east
Warren County, North Carolina - southeast
Vance County, North Carolina - south
Granville County, North Carolina - southwest
Halifax County - west
Charlotte County - northwest

Major highways

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	14,733	—
1800	17,008	15.4%
1810	18,453	8.5%
1820	19,786	7.2%
1830	20,477	3.5%
1840	20,724	1.2%
1850	20,630	−0.5%
1860	20,096	−2.6%
1870	21,318	6.1%
1880	24,610	15.4%
1890	25,359	3.0%
1900	26,551	4.7%
1910	28,956	9.1%
1920	31,208	7.8%
1930	32,622	4.5%
1940	31,933	−2.1%
1950	33,497	4.9%
1960	31,428	−6.2%
1970	29,426	−6.4%
1980	29,444	0.1%
1990	29,241	−0.7%
2000	32,280	10.4%
2010	32,727	1.4%
2020	30,319	−7.4%
U.S. Decennial Census^[8] 1790-1960^[9] 1900-1990^[10] 1990-2000^[11] 2010^[12] 2020^[13]

2020 census

**Mecklenburg County, Virginia – Racial and ethnic composition**
*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 may be of any race.*
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2010^[12]	Pop 2020^[13]	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	19,215	17,864	58.71%	58.92%
Black or African American alone (NH)	11,958	10,364	36.54%	34.18%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	73	73	0.22%	0.24%
Asian alone (NH)	213	205	0.65%	0.68%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	10	0	0.03%	0.00%
Some Other Race alone (NH)	22	110	0.07%	0.36%
Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH)	430	882	1.31%	2.91%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	806	821	2.46%	2.71%
Total	32,727	30,319	100.00%	100.00%

2010 Census

As of the census^[14] of 2010, there were 32,727 people, 12,951 households, and 8,962 families residing in the county. The population density was 52 people per square mile (20 people/km²). There were 17,403 housing units at an average density of 28 units per square mile (11 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 59.24% White, 39.08% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.48% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. 1.21% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 12,951 households, out of which 26.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.00% were married couples living together, 14.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.80% were non-families. 27.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.60% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 26.00% from 45 to 64, and 17.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 97.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,380, and the median income for a family was $37,752. Males had a median income of $26,852 versus $19,609 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,171. About 11.60% of families and 15.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.60% of those under age 18 and 17.30% of those age 65 or over.