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Giles County, Virginia
Giles County Courthouse - Front View
Giles County Courthouse
Seal of Giles County, Virginia
Seal
Map of Virginia highlighting Giles County
Location in the state of Virginia
Map of the U.S
Virginia's location in the U.S.
Founded 1806
Named for William Branch Giles
Seat Pearisburg
Largest town Pearisburg
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

360 sq mi (932 km²)
356 sq mi (922 km²)
4.6 sq mi (12 km²), 1.3
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

16,787
Congressional district 9th
Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website www.VirginiasMtnPlayground.com

Giles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia on the West Virginia state line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,787.[1] Its county seat is Pearisburg.[2]

Giles County is included in the Blacksburg-Christiansburg, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Giles County is the location of Mountain Lake, one of only two natural fresh water lakes in Virginia. The lake drains into Little Stony Creek, which passes over a waterfall known as The Cascades before reaching the New River.

History[]

William Branch Giles

William Branch Giles, for whom the county was named

Giles County was established in 1806 from Montgomery, Monroe, Wythe, and Tazewell counties. The county is named for William Branch Giles[3] who was born in Amelia County in 1762. Giles became a lawyer and from there was elected to the United States House of Representatives where he served from 1790 to 1815. He also served in the Virginia General Assembly from 1816 to 1822. In 1827, he was elected Governor. In all, he served his nation and state around a total of forty years.

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 360 square miles (930 km2), of which 356 square miles (920 km2) is land and 4.6 square miles (12 km2) (1.3%) is water.[4]

Adjacent counties[]

National protected area[]

  • Jefferson National Forest (part)

Major highways[]

  • I-73 I-73 (future)
  • US 219 US 219 (Federal Street)
  • US 460 US 460 (Virginia Avenue)
  • Virginia 42 SR 42 (Virginia State Route 42) (disconnected; one piece comes in from Bland County to VA 100 while the other goes from U.S. 460 into Craig County)
  • Virginia 61 SR 61 (Wolf Creek Highway outside of Narrows)
  • Virginia 100 SR 100 (Virginia State Route 100)

Railroads[]

  • Norfolk Southern (Virginia Division)

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1810 3,745
1820 4,521 20.7%
1830 5,274 16.7%
1840 5,307 0.6%
1850 6,570 23.8%
1860 6,883 4.8%
1870 5,875 −14.6%
1880 8,794 49.7%
1890 9,090 3.4%
1900 10,793 18.7%
1910 11,623 7.7%
1920 11,901 2.4%
1930 12,804 7.6%
1940 14,635 14.3%
1950 18,956 29.5%
1960 17,219 −9.2%
1970 16,741 −2.8%
1980 17,810 6.4%
1990 16,366 −8.1%
2000 16,657 1.8%
2010 17,286 3.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[5]
1790–1960[6] 1900–1990[7]
1990–2000[8] 2010[9] 2020[10]

2020 census[]

Giles County, Virginia - Demographic Profile
(NH = Non-Hispanic)
Race / Ethnicity Pop 2010[9] Pop 2020[10] % 2010 % 2020
White alone (NH) 16,580 15,673 95.92% 93.36%
Black or African American alone (NH) 259 238 1.50% 1.42%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 19 28 0.11% 0.17%
Asian alone (NH) 54 69 0.31% 0.41%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 0 0 0.00% 0.00%
Some Other Race alone (NH) 7 19 0.04% 0.11%
Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) 158 516 0.91% 3.07%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 209 244 1.21% 1.45%
Total 17,286 16,787 100.00% 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[11] of 2010, there were 17,286 people, 7,215 households, and 4,899 families residing in the county. The population density was 48 people per square mile (18/km2). There were 8,319 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile (9/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 96.74% White, 1.51% Black or African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.36% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races. 1.21% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 7,215 households, out of which 29.27% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.46% were married couples living together, 10.49% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.10% were non-families. 27.86% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.56% 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 2.88.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.70% under the age of 18, 4.89% from 20 to 24, 23.85% from 25 to 44, 29.43% from 45 to 64, and 18.03% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.14 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.55 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,231, and the median income for a family was $53,750. Males had a median income of $41,521 versus $36,886 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,766. About 6.60% of families (2000 census) and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line[12](2012), including 17.70% of those under age 18 (2012)and 10.50% of those age 65 or over (2000 census).

Government[]

Board of Supervisors[]

  • At-Large District: Paul W. "Chappy" Baker (I)
  • At-Large District: Richard "Ricky" McCoy (I)
  • Central District: Jeffrey Morris (I)
  • Eastern District: Perry Martin (I)
  • Western District: John Lawson (I)

Constitutional officers[]

  • Clerk of the Circuit Court: Sherry E Gautier (I)
  • Commissioner of the Revenue: Lisa Corell (I)
  • Commonwealth's Attorney: Robert M. Lilly, Jr. (I)
  • Sheriff: W. Morgan Millirons (I)
  • Treasurer: Angela L. Higginbotham (I)

Giles is represented by Democrat John S. Edwards in the Virginia Senate, Republican Jason Ballard in the Virginia House of Delegates, and Republican H. Morgan Griffith in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Law enforcement[]

The Giles County Sheriff's Department patrols and investigates crimes in the county. It also serves process, provides security for the county court, and operates the county's E-911 service.[13] Since the establishment of the Sheriff's Office, 1 officer has died in the line of duty, in 1954.[14]

Presidential election results[]

United States presidential election results for Giles County, Virginia[15]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 6,876 74.93% 2,156 23.50% 144 1.57%
2016 5,910 71.97% 1,950 23.75% 352 4.29%
2012 4,660 61.66% 2,730 36.12% 168 2.22%
2008 4,462 57.24% 3,192 40.95% 141 1.81%
2004 4,320 57.62% 3,047 40.64% 131 1.75%
2000 3,574 52.40% 3,004 44.05% 242 3.55%
1996 2,566 38.15% 3,196 47.52% 964 14.33%
1992 3,023 39.61% 3,346 43.84% 1,263 16.55%
1988 3,490 52.50% 3,042 45.76% 116 1.74%
1984 4,340 58.18% 3,047 40.84% 73 0.98%
1980 2,978 42.91% 3,627 52.26% 335 4.83%
1976 2,731 40.53% 3,779 56.08% 229 3.40%
1972 3,671 64.34% 1,869 32.75% 166 2.91%
1968 2,722 43.36% 2,045 32.58% 1,510 24.06%
1964 1,952 37.78% 3,133 60.63% 82 1.59%
1960 2,030 46.91% 2,214 51.17% 83 1.92%
1956 2,270 51.84% 2,016 46.04% 93 2.12%
1952 1,935 52.94% 1,717 46.98% 3 0.08%
1948 1,448 46.48% 1,529 49.09% 138 4.43%
1944 1,203 41.34% 1,703 58.52% 4 0.14%
1940 1,024 37.32% 1,716 62.54% 4 0.15%
1936 1,047 40.33% 1,547 59.59% 2 0.08%
1932 1,016 36.26% 1,754 62.60% 32 1.14%
1928 1,313 50.38% 1,293 49.62% 0 0.00%
1924 852 38.21% 1,319 59.15% 59 2.65%
1920 877 44.14% 1,104 55.56% 6 0.30%
1916 596 41.39% 839 58.26% 5 0.35%
1912 267 21.43% 725 58.19% 254 20.39%
1908 605 45.59% 705 53.13% 17 1.28%
1904 588 43.82% 721 53.73% 33 2.46%
1900 858 45.06% 1,010 53.05% 36 1.89%
1896 777 42.32% 993 54.08% 66 3.59%
1892 399 24.58% 1,059 65.25% 165 10.17%
1888 640 38.88% 977 59.36% 29 1.76%
1884 597 39.88% 900 60.12% 0 0.00%
1880 215 20.83% 817 79.17% 0 0.00%



Communities[]

Towns[]

Giles County has five incorporated towns. Only nine other counties have more towns than Giles. Of the 191 towns in Virginia, Glen Lyn is the fifth smallest in population. Thirty-nine percent of Giles residents live in one of the five towns.[16]

Town Population
in 2014[16]
Glen Lyn 117
Narrows 1,964
Pearisburg 2,699
Pembroke 1,087
Rich Creek 752

Unincorporated communities[]

  • Eggleston
  • Goldbond
  • Hoges Chapel
  • Kimballton
  • Maybrook
  • Newport
  • Prospectdale
  • Ripplemead
  • Staffordsville
  • Trigg
  • White Gate

Education[]

Giles county is home to three public elementary/middle schools, two public high schools, and one technical school:[17]

Eastern Elementary/Middle School (Pembroke)
Macy McClaugherty Elementary/Middle School (Pearisburg)
Narrows Elementary/Middle School (Narrows)
Giles High School (Pearisburg)
Narrows High School (Narrows)
Giles County Technology Center (Pearisburg)

The schools have a combined enrollment of 2425 as of mid 2014.

See also[]

  • Giles County Sheriff's Office
  • National Register of Historic Places in Giles County, Virginia

References[]

  1. ^ "Giles County, Virginia". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0500000US51071. Retrieved January 30, 2022. 
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  3. ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off.. pp. 137. https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA137. 
  4. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html. 
  5. ^ "Census of Population and Housing from 1790-2000". US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html. 
  6. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  7. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/va190090.txt. 
  8. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf. 
  9. ^ a b "P2 HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE - 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) - Giles County, Virginia". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=0500000US51071&tid=DECENNIALPL2010.P2. 
  10. ^ a b "P2 HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE - 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) - Giles County, Virginia". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=0500000US51071&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2. 
  11. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov. 
  12. ^ "Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/did/www/saipe/data/interactive/#view=StateAndCounty&utilBtn=&yLB=0&stLB=47&cLB=0&dLB=0&gLB=0&usSts_cbSelected=false&usTot_cbSelected=false&stateTot_cbSelected=true&pLB=4&multiYearSelected=false&multiYearAlertFlag=false&prStateFlag=false&invalidSDYearsFlag=false. 
  13. ^ "Sheriff" (in en-US). Virginia's Mountain Playground. https://virginiasmtnplayground.com/sheriff/. 
  14. ^ Officer Down Memorial page
  15. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 
  16. ^ a b "Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions Datasets: Subcounty Resident Population Estimates: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2014/SUB-EST2014.html. 
  17. ^ "School Data". Giles County. http://sbo.gilesk12.org/curenr.pdf. 

External links[]

Template:Giles County, Virginia

Coordinates: 37°19′N 80°42′W / 37.32, -80.70

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Giles County, Virginia. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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