Farmville is a town in Cumberland and Prince Edward counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 6,845 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County. The Appomattox River runs through the town.
Farmville is the home of Longwood University and is the town nearest to Hampden-Sydney College. It is also at the intersection of US 15 VA 45 and US 460.
History
Civil War history
Farmville was the object of the Confederate Army's desperate push to get rations to feed its soldiers near the end of the War. The rations had originally been destined for Danville, but an alert quartermaster ordered the train back to Farmville. Despite an advance of the cavalry commanded by Fitzhugh Lee, the Confederate Army was checked by the arrival of Union cavalry commanded by Gen. Philip Sheridan and two divisions of infantry. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia found itself soon surrounded. He surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9 , 1865 .
Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
Farmville and Prince Edward County Public Schools were the source of Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County , a case incorporated into Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case that overturned school segregation in the United States. Among the cases consolidated into the Brown decision, the Davis case was the only one involving student protests.
R.R. Moton High School, an all-black school in Farmville named for Robert Russa Moton, suffered from terrible conditions due to underfunding. The school did not have a gymnasium, cafeteria, or teachers' restrooms. Teachers and students did not have desks or blackboards, and due to overcrowding, some students had to take classes in an immobile school bus parked outside. The school's requests for additional funds were denied by the all-white school board.
As a result of the Brown decision, in 1959 the Board of Supervisors for Prince Edward County refused to appropriate any funds for the County School Board at all, effectively closing all public schools rather than integrate them. White students often attended all-white private schools called segregation academies that formed in response. Black students had to go to school elsewhere or foergo their education altogether. Prince Edward County's public schools remained closed for five years. When they finally reopened, the system was fully integrated. Prince Edward County Public Schools now operates single Elementary, Middle, and High Schools for all students, regardless of race.
The former R.R. Moton High School building became a community landmark. In 1998, it was named a National Historic Landmark. It houses the Robert Russa Moton Museum, a center for the study of civil rights in education.
Prince Edward Academy was the longest-surviving of the segregation academies, still teaching students in the 1990s; though technically integrated at that point, the school had very few students of color. Prince Edward Academy was renamed the Fuqua School in honor of J.B. Fuqua, a wealthy businessman who was raised nearby and who has endowed the school.
Geography
Farmville is located at 37°17′52″N 78°23′45″W / 37.29778°N 78.39583°W / 37.29778; -78.39583 (37.297639, -78.395712).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.0 square miles (18.2 km²), of which, 7.0 square miles (18.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.99%) is water.
Farmville is located between Richmond and Lynchburg on U.S. Route 460.
Public Safety
Longwood University Police Department and the Farmville Police department work together to ensure the safety of the town.
One of the more difficult areas to cross is Main Street near the front of the Midtown Shopping Center and the Longwood Landings apartment complex.
Writing to the Farmville Town Council members on this subject is encouraged.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,845 people, 2,050 households, and 1,074 families residing in the town. The population density was 982.5 people per square mile (379.2/km²). There were 2,294 housing units at an average density of 329.3/sq mi (127.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 71.07% White, 25.68% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.05% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 0.48% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.26% of the population.
There were 2,050 households out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.5% were married couples living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.6% were non-families. 38.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.84.
The age distribution, strongly influenced by the presence of Longwood University, is: 14.7% under the age of 18, 40.7% from 18 to 24, 16.5% from 25 to 44, 13.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 67.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 63.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $26,343, and the median income for a family was $33,000. Males had a median income of $30,974 versus $20,764 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,552. About 19.9% of families and 22.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.
College and University
Hampden-Sydney College is the 10th oldest college in America, an all-male private school founded in 1776. Hampden-Sydney is located five miles outside Farmville, VA and has an enrollment of 1,200 students. Longwood University is a public school located in the heart of town with an enrollment of about 5,000. Longwood is mainly known as a teachers school and was once called State Female Normal School. This school is known as the mother of sororities because four major ones were founded here Sigma Sigma Sigma, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Zeta Tau Alpha, and Kappa Delta. Longwood University has also just opened a new recreational complex, and in 2007 construction was finished on a 36,000 square foot, four-story complex consisting of retail stores on the lower floor with Longwood dorms above. They are steadily growing as a university with an addition of a new recreational center that has three floors; exercise machine, weights, and courts on the ground floor, track on the first floor, and offices and classroom settings on the second floor. In 2009, the Cormier Honors Program at Longwood University created a community garden near the corner of Griffin Blvd. and High Street. This piece of land was not being used by the community or the university and the Honor Program saw it as ripe with possibilities. This garden is evidence of the campus’s commitment to sustainability. The honors program wishes to promote sustainability to the community through this garden. By using hand tools and human labor they support reducing the costs of fossil fuels when creating home and community gardens. The Longwood garden conserves water by using “gray water”, which is wastewater produced in the average household, in addition the setting up water barrels and irrigation systems. The garden is also completely organic. Because it is organic, the garden does not use chemical pesticides or herbicides, but rather the workers pull the weeds by hand and use mulch to keep the weeds down. The garden uses limited fossil fuels, relying mainly on mechanical tools and human labor. The university’s recycling program supplies the garden with the organic compost.The garden was also created to preserve a connection to the wartime Victory Gardens and the current White House Garden. The magnolia tree that stands near the Longwood Community Garden originally came from clippings of a tree on the White House grounds.
Today
Farmville is a growing community mainly because of the rise in statewide and national prominence of Lynchburg, Virginia and Richmond, Virginia. Many residents use Farmville as a “bedroom community” and take advantage of the low cost of living. Some have come from northern states to escape the high taxes. Many Longwood alumni are staying in the community after growing up elsewhere. Farmville has grown so much in recent years that even outlying towns are now feeling the boom.
The historic downtown has just been upgraded with the addition of brick sidewalks and trees along Main Street. An eight-screen cinema has been completed east of downtown. Every Tuesday and Saturday mornings in the summer near the old train station a farmers market is open, where farmers sell their fresh goods.
2008 also sees the opening of a brand new YMCA behind the new Lowes just recently built as well. This YMCA includes an
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