Caroline County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the population was 22,121. Its county seat is Bowling Green. Caroline County is also home to Meadow Farms Stables, the birthplace of the renowned racehorse Secretariat, winner of the 1973 Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown.
History
founding, colonial era
Caroline County was established in the British Colony of Virginia in 1728 from Essex, King and Queen, and King William counties. It was named for Caroline of Ansbach, the wife of King George II of Great Britain.
During the Colonial Period, Caroline County was the birthplace of Thoroughbred Horse Racing in North America. Arabian horses were imported from England to provide the basis for American breeding stock.
Patriot Edmund Pendleton played a large role in the Virginia Resolution for Independence (1775) and Caroline native, John Penn, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence , albeit as a delegate from North Carolina.
19th century
Explorers William Clark and his slave York, were members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-1805); both were born near what is now Ladysmith.
In 1847, after being a member of the first graduating class of Virginia Military Institute (VMI), William "Little Billy" Mahone (1826-1895) of Southampton County began teaching at Rappahannock Academy in Caroline County. He was to become prominent as a railroad builder and developer, Confederate General, leader of Virginia's short-lived Readjuster Party, and served as a United States Senator.
The following year, during Union General Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign, Confederate troops under General George E. Pickett fought Union troops near Milford.
Just as the Civil War was concluding in April, 1865, President Lincoln was assassinated in Washington, DC as part of a conspiracy to kill the leaders of the United States. As the conspirators fled, a manhunt was launched. After 10 days, in the wee hours of April 26, John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, and fellow conspirator David E. Herold were tracked down to Garrett's farm about 3 miles west of Port Royal, where they had taken refuge in a barn. Booth was fatally shot during their capture by federal troops. Herold was returned to Washington, where he was executed by hanging with 3 co-conspirators on July 7, 1865.
20th century
In 1958, Richard and Mildred Loving successfully challenged miscegenation laws in Caroline County, Virginia when they married. The Supreme Court of the United States found anti-miscegenation statutes to be unconstitutional in Loving v. Virginia in 1967.
At the southern edge of the county, The Meadow, a farm originally established in 1810, became a premier facility for breeding, raising and training race horses. In 1972, Riva Ridge, raised at The Meadow, won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, two of the three events of the Triple Crown. The following year, Secretariat born at The Meadow won the famous Triple Crown for the Chenery family's Meadow Stable.
21st century
In 2003, The State Fair of Virginia purchased Meadow Farm, and began planning and developing the facility to become a new home for the annual Virginia State Fair, which was held for many years at locations in Richmond and Henrico County, and was increasingly squeezed out of the various locations by expanding development around it and growth of the event itself. Most recently, it was held at Strawberry Hill in central Henrico County at the facility which also became Richmond International Raceway. Beginning in September, 2009, the annual Virginia State Fair will be held at the new Meadow Event Park in Caroline County. The annual Richmond Celtic Games and Festival will also be held at the new facility. June 19, 2009 The National Civic League presented Caroline County with one of ten All-America City Awards given each year.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 539 square miles (1,396 km²), of which, 533 square miles (1,379 km²) of it is land and 6 square miles (16 km²) of it (1.18%) is water. Caroline County is 30 miles (48 km) north of the capitol in Richmond and 32 miles (51 km) South of Fredericksburg.
Caroline County is bounded on the north by Stafford and King George counties; on the south by Hanover County; on the east by King William, King and Queen, and Essex counties; and on the west by Spotsylvania County.
The county is also home to a quarry that has proved a rich source of pre-historic whale and shark skeletons. The whole county is located in what was in ancient times an ocean and is now known to palaentologists as the middle Miocene Calvert Formation of Virginia. A whale skeleton discovered there in 1990 was later proved to be a new whale species (see Eobalaenoptera harrisoni ).
Caroline County is serviced by Interstate 95, US 1 and US 301. These three routes are very important for interregional travel.
National protected area
- Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge (part) Port Royal unit
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,121 people, 8,021 households, and 6,007 families residing in the county. The population density was 42 people per square mile (16/km²). There were 8,889 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 62.57% White, 34.37% Black or African American, 0.78% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.52% from other races, and 1.37% from two or more races. 1.33% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 8,021 households out of which 31.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.30% were married couples living together, 13.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.10% were non-families. 20.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the county, the population was spread out with 24.80% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 25.00% from 45 to 64, and 12.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.50 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $39,845, and the median income for a family was $43,533. Males had a median income of $31,701 versus $22,455 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,342. About 7.20% of families and 9.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.00% of those under age 18 and 11.70% of those age 65 or over.
Economic growth in Caroline in the last five years have been rapid, mostly due to affordable housing and close proximity to Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. In 2005, Caroline was recognized as the 10th Fastest Growing County in America. Also in 2005, Caroline County won the Virginia Community Economic Development Award (CEDA) for Business Recruitment and the CEDA Award for the entire south from the Southern Economic Development Council.
Among recent Economic Development successes in Caroline have been the recruitment of the State Fair of Virginia, to open in 2009 (previously in Richmond since 1854 when the first State Fair opened in Monroe Park), Remuda Programs for Eating Disorders, The Virginia Sports Complex, and the multi-national electronics firm, M.C. Dean.
Towns
There are two incorporated towns in Caroline County. They are:
- Bowling Green
- Port Royal
Bowling Green
The town of Bowling Green was earlier known as New Hope Village. One of the earliest stage roads in the colony ran through the area from Richmond to the Potomac River, where a ferry crossing was operated to Charles County, Maryland. One of the first stage lines in America to maintain a regular schedule operated along this road. New Hope Tavern was built along the road prior to 1700, and the area around it became known as New Hope Village.
The town was renamed for "Bowling Green" which was the estate of town founder, Colonel John Waller Hoomes, who donated a considerable amount of land when the community became the county seat in 1803. The Bowling Green estate took its name from the Hoomes family's ancestral seat back in England, "Bolling Green". Such naming was a tradition in the Colony of Virginia. The Bowling Green Estate was the site of the first track built to race horses in America. The mansion of Major Thomas Hoomes, built in 1667, is now called the "Old Mansion". A prominent town landmark, it is the oldest continuously inhabited residence in Virginia. The Old Mansion is now on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.
The present Caroline County Court House was built in 1835 and Bowling Green was incorporated as a town about 2 years later, in 1837. The town is best-known as the "cradle of American horse racing" and as the home of the second oldest Masonic Lodge.
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (chartered in 1834) was built through nearby Milford (just west of town) and reached Fredericksburg by 1837. This important rail link between several major northern railroads at Washington, D.C. and other major southern railroads at Richmond was long partially-owned by the Commonwealth of Virgi
Caroline County, Virginia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Caroline County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the population was 22,121. Its county seat is Bowling Green [1]
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