Clarke County, Virginia

Clarke County Education, Geography, and History

Clarke County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 14,034. Its county seat is Berryville.

Clarke County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Clarke County Name

Clarke is named for George Rogers Clark, a Continental military leader of the American Revolutionary War.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Clarke County History

Clarke County, Virginia formed from Frederick and Warren Counties. Warren County contributed only a small portion in 1859/60. [Virginia Counties: Those Resulting from Virginia Legislation, by Morgan Poitiaux Robinson, originally published as Bulletin of the Virginia State Library, Volume 9, January, April, July 1916, reprinted 1992 by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD.]

Clarke County was named for George Rogers Clark (spelled without an e), who helped win the Northwest Territory for Virginia during the Revolution. The county was formed from Frederick County in 1836, and part of Warren County was added in 1860. Its area is 174 square miles, and the county seat is Berryville. White Post was named for the large signpost pointing the way to Lord Fairfax's office. During the Civil War, John S. Mosby, "the Gray Ghost" of the Confederacy, raided General Sheridan's supply train in the summer of 1864, in Berryville. The Battle of Cool Spring was fought in Clarke County on July 17th and 18th, 1864. The population is 12,652 according to the 2000 census. Had pages cut from several record books during the Civil War.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 178 square miles (462 km²), of which, 177 square miles (457 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) of it (0.88%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Berkeley County, WV to the north
• Fauquier County, VA to the southeast
• Frederick County, VA to the west
• Jefferson County, WV to the northeast
• Loudoun County, VA to the east
• Warren County, VA to the southwest

Education

Compare More Colleges and Universities

Find more schools to match to your needs.

Start Now