Frederick County, Virginia

Frederick County Education, Geography, and History

Frederick County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 78,305. Its county seat is Winchester. The county was formed in 1743 by the splitting of Orange County. It is Virginia's northernmost county.

Frederick County is included in the Winchester, VA-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Frederick County Name

Frederick is named for Frederick, Prince of Wales.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Frederick County History

Frederick County, Virginia formed from Orange and Augusta Counties, Virginia. Legislative enactment in 1738. Organized in 1743. Augusta County gave only a small portion, at a later date than Orange County. [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.]

Frederick County was named for Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales and eldest son of George II. It was formed from Orange County in 1738, but the county government was not organized until 1743. Part of Augusta County was added later. Its area is 426 square miles, and the county seat is Winchester.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 416 square miles (1,076 km²), of which, 415 square miles (1,074 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (3 km²) of it (0.24%) is water. This is the northernmost county in the state of Virginia.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Clarke County, Virginia - east
• Warren County, Virginia - south
• Shenandoah County, Virginia - southwest
• Hardy County, West Virginia - southwest
• Hampshire County, West Virginia - west
• Morgan County, West Virginia - north
• Berkeley County, West Virginia - northeast
• Winchester, Virginia - center (enclave)

Education

High Schools

James Wood High School
Millbrook High School
Sherando High School

Colleges

Lord Fairfax Community College

Universities

Shenandoah University

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