Pittsylvania County, Virginia

Pittsylvania County Education, Geography, and History

Etymology - Origin of Pittsylvania County Name

Pitt is named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Pittsylvania County History

Pittsylvania County, Virginia formed from Halifax County. Legislative enactment in 1766. Organized in 1767. [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.]

Pittsylvania County was named in honor of William Pitt, earl of Chatham, a great English statesman. It was formed from Halifax County in 1766. Its area is 1,012 square miles, and the county seat is Chatham.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 978 square miles (2,533 km²), making it the largest county in Virginia. 971 square miles (2,514 km²) of it is land and 7 square miles (19 km²) of it (0.76%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Bedford County, Virginia - northwest
• Campbell County, Virginia - northeast
• Halifax County, Virginia - east
• Caswell County, North Carolina - southeast
• Danville, Virginia - south
• Rockingham County, North Carolina - southwest
• Henry County, Virginia - west/southwest
• Franklin County, Virginia - west/northwest

Education

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