Lancaster County | |
|---|---|
 Central Lancaster, the county seat, with the county courthouse visible | |
 Location within the U.S. state of Virginia | |
 Virginia's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 37°43′N76°25′W / 37.71°N 76.41°W | |
| Country |  |
| State |  |
| Founded | 1651 |
| Seat | Lancaster |
| Largest town | Kilmarnock |
| Area | |
| • Total | 231 sq mi (600 km2) |
| • Land | 133 sq mi (340 km2) |
| • Water | 98 sq mi (250 km2) 42.4% |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 11,391 |
| • Estimate (2018) [1] | 10,783 |
| • Density | 49/sq mi (19/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
| Website | www |
Lancaster County is a county located on the Northern Neck in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,391. [2] Its county seat is Lancaster. [3]
In the United States, a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 U.S. states, while Louisiana and Alaska have functionally equivalent subdivisions called parishes and boroughs, respectively.
The Northern Neck is the northernmost of three peninsulas on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This peninsula is bounded by the Potomac River on the north and the Rappahannock River on the south. It encompasses the following Virginia counties: Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland.
The 2010 United States Census is the twenty-third and most recent United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving to spot-check randomly selected neighborhoods and communities. As part of a drive to increase the count's accuracy, 635,000 temporary enumerators were hired. The population of the United States was counted as 308,745,538, a 9.7% increase from the 2000 Census. This was the first census in which all states recorded a population of over half a million people as well as the first in which all 100 largest cities recorded populations of over 200,000.
Contents
- History
- Geography
- Adjacent counties
- Major highways
- Demographics
- Government
- Board of Supervisors
- Constitutional officers
- Communities
- Towns
- Census-designated places
- Other unincorporated communities
- Landmarks and attractions
- See also
- References
Located on the Northern Neck near the mouth of the Rappahannock River, Lancaster County is part of the Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace wine-growing region recognized by the United States as an American Viticultural Area. Lancaster County is the most densely populated county in the Northern Neck. The largest town in Lancaster County is Kilmarnock, Virginia. The county's area code is '804'.
The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately 195 miles (314 km) in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west where it rises, across the Piedmont to the Fall Line, and onward through the coastal plain to flow into the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.
The Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace AVA is an American Viticultural Area in eastern portion of the state of Virginia. Wines made from grapes grown in Westmoreland, King George, Northumberland, Lancaster, and Richmond counties may use this appellation. The area is located on a peninsula of land between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers in the Tidewater region of Virginia and known as the Northern Neck. This provides a climate which features more frost free days than the rest of Virginia. The tip of the Northern Neck is located at the Chesapeake Bay. The hardiness zone is 7b.
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol, carbon dioxide, and heat. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts produce different styles of wine. These variations result from the complex interactions between the biochemical development of the grape, the reactions involved in fermentation, the terroir, and the production process. Many countries enact legal appellations intended to define styles and qualities of wine. These typically restrict the geographical origin and permitted varieties of grapes, as well as other aspects of wine production. Wines not made from grapes include rice wine and fruit wines such as plum, cherry, pomegranate, currant and elderberry.
