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.
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
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 Virginia, and became part of
CSX Transportation in the 1990s. It is a major freight railroad line for north-south traffic and the corridor also hosts many
Amtrak trains. Although the closest
Virginia Railway Express (VRE) commuter passenger rail service to
Northern Virginia is currently accessed at Fredericksburg, future VRE extensions southward may include service at Milford which would be very convenient for Bowling Green and the surrounding area.
In modern times, Bowling Green is located along
Virginia State Route 2, one of the two earlier highways between
Richmond and
Fredericksburg. In later years,
U.S. Route 301 was built through the area, connecting Richmond with
Baltimore, Maryland with what was effectively an eastern bypass of the
Washington, D.C. area for north-south traffic along the U.S. east coast. A new road,
Virginia State Route 207 was established from Bowling Green west to
Carmel Church, where it intersects
Interstate 95 and
U.S. Route 1, major north-south highways.
In 1941, the United States government acquired of Caroline County to the north and east of Bowling Green and established the A.P. Hill Military Reservation. Known in modern times as
Fort A.P. Hill, it was named for a Virginia military hero
United States Army and later
Confederate General
Ambrose Powell Hill, who was killed just prior to the end of the War in 1865. At the massive complex, thousands of regular military and reserve troops undergo training each year. It has also been the site of national Jamboree gatherings of the
Boy Scouts of America.
Port Royal
Port Royal is one of the area's more historic towns. It was first established in 1652 as a port on a navigable portion of the
Rappahannock River during an era when waterways were the major method of transportation of people and property in the British
Colony of Virginia. It was an important point for export of tobacco, Virginia's
cash crop.
Local tradition holds that Port Royal was named after the Roy family. Dorothy Roy and her husband John owned a warehouse chartered by the crown, a
ferry service across the Rappahannock River to
King George County and a tavern. In the 21st century, the chimneys of the Roy house are preserved landmarks in the town.
Port Royal was incorporated as a town in 1744. The "town green", upon which stands today the Town Hall and the firehouse, was forever reserved "for public and civic use".
Shipping of property from the port began to decline after completion of railroads which began in Virginia in the 1830s. The last scheduled passenger ship service ended in 1932, supplanted by highways. However, Port Royal was served by the new highways which became
U.S. Route 17 and
U.S. Route 301, with their crossroads at Port Royal.
Notable people
- Edmund Pendleton, (September 9, 1721 – October 23, 1803) was a Virginia politician, lawyer and judge, active in the American Revolutionary War.
- Thomas P. Westendorf (1848-1923) was a famous composer
- Col. John Baylor III (1705-1772) of Newmarket, Virgina planter and member of House of Burgesses; one of the most important turfmen and breeders in colonial America
See also
