Buckingham County, Virginia

Buckingham County Education, Geography, and History

Buckingham County is a rural United States county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and containing the geographic center of the state. Buckingham County is part of the Piedmont region of Virginia, and the county seat is the town of Buckingham.

Buckingham County was created in 1761 from the southeastern portion of Albemarle County and was predominantly farmland. The county was probably named in honor of the Duke of Buckingham, though the precise origin is uncertain. Several changes were made to the borders, until the existing boundaries were established in 1860.

Based on the 2010 census, the county population was 17,146. Buckingham is also part of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Buckingham County Name

Buckingham was probably named for either the English county of Buckingham or for the Duke of Buckingham

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Buckingham County History

Buckingham County, Virginia formed from Albemarle and Appomattox Counties. Appomattox County gave 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.]

Buckingham County was named for either the English county or for the duke of Buckingham. Some sources say that the county's namesake is Archibald Cary's tract of land called Buckingham, on what was then Willis's Creek. It was formed from Albemarle County in 1761. Its area is 582 square miles, and the county seat is Buckingham. The population is 15,623 according to the 2000 census. Buckingham is one of the Commonwealth's Burned Records Counties. County court records were destroyed by fire in 1869. One plat book survived and some wills and deeds were later recorded.

Geography: Land and Water

The geographic center of Virginia is in Buckingham County. As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 584 square miles (1,511 km²), of which, 581 square miles (1,504 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (7 km²) of it (0.46%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Albemarle County, VA to the north
• Appomattox County, VA to the southwest
• Cumberland County, VA to the east
• Fluvanna County, VA to the northeast
• Nelson County, VA to the northwest
• Prince Edward County, VA to the south

Education

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