Grayson County, Virginia

Grayson County is a located in the  of the  &mdash; officially, "" &mdash; of. As of the, the population was 17,917. Its is. It is bounded on the northwest by ; on the northeast by ; on the southwest by ; on the south by, on the southeast by , on the east by the of  and by , and on the west by  and. The state's highest peak, (5729 ft.) is in Grayson County.

History
Grayson County was founded in from part of. It was named for William Grayson, delegate to the Continental Congress form to  and one of the first two U.S. Senators from Virginia.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,155 (446 ). 1,146 km² (443 mi²) of it is land and 8 km² (3 mi²) of it (0.73%) is water. As noted above, the state's highest peak, is in Grayson, and the county's average altitude is the highest in.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 17,917 people, 7,259 households, and 5,088 families residing in the county. The was 16/km² (40/mi²). There were 9,123 housing units at an average density of 8/km² (21/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.70%, 6.79% or , 0.12% , 0.07% , 0.03% , 0.70% from , and 0.60% from two or more races. 1.55% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 7,259 households out of which 26.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.60% were living together, 8.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.90% were non-families. 26.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.77.

In the county, the population was spread out with 19.50% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 26.20% from 45 to 64, and 16.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 107.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $28,676, and the median income for a family was $35,076. Males had a median income of $24,126 versus $17,856 for females. The for the county was $16,768. About 10.00% of families and 13.60% of the population were below the, including 18.80% of those under age 18 and 16.30% of those age 65 or over.

Public High Schools
,

Private High Schools
,

Culture
Located in the Appalachian region of the United States, Grayson County has long been famous for its traditional, or "" music and musicians. Although the entire Appalachian region is known for its music, the region around, and ,  is one of the areas where this music has remained strongest, even among young people. The Old Fiddler's Convention, one of the most prominent traditional music contests in the United States, has been held annually in Galax since . Grayson County is also the home of other fiddlers' conventions and old time and bluegrass festivals such as the Grayson County Fiddlers Convention, Fries Fiddlers Convention, and the Wayne C. Henderson Guitar Festival. The Whitetop Mountain Band, The New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters, The Wolfe Brothers String Band, and the Konnarock Critters are among many of the best known old time bands of the area.