Southampton County, Virginia

Southampton County is a located in the  of, a  of the. As of the, the population was 17,482. Its is.

Shire to County
During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the in 1607, English settlers and explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. By 1634, the English colony of Virginia consisted of eight s or with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. Southampton County was originally part of the. The shire was renamed in 1637.

In 1749, the portion of Isle of Wight County west of the became Southampton County. Later, part of, which is now the of , was added to Southampton County.

Southampton County may have been named for, a major city in England, or for one of the founders of the and a great supporter of the colonization of Virginia,.

Nat Turner
In 1831, Southampton County was the location of the most serious rebellion in United States history. On August 21-22, the infamous, led by the slave , resulted in the deaths of 58 whites and an unknown number of blacks. Turner and his followers were captured, tried and 20 were hanged.

William Mahone
(1826-1895) was born in Southampton County, in the tiny community of Monroe, which was located on the about 8 mi south of present-day. His parents were Fielding and Martha Mahone. They moved to Courtland in 1840, where Fielding Mahone ran a hotel (tavern). Young Billy Mahone attended (VMI), trained as a, and graduated in the class of 1847. He worked as a school before, in 1853, he was hired to build the  (Now ).

In 1855, he married Otelia Butler, the daughter of the late Dr. of, who had been Virginia State Treasurer prior to his death in 1853. Popular legend has it that William Mahone and his cultured wife, (1837-1911), traveled along the newly completed Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad naming stations. Otelia was reading Ivanhoe a book written by Sir. From his historical Scottish novels, Otelia chose the place names of, and.

Otelia Mahone is said to have tapped the Scottish Clan "McIvor" for the name of. Later, when they could not agree, it is said that they became even more creative, and invented a new name, which is how the tiny community of was created. The N&P railroad was completed in 1858.

William Mahone became a in the  during the, while his wife Otelia served as a  in. He later led the state's and became a Senator in the.

A large portion of between  and  is named in honor of General William Mahone.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,560 (602 ). 1,553 km² (600 mi²) of it is land and 7 km² (3 mi²) of it (0.46%) is water.

William Mahone, described above, never heard the name Courtland---the town was created by the General Assembly of Virginia in 1790 as "Jerusalem." The name was changed to Courtland in 1888.

Southampton County is bounded by the on the east and the  on the west. The flows through the center of the county. All three rivers are tributaries of the, which flows south into ,. The Blackwater River separates Southampton County from, and the Meherrin River separates it from.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 17,482 people, 6,279 households, and 4,502 families residing in the county. The was 11/km² (29/mi²). There were 7,058 housing units at an average density of 5/km² (12/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 55.96%, 42.87% or , 0.20% , 0.18% , 0.01% , 0.25% from , and 0.53% from two or more races. 0.66% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 6,279 households out of which 30.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.10% were living together, 13.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.30% were non-families. 24.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county, the population was spread out with 22.70% under the age of 18, 8.80% from 18 to 24, 29.20% from 25 to 44, 25.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 111.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $33,995, and the median income for a family was $41,324. Males had a median income of $32,436 versus $20,831 for females. The for the county was $16,930. About 11.70% of families and 14.60% of the population were below the, including 19.90% of those under age 18 and 14.50% of those age 65 or over.