Prince Edward County, Virginia

Prince Edward County is a located in the  &mdash; officially, "" &mdash; of. As of the, the population was 19,720. Its is.

Origin, Worsham, Farmville
Prince Edward County, Virginia was formed in the in 1754 from. It was named for, son of and younger brother of.

The original and courthouse was located in the village of.

Near the headwaters of the, the Town of was formed in 1798, and was incorporated in 1912. The county seat was moved from Worsham to Farmville in 1871.

Railroads
In the 1850s, the between  and  was built through Farmville between  and. The route, which was subsidized by a contribution from Farmville, required an expensive crossing of the Appomattox River slightly downstream which became known as the.

The South Side Railroad was heavily damaged during the. The played a key role during Confederate General 's final retreat from Petersburg to, where the surrender to Union General  took place in April, 1865.

After the Civil War, under the leadership of former Confederate General, the South Side Railroad was rebuilt, and in 1870, was combined with the and the  to form Mahone's  (AM&O), which stretched 400 miles across the southern tier of Virginia from  on  to. After the, the AM&O fell into default on its debt, and was purchased in the early 1880s by new owners who renamed it the (N&W). In 1982, it became part of the current system. Due to the high cost of maintaining the High Bridge over the Appomattox River, the line through Farmville was downgraded and eventually abandoned, in favor of the, which had been built on a more direct line between Burkeville and Pamplin City as had originally been envisioned in the planning for the South Side Railroad.

Another railroad formerly served Farmville. In the late, the  was built from Farmville through , , and  to reach  on the navigable portion of the  near its confluence with the  at. It was later renamed the, but was dismantled in the early 20th century.

Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
Prince Edward County is the source of ', a case incorporated into ' which ultimately resulted in the desegregation of public schools in the U.S. Among the fives cases decided under Brown, it was the only one initiated by students themselves, after they walked out in 1951 to protest overcrowding and poor conditions at their school under.

The all-black R.R. Moton High School, named after, a noted educator from neighboring , did not have a gymnasium, cafeteria, or teachers' restrooms. Due to overcrowding, three plywood buildings had been erected and some students had to take classes in an immobile school bus parked outside. Teachers and students did not have desks or blackboards, The school's requests for additional funds were denied by the all-white school board. On Monday, April 23, 1951, Barbara Johns, the sixteen-year-old niece of, led students who staged a walkout protesting the conditions. The took up their case, however, only when the students—by a one vote margin—agreed to seek an integrated school rather than improved conditions at their black school. Then, -trained attorneys and  filed suit.

In Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, a state court rejected the suit, agreeing with defense attorney that Virginia was vigorously equalizing black and white schools. The state verdict was appealed to the, which ruled for the plaintiffs, a decision the school district and the state appealed. Subsequently, it was one of five incorporated into Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case which in 1954 overturned school segregation in the United States.

Massive Resistance: the only school district in the U.S. to close for 5 years
In, the passed a series of laws to implement , a policy promoted by the  led by former Virginia governor and U.S. Senator  to avoid compliance with the Supreme Court decision in Brown.

One of the new Massive Resistance laws created a program of "tuition grants" which could be given to students so they could attend a private school of their choice. In practice, this meant support of all-white schools that appeared as a response to forced integration, and these newly formed schools became known as the "."

As a result of the Brown decision, and changes in Virginia laws, in 1959 the Board of Supervisors for Prince Edward County refused to appropriate any funds for the County School Board at all, effectively closing all public schools rather than integrate them. remained closed for five years. Prince Edward County was the only school district in the country to resort to such extreme measures. In 1963, schools were ordered to open, and when the Supreme Court agreed in 1964, the supervisors gave in rather than risk prison, and public schools were reopened.

During the interruption in access to Prince Edward County's public schools, a new entity, the Prince Edward Foundation, created a series of private schools to educate only the county's white children. These schools were supported by the tuition grants from the state and tax credits from the county, and collectively became known as "Prince Edward Academy", one of Virginia's "." Prince Edward Academy operated as the  school system, enrolling K-12 students at a number of facilities throughout the county.

From 1959 to 1964, black students in Prince Edward County had to go to school elsewhere or forgo their education altogether. Some got schooling with relatives in nearby communities or at makeshift schools in church basements. Others were educated out of state by groups such as the. In 1963–64, the NAACP-sponsored picked up some of the slack. But some pupils missed part or all of their education for five years. This group has been called the "Lost Generation" of Prince Edward County's youth.

In 1963, schools were ordered to open, and when the Supreme Court agreed in 1964, the supervisors gave in rather than risk prison, and public schools were reopened. When the public schools finally reopened in 1964, they were fully integrated. Historians mark that event as the end of in Virginia.

Public education since 1964
In modern times, now operates single Elementary, Middle, and High Schools for all students, regardless of race. They are:

Private education since 1964
Even after the re-opening of the public schools, Prince Edward Academy remained segregated. Many of the segregation academies in Virginia eventually closed; others changed their missions, and eliminated discriminatory policies, many only after the (IRS) revoked the tax-free status of non-profit discriminatory private schools. Prince Edward Academy was one of these, losing its tax-exempt status in. In, it accepted black students. It was renamed the in 1992.

Robert Russa Moton Museum
The former R.R. Moton High School building in Farmville is now a community landmark. In 1998, it was named a, and it now houses the , a center for the study of in education.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 916 (354 ). 914 km² (353 mi²) of it is land and 3 km² (1 mi²) of it (0.31%) is water. Most of the county's streams drain into the Appomattox River, a tributary of the James River, but in the southeastern corner of the county, streams drain via the Nottoway River into the Chowan River and thence into Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. The highest point in the county is the top of Leighs Mountain at 714 feet above sea level.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 19,720 people, 6,561 households, and 4,271 families residing in the county. The was 22/km² (56/mi²). There were 7,527 housing units at an average density of 8/km² (21/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 62.17%, 35.82% or , 0.18% , 0.55% , 0.10% , 0.23% from , and 0.95% from two or more races. 0.94% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 6,561 households out of which 29.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.50% were living together, 14.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.90% were non-families. 28.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county, the population was spread out with 20.20% under the age of 18, 23.50% from 18 to 24, 22.50% from 25 to 44, 19.60% from 45 to 64, and 14.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 95.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,301, and the median income for a family was $38,509. Males had a median income of $29,487 versus $21,659 for females. The for the county was $14,510. About 14.60% of families and 18.90% of the population were below the, including 24.40% of those under age 18 and 15.90% of those age 65 or over.

Notable Facts

 * , General
 * , (1820-1866), officer, was born in Prince Edward County.
 * , the first Senator, was born as a slave in Prince Edward County.
 * (1758-1811), was a representative and senator from Prince Edward County. He was also a lawyer and a president of the in Virginia. He died in a fire in Richmond in 1811.