Goochland is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Goochland County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 899, up from 861 in 2010. The community is also known as Goochland Courthouse or by an alternative spelling, Goochland Court House. It derives its name from the fact that the community is the location of the county's court house, while the county in turn is named for Sir William Gooch, 1st Baronet, the royal lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1727 to 1749.

Geography

Goochland is located just south of the center of Goochland County and just north of the James River. U.S. Route 522 passes through the center of the community, leading north 27 mi to Mineral and south 10 mi to its southern terminus at U.S. Route 60 near Powhatan. Virginia Route 6 follows US 522 through the center of Goochland, but leads east 29 mi to Richmond and west 16 mi to Columbia. Interstate 64 passes 7 mi to the northeast of Goochland, with access from Exit 159 at Gum Spring (US 522) and from Exit 167 at Oilville. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Goochland CDP has a total area of 11.7 sqkm, of which 11.6 sqkm are land and 0.1 sqkm, or 1.18%, are water.

Notable people

In popular culture

A fictionalized, larger version of Goochland is depicted in the "Escape from Goochland" episode of The Cleveland Show, as the home of Stoolbend's arch-rival high school. Goochland is featured in Season 7 Episode 15 of the X-Files, in which the child of a local Christian family is miraculously cured of cancer. Goochland is shown on a t-shirt worn by country musician Oliver Anthony in his video "Rich Men North of Richmond".