Pittsylvania County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 60,501. The county seat is Chatham. Pittsylvania County is included in the Danville, VA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the United States (7th largest in the world) is located in Pittsylvania County. (see Uranium mining in Virginia.)

History

Originally "Pittsylvania" was a name suggested for an unrealized British colony to be located primarily in what is now West Virginia. Pittsylvania County would not have been within this proposed colony, which subsequently was named Vandalia. Pittsylvania County was formed in 1767 with territory annexed from Halifax County. It was named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768, and who opposed some harsh colonial policies of the period. In 1777 the western part of Pittsylvania County was partitioned off to became Patrick Henry County. Maud Clement's History of Pittsylvania County notes the following: "Despite the settlers' intentions, towns failed to develop for two reasons: the generally low level of economic activity in the area and the competition from plantation settlements already providing the kind of marketing and purchasing services typically offered by a town. Plantation settlements along the rivers, particularly at ferrying points, became commercial centers. The most important for early Pittsylvania was that of Sam Pannill, a Scots-Irishman, who at the end of the eighteenth century, while still a young man, set up a plantation town at Green Hill on the north side of the Staunton River in Campbell County. (Clement 15) "Its economy was tobacco-dominated and reliant on a growing slave labor force. It was a county without towns or a commercial center. Plantation villages on the major river thoroughfares were the only centers of trade, until the emergence of Danville. (Clement 23)" The city of Danville's history up through the antebellum period overall is an expression of the relationship between the town and the planters who influenced its development.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 978 sqmi, of which 969 sqmi is land and 9 sqmi (0.9%) is water. It is the largest county in Virginia by land area and second-largest by total area. The county is bounded on the north by the Roanoke River (this stretch of the river is known as the Staunton River), bisected by the Banister River running eastward through the center, and is drained on the south by the Dan River, flowing eastward.

Districts

The county is divided into seven districts:

Adjacent counties and cities

In Virginia: In North Carolina:

Major highways

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2010 Census

According to the 2010 United States Census, there are 60,949 people, and 26,687 households in the county. The population density was 65.5 /mi2. There were 31,656 housing units at an average density of 32 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 76.20% White, 21.50% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.37% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. 2.70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 26,687 households, out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.93. The median income for a household in the county was $44,356. The per capita income for the county was $23,597. About 12.60% of the population were below the poverty line.

Government

Pittsylvania County is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Supervisors. Management of the county is vested in a Board-appointed County Administrator. There are also five elected Constitutional Officers:

Communities

Incorporated Towns

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated communities