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Frederick County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,419. Its county seat is Winchester. The county was formed in 1743 by the splitting of Orange County. It is Virginia's northernmost county. Frederick County is included in the Winchester, VA-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area.
[edit] History
The area that would become Frederick County, Virginia was inhabited and transited by various indigenous peoples for thousands of years before European colonization. The "Indian Road" refers to a historic pathway made by local tribes. Colonization efforts began with the Virginia Company of London, but European settlement did not flourish until after the company lost its charter and Virginia became a royal colony in 1624. In order to stimulate migration to the colony, the headright system was used. Under this system, those who funded an emigrant's transportation costs (not the actual colonizers) were compensated with land. In 1649 the exiled King Charles II granted several acres of colonial Virginia lands to "seven loyal supporters", including Lord Fairfax. The Fairfax lands passed to Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1657-1710), who married the daughter of Thomas Colepeper, who also owned several acres of land. After their son, Lord Thomas Fairfax, inherited the combined grants, he controlled over 5,000,000 acres of land in Virginia, including much of the land that became Frederick County. Frederick County was created from Orange County in 1738, and was officially organized in 1743. The Virginia Assembly named the new county for Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales (1707–1751), the eldest son of King George II of Great Britain. At that time, "Old Frederick County" encompassed all or part of four counties in present-day Virginia and five in present-day West Virginia:
[edit] Colonial eraAs commanding officer of the new Colonial Virginia regiment in 1754, Colonel George Washington located his headquarters in Winchester before and during the French and Indian War. He resigned from military service in 1758. He represented Frederick County in his first elective office, having been elected to the House of Burgesses in 1758 and 1761. Seventeen years later, on June 15, 1775, the Continental Congress "elected" George Washington as commander-in-chief of the yet-to-be-created Continental Army. He accepted the appointment the next day. This preceded the Congress's declaration of independence and the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. [edit] War of 1812[edit] American Civil WarWinchester was a site of volatile conditions during the Civil War of 1861-1865, with control shifting between the Confederate and Union armies on average once every three weeks during the war. Many battles were fought in Frederick County. Some of those battles included:
The first constitution of West Virginia provided for Frederick County to be added to the new state if approved by a local election. Unlike the residents of neighboring Berkeley and Jefferson counties, those in Frederick County voted to remain in Virginia, despite being occupied by the Confederate army at the time. [edit] Timeline
[edit] Population History
Note: Winchester city, formed from Frederick County. Annexation after 1970 from Frederick (1970 population 4,786). [edit] Research Tips
Links to 1885 maps of Frederick County may be found here: http://www.historicmapworks.com/Browse/United_States/Virginia/Page/1/
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