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Clarke County
Clarke County
County
	Old Clarke County Courthouse and Confederate monument
	Flag Seal
	Location within the U.S. state of Virginia
	Virginia's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 39°07′N 78°00′W / 39.12°N 78°W
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Founded	1836
Named for	George Rogers Clark
Seat	Berryville
Largest town	Berryville
Area
• Total	178 sq mi (460 km2)
• Land	176 sq mi (460 km2)
• Water	2.2 sq mi (6 km2) 1.2%
Population (2020)
• Total	14,783
• Density	83/sq mi (32/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	6th
Website	clarkecounty.gov

Clarke County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,783.^[1] Its county seat is Berryville.^[2] Clarke County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The first settlement of the Virginia Colony in the future Clarke County was in 1736 by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron who built a home, Greenway Court, on part of his 5 million acres (20,000 km²) property, near what is now the village of White Post. White Post was named for the large signpost pointing the way to Lord Fairfax's home.

As it lay just west of the Blue Ridge border demarcated under Governor Spotswood at Albany in 1722, the area was claimed along with the rest of the Shenandoah Valley by the Six Nations Iroquois (who had overrun it during the later Beaver Wars in around 1672), until the Treaty of Lancaster in 1744, when it was purchased from them by Governor Gooch.

Many of the early settlers of what became Clarke County were children of Tidewater planters, who settled on large land grants from Lord Fairfax. Two thirds of the county was settled by the plantation group, and the plantation lifestyle thrived until the Civil War. County status came in 1836, when it was divided off from Frederick County. Clarke County was known for its large crops of wheat.

During the American Civil War, John S. Mosby, "the Gray Ghost" of the Confederacy, raided General Philip Sheridan's supply train in the summer of 1864, in Berryville. The Battle of Cool Spring was fought in Clarke County on July 17 and 18, 1864, followed by the Battle of Berryville on September 3, 1864.

In 1881 was founded the Bank of Clarke County, a still-functional regional bank with headquarters in Berryville.^[3]

Early in the 20th century, the future Virginia politician Harry F. Byrd Sr. and his wife established their first home near Berryville, where he undertook extensive agricultural activity growing peaches and apples. Byrd became a state senator in the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly, served a term as a Governor of Virginia, and was a United States senator for over 30 years. He headed the powerful Byrd Organization, which dominated state politics between the mid-1920s and the 1960s.

In 1996, Forrest Pritchard revitalized Smithfield Farm by starting a grass-fed, sustainable livestock operation. Renamed 'Smith Meadows', it is currently one of the oldest fully grass-finished farms in the United States, and its story was chronicled in the New York Times bestseller Gaining Ground.

Historic buildings and structures

Clermont Estate (1751)
Dearmont Hall (1850)
Fairfield (1765)
Soldier's Rest (1769)
Buck Marsh Church (1772)
Norwood (1780)
Burwell-Morgan Mill (1782)
Holy Cross Abbey (1784)
Audley Estate (1794)
Bel Voi (1803)
Long Branch Plantation (1811)
Rosemont Estate (1811)
Clay Hill (1816)
Smithfield Farm (1816)
Clifton (1833)
Clarke County Courthouse (1837)
Stone's Chapel (1848)
Glendale Farm (1850)
Site of Mosby's Raid (1863)

Geography

Clarke

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 178 square miles (460 km²), of which 176 square miles (460 km²) is land and 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²) (1.2%) is water.^[4] It is the third-smallest county in Virginia by total area.

Adjacent counties

Government

Board of Supervisors

Berryville District: Douglas A. Shaffer (R)
Buckmarsh District: David S. Weiss (R)
Millwood District: Terri Catlett (R)
Russell District: Douglas M. Lawrence (I)
White Post District: Bev B. McKay (R)

Constitutional officers

Clerk of the Circuit Court: April F. Wilkerson (R)
Commissioner of the Revenue: Donna Mathews Peake (R)
Commonwealth's Attorney: Anne M. Williams (R)
Sheriff: Travis Sumption (R)
Treasurer: Sharon E. Keeler (D)

Clarke County is represented by Republican Timmy French in the Virginia Senate, Republican Delores Riley Oates in the Virginia House of Delegates, and Republican Ben Cline in the U.S. House of Representatives.

United States presidential election results for Clarke County, Virginia^[5]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	5,641	57.33%	3,993	40.58%	205	2.08%
2020	5,192	55.61%	3,920	41.98%	225	2.41%
2016	4,661	56.75%	3,051	37.15%	501	6.10%
2012	4,296	55.35%	3,239	41.73%	227	2.92%
2008	3,840	51.68%	3,457	46.52%	134	1.80%
2004	3,741	57.51%	2,699	41.49%	65	1.00%
2000	2,883	54.56%	2,166	40.99%	235	4.45%
1996	2,201	48.17%	1,906	41.72%	462	10.11%
1992	1,994	42.90%	1,811	38.96%	843	18.14%
1988	2,502	62.24%	1,478	36.77%	40	1.00%
1984	2,529	67.21%	1,215	32.29%	19	0.50%
1980	1,876	57.44%	1,156	35.39%	234	7.16%
1976	1,440	51.54%	1,276	45.67%	78	2.79%
1972	1,816	69.13%	715	27.22%	96	3.65%
1968	1,127	42.62%	768	29.05%	749	28.33%
1964	1,068	48.41%	1,136	51.50%	2	0.09%
1960	804	46.31%	923	53.17%	9	0.52%
1956	785	48.91%	725	45.17%	95	5.92%
1952	809	52.88%	716	46.80%	5	0.33%
1948	384	33.16%	482	41.62%	292	25.22%
1944	415	33.58%	816	66.02%	5	0.40%
1940	333	24.13%	1,043	75.58%	4	0.29%
1936	198	17.35%	940	82.38%	3	0.26%
1932	124	12.74%	841	86.43%	8	0.82%
1928	248	25.10%	740	74.90%	0	0.00%
1924	76	9.76%	687	88.19%	16	2.05%
1920	154	15.78%	774	79.30%	48	4.92%
1916	49	7.66%	590	92.19%	1	0.16%
1912	39	6.19%	576	91.43%	15	2.38%

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1840	6,353	—
1850	7,352	15.7%
1860	7,146	−2.8%
1870	6,670	−6.7%
1880	7,682	15.2%
1890	8,071	5.1%
1900	7,927	−1.8%
1910	7,468	−5.8%
1920	7,165	−4.1%
1930	7,167	0.0%
1940	7,159	−0.1%
1950	7,074	−1.2%
1960	7,942	12.3%
1970	8,102	2.0%
1980	9,965	23.0%
1990	12,101	21.4%
2000	12,652	4.6%
2010	14,034	10.9%
2020	14,783	5.3%
U.S. Decennial Census^[6] 1790–1960^[7] 1900–1990^[8] 1990–2000^[9] 2010^[10] 2020^[11]

2020 census

**Clarke County, Virginia – Racial and ethnic composition**
*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 may be of any race.*
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2010^[10]	Pop 2020^[11]	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	12,387	12,309	88.26%	83.26%
Black or African American alone (NH)	742	564	5.29%	3.82%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	35	33	0.25%	0.22%
Asian alone (NH)	121	210	0.86%	1.42%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	5	15	0.04%	0.10%
Some Other Race alone (NH)	15	89	0.11%	0.60%
Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH)	239	676	1.70%	4.57%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	490	887	3.49%	6.00%
Total	14,034	14,783	100.00%	100.00%

2000 Census

As of the census^[12] of 2000, there were 12,652 people, 4,942 households, and 3,513 families residing in the county. The population density was 72 inhabitants per square mile (28/km²). There were 5,388 housing units at an average density of 30 units per square mile (12 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.15% White, 6.73% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. 1.46% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

By 2005 90.1% of Clarke County's population was non-Hispanic whites. 6.3% were African-American. 0.2% Native American. 0.6% Asian. 2.6% were Latino.

There were 4,942 households, out of which 29.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.20% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 24.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.40% under the age of 18, 5.80% from 18 to 24, 29.10% from 25 to 44, 27.10% from 45 to 64, and 14.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $51,601, and the median income for a family was $59,750. Males had a median income of $40,254 versus $30,165 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,844. About 4.20% of families and 6.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.10% of those under age 18 and 11.10% of those age 65 or over.