Blacksburg is an incorporated town located in Montgomery County, Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 39,573, making it one of Virginia's larger towns. Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford are the three principal jurisdictions of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses those jurisdictions and all of Montgomery County for statistical purposes.

Blacksburg is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (better known as Virginia Tech), a Virginia land-grant university.

History

Blacksburg, Virginia, was founded in 1798 on a thirty-eight acre tract laid out and deeded by William Black, for whom the town was named. The original town was limited to a sixteen-block area bounded by present-day Draper Road, Jackson Street, Wharton Street, and Clay Street. The city logo contains 16 small squares that create a larger square and represents these 16 square blocks.

Blacksburg's town limits were slightly northeast of an earlier frontier settlement dating from 1748 called Draper's Meadow, the site of the infamous "Draper's Meadow massacre" of 1755. Smithfield Plantation, built in approximately 1774 by Col. William B. Preston, sits on the original Draper's Meadow site, which is near the Duck Pond on the Virginia Tech campus.

At the duck pond there is a bridge that is dedicated to the Draper's Medow Massacre.

In the 1970s Blacksburg's population more than tripled as Virginia Tech was annexed into the town and other land area was also brought in. The population grew from 9,000 people in 1970 to 30,000 in 1980.

Blacksburg is the site of the Blacksburg Electronic Village or BEV, conceived as a project of Virginia Tech in 1991 and officially born in 1993.

Geography

Blacksburg is located at 37ĄĆ13'48" North, 80ĄĆ25'4" West (37.229874, -80.417694)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 19.4 square miles (50.2 kmŠ÷) of which 19.4 square miles (50.1 kmŠ÷) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 kmŠ÷), or 0.10%, is water. Blacksburg is 2,080 feet (634 m) above sea level.

The tallest building in Blacksburg is Slusher Tower, a twelve story residence hall on the Virginia Tech campus. The building with the highest elevation is actually Lee Hall, another residence hall, home to the transmitter of campus radio station WUVT.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there are an estimated 39,573 people residing in Blacksburg, of which an estimated 23,895, or 60%, were college students.

There are an estimated 13,162 households and 4,777 families residing in the town. The population density is 789.2/kmŠ÷ (2,044.2/miŠ÷). There are 13,732 housing units at an average density of 273.9/kmŠ÷ (709.4/miŠ÷). The racial makeup of the town is 84.39% White, 7.80% Asian, 4.39% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.90% from other races, and 2.36% from two or more races. 2.32% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

16.3% of the households have children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.7% are married couples living together, 5.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 63.7% are non-families. 26.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 3.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.37 and the average family size is 2.79.

Blacksburg's age distribution is: 9.7% under the age of 18, 57.4% from 18 to 24, 18.9% from 25 to 44, 9.2% from 45 to 64, and 4.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 22 years. This unusual age distribution is explained by the presence of Virginia Tech, which heavily skews the population toward the 18-24 group. For every 100 females there are 127.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 129.7 males. Virginia Tech's presence also explains the unusual sex distribution; it has large and well-regarded programs in several male-dominated academic fields, most notably engineering.

The median household income is $22,513 and the median income for a family is $51,810. Males have a median income of $37,129 versus $24,321 for females. The per capita income for the town is $13,946. 43.2% of the population and 15.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 23.7% of those under the age of 18 and 6.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. However, traditional measures of poverty can be highly misleading when applied to communities with large student populations, such as Blacksburg.

Economy

The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center is home to several companies of varying sizes including VTLS, Honeywell, Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Webmail.us, and the National Weather Service which maintains its Southwestern Virginia headquarters there.

Notable natives

Bob Roop, American heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler
Brandon Stokley, NFL wide receiver for the Denver Broncos
Henry Lee Lucas, serial killer, claimed to have killed 350+ victims

Points of interest

Blacksburg is the home of Virginia Tech

Hahn Horticulture Garden
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)

Organizations, Associations and Clubs

Christiansburg, Virginia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christiansburg, Virginia

Seal

Motto: Progressive Small Town Living at its Best

Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Coordinates: 37ĄĆ8ĄÇ28ĄČN 80ĄĆ24ĄÇ28ĄČW / 37.14111, -80.40778

Government

- Mayor

Richard Ballengee

Area

- Total

13.9 sq mi (36.1 kmŠ÷)

- Land

13.9 sq mi (36.1 kmŠ÷)

- Water

0 sq mi (0 kmŠ÷)

Elevation

2,133 ft (650 m)

Population (2004)

- Total

17,495

- Density

1,217.0/sq mi (470.1/kmŠ÷)

Time zone

EST (UTC-5)

- Summer (DST)

EDT (UTC-4)

ZIP codes

24068, 24073

Area code(s)

540

FIPS code

51-16608^GR2

GNIS feature ID

1498467^GR3

Website: http://www.christiansburg.org/

Christiansburg is a town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. The population was 16,947 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County^GR6. Christiansburg, Blacksburg, and Radford are the three principal municipalities of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses those municipalities and all of Montgomery County for statistical purposes.

Geography

Christiansburg is located at 37ĄĆ8ĄÇ28ĄČN, 80ĄĆ24ĄÇ28ĄČW (37.141164, -80.407700)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.1 kmŠ÷ (13.9 miŠ÷). 36.1 kmŠ÷ (13.9 miŠ÷) of it is land and 0.07% is water.

Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 16,947 people, 7,093 households, and 4,766 families residing in the town. The population density was 470.1/kmŠ÷ (1,217.0/miŠ÷). There were 7,430 housing units at an average density of 206.1/kmŠ÷ (533.6/miŠ÷). The racial makeup of the town was 93.13% White, 4.83% African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.48% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.99% of the population.

There were 7,093 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.6% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $40,851, and the median income for a family was $47,428. Males had a median income of $35,139 versus $23,398 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,579. About 6.4% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.2% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

The population for 2004 was 17,926 which is 979 higher then 2005. Which of 8,151 (48.1%) are male and 8,796 (51.9%) are female

History

Christiansburg was named after William Christian.
Davy Crockett lived in Christiansburg for some time and worked at John Snider's Hattery Shop which was located on Main Street.
Daniel Boone also lived in Christiansburg once. Among the records at the courthouse are a warrant for his arrest.
Christiansburg was the site of the Lewis/McHenry duel, known for being the first recorded duel with rifles.
"Christansburgh" is the original way Christiansburg was spelled.

Points of interest

Montgomery County Courthouse in Christiansburg

The Starlite Drive-in is one of the few surviving Drive-in theaters in Virginia 1.
Booker T. Washington once resided and was principal of Christiansburg Institute, one of the largest black high schools in southwestern Virginia. Many scholars visited there such as George Washington Carver and other members of the Tuskegee University staff. Prominent industrial engineer, John Wines Lester, also lived on its vast campus.