Farmville, Virginia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Farmville is a town in Virginia, United States. The population was 6,845 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County^GR6.

Farmville is the home of Longwood University and is the town nearest to Hampden-Sydney College.

1 Historical Notes
- 1.1 Civil war history
- 1.2 Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] Historical Notes

[edit] Civil war history

Farmville was the object of the Confederate Army's desperate push to get rations to feed its soldiers. The rations had originally been destined for Danville, but an alert quartermaster ordered the train back to Farmville. Despite a desperate advance of the cavalry commanded by Fitzhugh Lee, the Confederate army was checked by the arrival of Union cavalry commanded by Gen. Philip Sheridan, and 2 divisions of infantry. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia found itself surrounded soon thereafter, and surrender was effected at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

[edit] Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County

Farmville and Prince Edward County Public Schools were the source of Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, a case incorporated into Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case which overturned school segregation in the United States. Among the cases consolidated into the Brown decision, the Davis case was the only one involving student protests.

R.R. Moton High School, an all-black school in Farmville named for Robert R. Moton, suffered from terrible conditions due to underfunding. The school did not have a gymnasium, cafeteria, or teachers' restrooms. Teachers and students did not have desks or blackboards, and due to overcrowding, some students had to take classes in an immobile school bus parked outside. The school's requests for additional funds were denied by the all-white school board.

As a result of the Brown decision, in 1959 the Board of Supervisors for Prince Edward County refused to appropriate any funds for the County School Board at all, effectively closing all public schools rather than integrate them. White students often attended all-white private schools called segregation academys that formed in response. Black students had to go to school elsewhere or forgo their education altogether. Prince Edward County schools remained closed for five years. When they finally reopened, the system was fully-integrated. Prince Edward County Public Schools now operates single Elementary, Middle, and High Schools for all students, regardless of race.

The former R.R. Moton High School building became a community landmark. In 1998, it was named a National Historic Landmark. It houses the Robert Russa Moton Museum, a center for the study of civil rights in education. [1]

[edit] Geography

Farmville is located at 37°17′52″N, 78°23′45″W (37.297639, -78.395712)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 18.2 km² (7.0 mi²). 18.1 km² (7.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.99%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 6,845 people, 2,050 households, and 1,074 families residing in the town. The population density was 379.2/km² (982.5/mi²). There were 2,294 housing units at an average density of 127.1/km² (329.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 71.07% White, 25.68% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.05% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 0.48% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.26% of the population.

There were 2,050 households out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.5% were married couples living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.6% were non-families. 38.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.84.

The age distribution, strongly influenced by the presence of Longwood University, is: 14.7% under the age of 18, 40.7% from 18 to 24, 16.5% from 25 to 44, 13.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 67.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 63.8 males.

Rapper Lady of Rage was born in Farmville before moving to Long Beach County, California where she began her rap career with Death Row Records.

National-caliber Emory cross country and track runner Brett Anderson (originally born in Fredricksburg) lives in Farmville and trains there in the offseason.

The median income for a household in the town was $26,343, and the median income for a family was $33,000. Males had a median income of $30,974 versus $20,764 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,552. About 19.9% of families and 22.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.