West Point, Virginia

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This article is about a town in Virginia. For the United States Military Academy, see West Point, New York

West Point is an incorporated town in King William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,866 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] Geography

West Point is located at 37°32′37″N, 76°48′19″W (37.543733, -76.805366)^GR1. The York River is formed at West Point by the confluence of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers, and from there, separates the Peninsula and Middle Peninsula regions of eastern Virginia as it flows approximately 40 miles to the Chesapeake Bay.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 17.2 km² (6.7 mi²). 13.3 km² (5.1 mi²) of it is land and 4.0 km² (1.5 mi²) of it (23.12%) is water.

[edit] History

The current site of West Point was once the site of Cinquoteck, a Native American village. It became the site of Port Richmond West Plantation, home of Governor of Virginia John West (1590-1659). He was the Royal Governor of the colony from 1635-1637.

In 1664, the area became part of a large land grant made to his son, Captain John West, who eventually became a Lt. Colonel, and led the New Kent Militia.

In 1691, the Virginia General Assembly directed that West Point be created as a port of entry and in 1705 the House of Burgesses authorized the town to qualify as a "free borough" and named it "Delaware" in honor of former Royal Governor Thomas West, third Lord Delaware, who died in 1618.

When the Richmond and York River Railroad was built before the American Civil War, the old name of "West Point" was restored in 1861. The railroad was a key strategic part of Union General George B. McClellan's failed Peninsula Campaign in 1862 to capture Richmond. Massively damaged during the War, afterwards, it was rebuilt, and became part of the Richmond and Danville Railroad system.

West Point became an incorporated town in 1870 and soon became a thriving commercial port and resort destination. Linked to Richmond by rail, it became a major shipping point for passenger and freight traffic, and was especially convenient to Baltimore and points north via the York River and the Chesapeake Bay.

The railroad became part of the Southern Railway system in 1894. After the decline of tourism, a shipyard built in 1917 and a pulp paper mill built in 1918 are credited with revitalizing the town. The railroad later became part of the Norfolk Southern Railway, which continues to serve the town's paper mill in modern times.

West Point is the only town in Virginia to have a school district which is independent from the school district of the county in which it is located.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,866 people, 1,068 households, and 809 families residing in the town. The population density was 215.7/km² (559.2/mi²). There were 1,151 housing units at an average density of 86.6/km² (224.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 80.32% White, 16.92% African American, 0.45% Native American, 1.05% Asian, 0.35% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.74% of the population.

There were 1,068 households out of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.2% were non-families. 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $49,655, and the median income for a family was $56,932. Males had a median income of $40,071 versus $24,702 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,232. About 1.7% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.9% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.