Farmville, Virginia

Farmville, Virginia
Town
Location of Farmville, Virginia
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Counties	Prince Edward, Cumberland
Area
• Total	7.0 sq mi (18.2 km2)
• Land	7.0 sq mi (18.0 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	351 ft (107 m)
Population  (2000)
• Total	6,845
• Density	982.5/sq mi (379.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	23901, 23909, 23943
Area code	434
FIPS code	51-27440Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	1498477Template:GR
Website	www.farmvilleva.com

Farmville is a town in Cumberland and Prince Edward counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 6,845 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward CountyTemplate:GR.

The Appomattox River traverses Farmville, along with the High Bridge Trail State Park, a more than thirty-mile long rail trail park. At the intersection of US 15 VA 45 and US 460, Farmville is the home of Longwood University and is the town nearest to Hampden-Sydney College.

History

Civil War history

High Bridge
Picture by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, 1865

Farmville was the object of the Confederate Army's desperate push to get rations to feed its soldiers near the end of the American Civil War. The rations had originally been destined for Danville, but an alert quartermaster ordered the train back to Farmville. Despite an 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 two divisions of infantry. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia found itself soon surrounded. He surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

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 that 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 Russa 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. Wealthy white students often attended all-white private schools called segregation academies that formed in response. Black and poorer white students had to go to school elsewhere or forgo their education altogether. Prince Edward County's public schools remained closed for five years. When they finally reopened, the system was fully integrated.

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.

Prince Edward Academy was the longest-surviving of the segregation academies, still teaching students in the 1990s; though technically integrated at that point, the school had very few students of color. Prince Edward Academy was renamed the Fuqua School in honor of J.B. Fuqua, a wealthy businessman who was raised nearby and who has endowed the school.

Geography

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

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

Farmville is located between Richmond and Lynchburg on U.S. Route 460.

Town council

Council meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. The location is in the Council Chamber of the second floor of the Farmville Town Hall, on 116 North Main Street

Write or email the Farmville Town Council members for more information.

Volunteer fire fighting

The Farmville Volunteer Fire Department is designated as Company 1 in Prince Edward County after being the first fire department established in the county in 1870. FFD provides services to nearly 10,000 people in their first due, which comprises the entire town of Farmville, and into the immediately surrounding area of Prince Edward County, and Cumberland County.

Firefighting apparatus include 1250, 1000, 750 and 270-gallon engine/pump trucks, chief-use SUV, a support pick-up truck along with a hazmat, decontamination, and spill/leak supply trailer.

Water quality

The town of Farmville, Virginia is located within the Piedmont Region and has many tributaries which filter into the Appamatox River. After the water is carried into the Appamatox River it drains into the James River and then is distributed into the Chesapeake Bay. Within Farmville there are several different areas which are a concern due to high amounts of heterotrophic bacteria and Escherichia coli. Escherichia coli, an enteric bacteria, has been classified into another group of bacteria called coliform bacteria. It is classified as coliform because it lives within the intestines of warm blooded animals. The strain of E. coli which is of most concern is the 0157 H7 strain because it can produce dehydration, vomiting, diarrhea and in extreme cases even death. There are a couple of drains which are located within Farmville and its neighboring counties which are of concern including Gross Creek which usually exceeds the standards of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Farmville's water and sewer services are publicly owned and operated by the Town of Farmville work crew. The town's water treatment plant draws its water supplies from the Appomattox River. Water from the river is treated to kill any waterborne pathogens. After that process all sedimentation is removed through a series of filtration tanks. The water plant sells a portion of this removed sedimentation to be mixed with topsoil and then to be made ready for farm use. The excess sedimentation is recycled back into Appomattox. The water plant can store 200,000 gals. of fresh water which can be transferred to Farmville’s water towers when needed. Currently Farmville averages 1 million gals. of water usage per day and its water plant is capable of producing up to 3 million gals. The water is used by the majority of the town and the Prince Edward schools, the only exception is citizen who choose to use a private water well.

The waste water plant covers a more extensive area which includes all resident of Farmville, Prince Edward schools, Hampden Sydney and north to the Cumberland County Court area. The plant treats approximately 1.7 million gals. a day and is capable of handling 2.4 million gals. The Waste water undergoes an extensive treatment process based on parameters set by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality before being released back into the Appomattox River downstream of Farmville. All residents of Farmville are required to use the public sewage line. The only exception is granted to residents who have been using a private septic system prior to being annexed to the town. Both the water plant and the water treatment plant undergo a consumer confidence test every spring and have never received any violations. Contamination levels in the town's waterways are currently being checked bimonthly to monitor the water quality of creeks and streams leaving Farmville. Tests are conducted to see if the town's water pipes are leaching any pollutants into the environment and to detect any other sources of contamination. The information from test results is available at the Virginia DEQ Website.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 6,845 people, 2,050 households, and 1,074 families residing in the town. The population density was 982.5 people per square mile (379.2/km²). There were 2,294 housing units at an average density of 329.3/sq mi (127.1/km²). 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.

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.

College and university

Hampden-Sydney College is the 10th oldest college in America, an all-male private school founded in 1776. Hampden-Sydney is located five miles (8 km) outside Farmville, VA and has an enrollment of 1,200 students. Longwood University is a public school located in the heart of town with an enrollment of about 5,000. Longwood is mainly known as a teachers school and was once called State Female Normal School. This school is known as the mother of sororities because four major ones were founded here Sigma Sigma Sigma, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Zeta Tau Alpha, and Kappa Delta. Longwood University has also just opened a new recreational complex, and in 2007 construction was finished on a 36,000-square-foot (3,300 m²), four-story complex consisting of retail stores on the lower floor with Longwood dorms above. They are steadily growing as a university with an addition of a new recreational center that has three floors; exercise machines, weights, and courts on the ground floor, track on the first floor, and offices and classroom settings on the second floor.

Today

Farmville is a growing community mainly because of the rise in statewide and national prominence of Lynchburg, Virginia and Richmond, Virginia. Many residents use Farmville as a “bedroom community” and take advantage of the low cost of living. Some have come from northern states to escape the high taxes. Many Longwood alumni are staying in the community after growing up elsewhere. Farmville has grown so much in recent years that even outlying towns are now feeling the boom.

The historic downtown has just been upgraded with the addition of brick sidewalks and trees along Main Street. An eight-screen cinema has been completed east of downtown. Every Tuesday and Saturday mornings in the summer near the old train station a farmers' market is open, where farmers sell their fresh goods.

2008 also saw the opening of a brand new YMCA behind the recently built Lowe's. This YMCA includes an indoor swimming pool, locker rooms, six large High Definition TVs overlooking a state of the art gym, a children's care center, and athletic fields. There are also family locker rooms as well as a teen center and aerobics room.

Located on the Robert E. Lee's retreat trail as he escaped the Union Army, Farmville is crossed by the High Bridge Trail State Park which extends the 4 miles (6.4 km) to the historical High Bridge.

Farmville is home to the Farmville Police Department, Prince Edward County Sheriff's Office, and Longwood University Police Departments. The Virginia State Police also has a strong presence in the town of Farmville. Piedmont Regional Jail, serving a six-county area, is also in Farmville. Also a soon to be built Immigration Detainment Facility is going to bring 300 new jobs to the area.

Heart of Virginia Festival

The Heart of Virginia Festival happens in Farmville the first weekend in May and has grown every year since it was established in 1978. It is called the Heart of Virginia because Farmville sits south of the geographic center of the state (intersection of Route 24 and 60 outside of Dillwyn, Virginia in Buckingham County, Virgina). The festival includes all the traditional fare and concludes with a fireworks show at the Farmville airport.

First Fridays

First Fridays, held on the first Friday of every month from May to September, feature bands and family events on the banks of the Appomattox River at the edge of the town limits.

Recreational activities

Recreational activities are available for youth, adults, and older citizens in Farmville. William Bailey is currently the recreational director, whom has held his position for a year. If anyone would like further information about the new and upcoming activities and schedules, go to farmvilleva.com and search under the recreation link.

Notable residents

• Maj. Walter Reed, M.D., U.S. Army physician
• Rapper Lady of Rage was born in Farmville before moving to Long Beach, California where she began her rap career with Death Row Records.
• J.B. Fuqua (pronounced "few--kwah") (June 16, 1918–April 5, 2006), a businessman, philanthropist and chairman of The Fuqua Companies and Fuqua Enterprises was born in Prince Edward County (Prospect) although resided the majority of his life in Atlanta, GA.
• LTG Samuel V. Wilson, Former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and President Emeritus of Hampden-Sydney College. Credited for helping to create Delta Force.
• LTG William G. Boykin, Former United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense.
• Chris Ashworth, actor
• Vince Gilligan, writer for The X-Files and creator and writer of Breaking Bad
• Cullen Johnson, Miss Virginia (1994) and Miss America runner-up
• Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston

Longwood University students

• Jerome Kersey (2006), former basketball player (Drafted in the second round in 1984 by the Portland Trail Blazers, but did not finish degree until 2006).
• Michael Tucker (1993), former baseball player
• Jason Mraz, Solo music artist
• Pat McGee, Lead singer of the Pat McGee Band

See also

• Farmville Police Department
• Farmville fire department

External links

• Farmville Shopping and Business Directory -- FarmvilleDirectory.com
• Town of Farmville municipal website -- FarmvilleVA.com
• newspaper report about happenings in PRJ in Farmville, VA
• http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/team/front_office.jsp?c_id=tb
• http://www.piedmontregionaljail.org