Rappahannock County is a county located in the northern Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, US, adjacent to Shenandoah National Park. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 7,348. Its county seat is Washington. The name "Rappahannock" comes from the Algonquian word lappihanne (also noted as toppehannock), meaning "river of quick, rising water" or "where the tide ebbs and flows." The county is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Rappahannock County was founded by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1833, based on the growing population's need to have better access to a county seat. The county's land was carved from Culpeper County. Rappahannock County was named for the river that separates it from Fauquier County.
The land on which Rappahannock County is sited was owned in the early 1700s by Thomas Fairfax 6th Lord Fairfax. It was part of the Northern Neck Proprietary, which consisted of 5.3 million acres of land located between the Rappahannock River and the Potomac River, from their headwaters in the Blue Ridge mountains to the Chesapeake Bay. In 1649 King Charles II of England, then in exile in France after the execution of his father, Charles I, had given this unmapped and unsettled region to seven loyal supporters. By 1688 the proprietary was owned solely by Thomas Lord Culpeper whose only child married Thomas 5th Lord Fairfax in 1690. They acquired the proprietary on the death of Lord Culpeper, and the region became synonymous with the Fairfax name. In 1719, Thomas Fairfax 6th Lord Fairfax inherited the land.
In 1728, the land that became Rappahannock County began to be granted to individuals by agents of King George II of Great Britain. At that time, it was believed that the headwaters of the Rappahannock River were in the Chester Gap area and that the Rappahannock County land was located south of the Northern Neck Proprietary. Much of the land granted by the King consisted of large tracts along the rivers and streams and was prime agricultural land. In 1735, Thomas Fairfax brought suit against the English crown because of these land grants. Surveying parties were dispatched which determined that the headwaters of the Rappahannock River was the Conway River, which leads into the Rapidan River and then into the Rappahannock River. After 10 years, Fairfax won his suit against the Crown, and land grants in this area subsequent to 1745 were made by Fairfax. After the American Revolution the remaining land, located primarily in the mountains, was granted by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
After its founding in 1833, Rappahannock County was governed by 25 gentlemen justices, supplemented by a Clerk of the Court, Commonwealth attorney, county surveyor, commissioner of revenue, and sheriff. The courthouse, court clerk's office, and jail were constructed in the town of Washington in 1834–1836. The county was primarily agricultural and self-sufficient, with a few merchants and craftsmen providing goods that could not be made on the farms. Although tobacco was widely grown in tidewater Virginia, the land in Rappahannock County was inadequate for this crop. Instead, farmers in the county grew wheat, oats, corn, and hay and maintained herds of cattle, sheep, and swine. The county was well-watered by streams and rivers originating in the Blue Ridge mountains, and mills along these waterways were built to grind corn and grain, saw lumber, and card and weave wool. The 1850s was an era of turnpike building, providing access from Culpeper, New Market, and Fredericksburg to the county. At this time, transportation was by foot, by horseback, or by horse-drawn wagon or carriage.
In 1861, Virginia seceded from the Union. No battles were fought in Rappahannock County during the Civil War although there were skirmishes, encampments, and significant troop movements through the county. Men from the county served in the 6th Regiment Virginia Cavalry and the 7th and 49th Regiment Virginia Infantry. The war devastated the agricultural economy of the county and destroyed the turnpikes. After the war, the county was governed under the auspices of Military District No. 1 commanded by Union General John M. Schofield. In 1870 a new Virginia constitution was adopted that mandated the county be divided into five townships with one elected supervisor from each to form a Board to perform the executive functions of the county. This government by a five-member Board of Supervisors still exists.
