King & Queen County

BY LAWRENCE W. LATANE - Staff Writer
Published: July 22, 2008

Country living is a way of life for the 6,900 people scattered across King and Queen County’s lush green landscape.

Farming and forestry continue to play defining roles in the local economy and preserve the county as an oasis of open space laced with scenic back roads.

The county’s few businesses are clustered along U.S. 360 and state Route 33, which slice the long, but narrow, county like a jullienned stringbean.

History: King and Queen was formed in 1691 but was the site of a frontier fort – Fort Mattaponi, near Walkerton – 45 years earlier. By 1700, the county was the Virginia colony’s second most populous county with 4,300 people. The county was in the heart of the Powhatan Confederacy, named for the chief who was the political head of eastern Virginia’s American Indian population at the time of Colonial settlement.

In other notable county historic events, home guard militia ambushed and killed Union Col. Ulric Dahlgren during the Civil War. Union troops burned the county courthouse, clerk’s office and nearby homes in retaliation.

A Fun Thing to Do: Explore mysterious Dragon Run Swamp. Dragon Run snakes through a 140-square-mile watershed filled with wildflowers and wildlife and containing stands of bald cypress and tupelo. The Smithsonian Institution ranked the swamp the most pristine waterway in Virginia.

Visitors may also enjoy Tavern Museum, which is part of the King and Queen Courthouse historic district off state Route 14. The museum is housed in an early 19th-century tavern that was restored in 1999. It includes displays that interpret early county life. The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is $2 per person; children are admitted free.

Government: A five-member Board of Supervisors sets local taxes, determines policy and regulates land use in the county. Acting County Administrator Diane Gaber is responsible for county operations. The county has a budget of $21 million.

Schools: The county school system is made up of three public schools with 830 students in grades K-12. A five-member elected School Board runs the school system with Superintendent Richard Layman.

Libraries: Pamunkey Regional Library maintains a branch near St. Stephens Church off state Route 721.

Real Estate: The population of this rural county – 6,900 – has remained fairly constant over the years, due to its history as a land-based economy. Ye Old Mill Estates here has one-acre lots with homes priced from the $180s.