Culpeper

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Culpeper, Virginia

Culpeper (formerly Fairfax) is the only incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. The population was 16,379 at the 2010 census, up from 9,664 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Culpeper County.

Geography

Culpeper is located at 38°28′19″N 77°59′57″W / 38.47194°N 77.99917°W / 38.47194; -77.99917 (38.471915, −77.999168).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.8 square miles (17.5 km²), of which 6.7 square miles (17.4 km²) is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1 km²) (0.44%) is water.

History

After forming Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1748, the Virginia House of Burgesses voted to establish the Town of Fairfax on February 22, 1759. The name honored Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, who was proprietor of the Northern Neck, a vast domain north of the Rappahannock River; his territory was then defined as stretching from Chesapeake Bay to what is now Hampshire County, West Virginia.

The original plan of the town called for ten blocks, which form the core of Culpeper's downtown area today. The original town was surveyed by a young George Washington. In 1795, the town received a post office under the name Culpeper Court House, although most maps continued to show the Fairfax name. The confusion resulting from the difference in official and postal names, coupled with the existence of Fairfax Court House and Fairfax Station post offices in Fairfax County, was finally resolved when the Virginia Assembly formally renamed the town Culpeper in 1869 (Acts, 1869–1870, chapter 118, page 154).

Culpeper station

Culpeper is an Amtrak train station in Culpeper, Virginia. It was originally built by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in 1904, replacing an 1874 station house which itself replaced two stations originally built by the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. The station is currently served by both the Cardinal and Crescent routes, along with two daily Northeast Regional trains to and from Lynchburg.

When then-owner Norfolk Southern Railway tried to demolish a portion of the depot in 1985, a citizens' committee formed to save the building. In 1995, the town successfully prepared a $700,000 renovation grant under the Virginia Department of Transportation Enhancement Program. Three years later, Norfolk Southern sold the depot to the town, and in 2000 the renovated building opened to the public. Additional work to the freight section was completed in 2003.

References

External links

Media related to Culpeper (Amtrak station) at Wikimedia Commons