Place Information
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Isle of Wight County is a county located in the South Hampton Roads region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2000, the population was 29,728. Its county seat is Isle of Wight As of 2007, its population was 35,035 and the median household income was $58,840.
History
During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the settlement at Jamestown in 1607, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. Captain John Smith in 1608 crossed the James River and obtained fourteen bushels of corn from the Native American inhabitants, the Warrosquyoackes or Warraskoyaks. They were a tribe of the Powhatan Confederacy, who had three towns in the area of modern Smithfield. The Warraskoyaks were driven off from their villages in 1622 and 1627, as part of the reprisals for the Great Massacre of 1622. The first English plantations along the south shore within present-day Isle of Wight were established by Puritan colonists, beginning with that of Christopher Lawne in May 1618. Several members of the Puritan Bennett family also came to settle the area, including Richard Bennett who led the Puritans to neighboring Nansemond in 1635, and later became governor of the Virginia Colony. By 1634, the Colony consisted of eight shires or counties with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. One of these was Warrosquyoake Shire, renamed Isle of Wight County in 1637, after the island in the English Channel of the same name. The name was probably changed because the Isle of Wight had been the home of some of the principal colonists, although the Native American name also went through multiple Anglicisations, eventually becoming "Warwicke Squeake". National Historic Landmark, St. Luke's Church [1], built in 1632, the nation's only original Gothic church and the oldest existing church of English foundation in America is located in the county. In 1732 a considerable portion of the northwestern part of the original shire was added to Brunswick County; and in 1748 the entire county of Southampton was carved out of it. During the American Civil War, Company F of the 61st Virginia Infantry of the Confederate Army was called the "Isle of Wight Avengers." History
During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the settlement at Jamestown in 1607, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. Captain John Smith in 1608 crossed the James River and obtained fourteen bushels of corn from the Native American inhabitants, the Warrosquyoackes or Warraskoyaks. They were a tribe of the Powhatan Confederacy, who had three towns in the area of modern Smithfield. The Warraskoyaks were driven off from their villages in 1622 and 1627, as part of the reprisals for the Great Massacre of 1622. The first English plantations along the south shore within present-day Isle of Wight were established by Puritan colonists, beginning with that of Christopher Lawne in May 1618. Several members of the Puritan Bennett family also came to settle the area, including Richard Bennett who led the Puritans to neighboring Nansemond in 1635, and later became governor of the Virginia Colony. By 1634, the Colony consisted of eight shires or counties with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. One of these was Warrosquyoake Shire, renamed Isle of Wight County in 1637, after the island in the English Channel of the same name. The name was probably changed because the Isle of Wight had been the home of some of the principal colonists, although the Native American name also went through multiple Anglicisations, eventually becoming "Warwicke Squeake". National Historic Landmark, St. Luke's Church [2], built in 1632, the nation's only original Gothic church and the oldest existing church of English foundation in America is located in the county. In 1732 a considerable portion of the northwestern part of the original shire was added to Brunswick County; and in 1748 the entire county of Southampton was carved out of it. During the American Civil War, Company F of the 61st Virginia Infantry of the Confederate Army was called the "Isle of Wight Avengers." Timeline
Population History
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