Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg, Virginia City of Fredericksburg Historic downtown Fredericksburg Historic downtown Fredericksburg Flag of Fredericksburg, Virginia Flag Official seal of Fredericksburg, Virginia Coat of arms of Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg, Virginia is positioned in Northern Virginia Fredericksburg, Virginia - Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an autonomous town/city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States.
The town/city population was estimated at 28,118 in 2015. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the town/city of Fredericksburg with neighboring Spotsylvania County for statistical purposes.
And 58 miles (93 km) north of Richmond, Fredericksburg is part of the Northern Virginia region and is encompassed in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Located near where the Rappahannock River crosses the Fall Line, Fredericksburg was a prominent port in Virginia amid the colonial era.
During the Civil War, the town, positioned halfway between the capitals of the opposing forces, was the site of the Battle of Fredericksburg and Second Battle of Fredericksburg, preserved in part as the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
Tourism is a primary part of the economy, with roughly 1.5 million citizens visiting the Fredericksburg region annually, including the battlefield park, the downtown visitor center, affairs, exhibitions and historic sites. Fredericksburg is home to a several major commercial centers including Central Park (as of 2004, the second-largest mall on the East Coast) and Spotsylvania Towne Centre, positioned in Spotsylvania County contiguous to the town/city line.
Major employers include the University of Mary Washington, Mary Washington Healthcare, and GEICO.
At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the region that became Fredericksburg were a Siouan-speaking tribe called the Manahoac.
Located on the Rappahannock River near the head of navigation at the fall line, Fredericksburg advanced as the frontier of colonial Virginia shifted west out of the coastal plain.
The Virginia General Assembly established a fort on the Rappahannock in 1676, just below the present-day city.
As interest in the frontier grew, the colonial assembly responded by forming a new county titled Spotsylvania (after Alexander Spotswood, the governor at the time) in 1720 and establishing Fredericksburg in 1728 as a port for the county, of which it was then a part.
The county court was moved to Fredericksburg in 1732, and the town served as governmental center of county until 1780, when the courthouse was moved closer to the county center in Spotsylvania County.
In 1781, Fredericksburg was incorporated as a town, with its own court, council, and mayor.
It received its charter as a town/city in 1879, and under Virginia law was separated from Spotsylvania County.
The town/city adopted its present town/city manager/council form of government in 1911.
The town/city has close associations with George Washington, whose family moved to Ferry Farm in Stafford County just off the Rappahannock River opposite Fredericksburg in 1738.
Washington's mother Mary later moved to the city, and his sister Betty lived at Kenmore, a plantation home then outside the city.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in Fredericksburg.
During the 19th century, Fredericksburg sought to maintain its sphere of trade, but with limited success.
By 1837, a north-south barns , which became the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, linked the town to Richmond, the state capital.
Fredericksburg, Virginia, March 1863.
To the right is the steeple of Fredericksburg Baptist Church, and toward the center is the fortress of St.
During the Civil War, Fredericksburg attained strategic importance due to its locale midway between Washington and Richmond, the opposing capitals of the Union and the Confederacy.
During the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 11 15, 1862, the town sustained momentous damage from bombardment and looting by the Union forces.
A Second Battle of Fredericksburg was fought in and around the town on May 3, 1863, in connection with the Chancellorsville campaign (April 27, 1863 May 6, 1863).
After the war, Fredericksburg recovered its former position as a center of small-town trade and slowly interval beyond its prewar boundaries.
Neither the town/city of Fredericksburg, nor either of the encircling counties, reached the populace level of the census of 1860 until the 1940s (spurred by World War II).
By the 1970s, the town/city and the region had turn into a bedroom improve for jobs in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., largely related to the city's locale near four military installations: Quantico Marine Corps Base, the Army's Fort Belvoir, the Navy's Dahlgren Surface Weapons Base, and the National Guard's Fort A.P.
In addition, longterm position military personnel, appointed to the Pentagon (in Arlington, Virginia), find Fredericksburg a convenient home base. The University of Mary Washington was established in Fredericksburg in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women.
Adopting the name of Mary Washington College in 1938, the college was for many years associated with the University of Virginia as a women's liberal arts college.
Recently, the college changed names from Mary Washington College to the University of Mary Washington.
Two separate campuses for graduate and experienced studies and education and research are positioned in suburban Stafford County and in non-urban King George County near the Dahlgren naval base, in the order given.
The power chord of undivided guitar was first advanced by Link Wray in Fredericksburg in 1958 amid his first improvisation of the instrumental piece "Rumble", a single released by Wray & His Ray Men. The small-town music scene contains a wide range of genres.
A commuter rail line the Virginia Railway Express was established in the 1980s, providing passage to job sites north of Fredericksburg.
Fredericksburg, Virginia is positioned in Southern Northern Virginia Charles Alexandria - Alexandria Fauquier Manassas - Manassas Manassas Park - Manassas Park Prince William Spotsylvania Stafford Fredericksburg - Fredericksburg Culpeper Louisa Orange Caroline Hanover King George According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 10.5 square miles (27.2 km2), of which 10.4 square miles (27.0 km2) is territory and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km2), or 0.67%, is water. The town/city is part of the boundary between the Piedmont and Tidewater regions, and as such is positioned on the fall line, as evident on the Rappahannock River.
US 1, US 17, and I-95 all pass through the city, which is positioned 53 miles (85 km) south of downtown Washington, D.C.
The town/city is bounded on the north and east by the Rappahannock River; athwart the river is Stafford County.
The town/city is bounded on the south and west by Spotsylvania County.
Fredericksburg has a four-season humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa), with cool winters and hot, humid summers.
Climate data for Fredericksburg, Virginia (downtown, 1981 2010 normals) Source: NOAA (precipitation days at Fredericksburg National Battlefield Park) Fredericksburg City Hall Fredericksburg Museum The Fredericksburg Police Department tracks crime knowledge under the state-level fitness of the Uniform Crime Reporting program.[note 1] Per state code, the central repository for crime statistics rests with the Department of State Police, which compiles data from all of the participating agencies into an annual publication. By long-standing tradition (dating back to the Federal Hatch Act of 1939, which prohibited government employees from participating in partisan politics), small-town elections in Fredericksburg are officially non-partisan.
Like the rest of Northern Virginia, Fredericksburg has trended firmly Democratic in recent years.
In the 2008 presidential election, voters in Fredericksburg gave Barack Obama a total of 64.33% of the vote. Only Arlington County, Alexandria, and Falls Church had a higher percentage of votes for Obama in Northern Virginia. According to Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S.
Presidential Elections, no Republican presidential candidate has carried Fredericksburg since 1988.
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg Historic District Presbyterian church fredericksburg Fredericksburg, Virginia The 40-block Fredericksburg Historic District, on the National Register of Historic Places, embraces the city's downtown region and includes more than 350 buildings dating to the 18th and 19th centuries.
Crowds of tourists are drawn to the historic precinct of Fredericksburg amid the summer months.
George's Episcopal Church in downtown Fredericksburg was established in 1720.
Within the historic district, four 18th-century historic sites have been managed by Preservation Virginia but, following a full, statewide reorganization by that organization, the newly created "Washington Heritage Museums" group will acquire the sites by 2014: the Mary Washington House, where George Washington's mother spent her final years; the late 18th century Rising Sun Tavern and the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop (the fourth is only open on Historic Garden Week).
Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, and the 1816 town hall and market home.
The latter building homed the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center which was closed in 2015 due to a lack of financing.
The area's Civil War battles are memorialized in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
Formed by an act of Congress in 1927, the nationwide military park preserves portions of the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House.
The Fredericksburg National Cemetery, also part of the park, is positioned on Marye's Heights on the Fredericksburg battlefield and includes more than 15,000 Union burials from the area's battlefields.
Notable 20th-century sites and structures include the ground of the University of Mary Washington (begun in 1908), and Carl's Ice Cream, an Art Moderne roadside ice cream stand on the National Register of Historic Places on U.S.
Nearby points of interest include Ferry Farm historic site in Stafford County where Washington spent his boyhood immediately athwart the river from Fredericksburg, and the George Washington Birthplace National Monument, positioned 38 miles to the east in Westmoreland County.
The historic improve of Falmouth lies athwart the Rappahannock to the north and contains the historic home Belmont, home of American Impressionist artist Gari Melchers.
The Fredericksburg City Public Schools are run autonomous of the encircling counties.
Fredericksburg Academy Fredericksburg Christian School The University of Mary Washington, established in 1908 and opening in 1911, is a four-year enhance college inside the city.
Fredericksburg's everyday journal is The Free Lance Star.
The Free Lance was first presented in 1885, and competed with two twice-weekly papers in the town/city during the late 19th century, the Fredericksburg News and The Virginia Star.
Until June 19, 2014, the Free Lance Star was owned and directed by members of the Rowe family of Fredericksburg.
Fredericksburg and the close-by region have a several airways broadcasts, including (on the FM dial) WYAU (89.5, Public Radio), WJYJ (90.5, Christian), WFLS (93.3, country), WGRQ (95.9, "Super - Hits", licensed to close-by Fairview Beach), WWUZ (96.9, classic rock, licensed to close-by Bowling Green), WVBX (99.3, "The Vibe", rhythmic contemporary, licensed to close-by Spotsylvania), WBQB ("B-101.5", adult contemporary) and WGRX ("Thunder 104.5", country, licensed to close-by Falmouth).
Fredericksburg AM stations include WFVA (1230, nostalgia) and WNTX (1350, talk, news, and sports).
In 2001, the Arbitron media service began listing the Fredericksburg region as a nationally rated radio market. As of the fall of 2014, the region ranked 146th out of 272 markets surveyed, with a total market populace of more than 325,000.
In television, Fredericksburg is part of the Washington market.
There are no experienced sports squads in Fredericksburg.
Other amateur athletics include Fredericksburg FC of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL); and the Rappahannock Rugby Club, a senior men's rugby club competing in Division III of the Potomac Rugby Union. The Fredericksburg train station, formerly of the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad Fredericksburg is traversed by a series of non-urban and suburban four-lane highways and a multitude of small, two-lane roads.
Route 1, providing north-south transit from the region to Stafford County, Washington, D.C., and points beyond.
Route 3 (Plank Road) is a primary east-west route that joins downtown Fredericksburg (via the Blue and Gray Parkway bypass), southern Stafford and King George counties, and Route 301 to the east with the large shopping centers, Spotsylvania Town Center and Central Park.
Most of Fredericksburg's traffic flow is to or from the north (Washington, D.C.
As an alternative to I-95, some commuters use the Virginia Railway Express rail service to Washington.
Long-distance rail service is available on Amtrak, which serves Fredericksburg via the Northeast Regional and Carolinian/Piedmont routes.
Fredericksburg Regional Transit (FRED) is a recently started bus service in Fredericksburg which serves most region communities, retail shopping centers, two VRE stations, and downtown Fredericksburg. Wounded soldiers being tended at Marye's House in Fredericksburg in May 1864[note 2] American Civil War: Union Army soldiers of 6th Corps, Army of the Potomac, in trenches before storming Marye's Heights at the Second Battle of Fredericksburg amid the Chancellorsville campaign, Virginia, May 1863 (#B-157).[note 3] Another look at downtown Fredericksburg James Monroe Museum in downtown Fredericksburg George Washington, first President of the United States, prestige of the American Revolutionary War Sometimes mistakenly labeled as taken at siege of Petersburg, Virginia.
"Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Fredericksburg city, Virginia".
"Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015".
"Metropolitan and NECMA Counties in Alphabetical Order, by State, with Area Titles".
"Fredericksburg Overview".
Official website of the town/city of Fredericksburg, Virginia "Station Name: VA FREDERICKSBURG SEWAGE".
"Station Name: VA FREDERICKSBURG NP".
"Historical Enumeration Browser".
"Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990".
"Enumeration 2000 PHC-T-4.
"State & County Quick - Facts".
"American Factfinder, Community Facts, Fredericksburg city, Virginia, Origins and Language, Enumeration 2000, Selected Social Characteristics (Household and Family Type, Disability, Citizenship, Ancestry, Language, ...)".
"American Factfinder, Community Facts, Fredericksburg city, Virginia, Origins and Language, 2014 American Community Survey, Selected Social Characteristics (Household and Family Type, Disability, Citizenship, Ancestry, Language, ...), 2010".
"American Factfinder, Community Facts, Fredericksburg city, Virginia, Origins and Language, 2014 American Community Survey, Selected Social Characteristics (Household and Family Type, Disability, Citizenship, Ancestry, Language, ...)".
Crime in Virginia 2011 "Greenlaw, Kelly, Devine win Fredericksburg elections".
"Mary Katherine Greenlaw wins a second term as Fredericksburg mayor".
National Park Service (July 9, 2010).
"Virginia Landmarks Register".
"map of parks in Fredericksburg VA" (PDF).
Fredericksburg City Parks and Recreation.
Fredericksburg City Public Schools.
"Berkshire Hathaway Buys Newspaper in Fredericksburg, Virginia".
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star.
"For Area Baptists: The First Hundred Years Were the Hardest".
United States Congress.
"Fredericksburg, Virginia (id: C000910)".
Lived for a time in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where his brother had a company he moved to Fredericksburg in the 1740s "Betty Washington Lewis".
Upon her marriage, Betty moved into a large brick home in Fredericksburg Mercer worked as an apothecary and practiced medicine in Fredericksburg In 1738, a 150-acre property just athwart the Rappahannock River from the fledgling town of Fredericksburg ...
George Washington: A Life by Willard Stearne Randall (1997).
"George Webster Coghill".
Farmer, 79, the founder of the Congress of Racial Equality and the moving force behind some of the most dramatic episodes of the civil rights era of the 1960s, died yesterday at a hospital in Fredericksburg, Va.
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star.
Keller's Cellar kellerwilliams.net, Retrieved May 7, 2008.
They are the city's newest sister city.
Fredericksburg, Virginia.
"Fredericksburg Forming Sister City With Kathmandu".
Fredericksburg Patch.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Wikisource has the text of a 1906 New International Encyclopedia article about Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Fredericksburg, Virginia 1608-1908 General Interest Information about Fredericksburg Virginia Central Rappahannock Heritage Center a nonprofit all volunteer historical archive in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
Categories:
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia - Cities in Virginia - Fredericksburg, Virginia - Washington urbane region - Populated places established in 1728 - University suburbs in the United States - 1728 establishments in Virginia - Former county seats in Virginia - National Register of Historic Places in Fredericksburg, Virginia
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