Blacksburg is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of Virginia's largest university, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (better known as Virginia Tech).
Blacksburg History
Blacksburg, Virginia, was founded in 1798 on a thirty-eight acre tract laid out and deeded by William Black, for whom the town was named. The original town was limited to a sixteen-block area bounded by present-day Draper Road, Jackson Street, Wharton Street, and Clay Street. Blacksburg's town limits were slightly northeast of an earlier frontier settlement dating from 1748 called Draper' s Meadow, near the Duck Pond on the Virginia Tech campus. Smithfield, built in 1773 by William Preston, sits on the original Draper's Meadow site.Blacksburg and Virginia Tech have grown together. Now celebrating the town's Bicentennial (as well as the 250th anniversary of the Draper's Meadow settlement), interest in the town's history and development continues to grow. Researchers and those who simply want to know more about Blacksburg's history alike can find a wealth of information on the history of the town in the Virginia Tech libraries.
Blacksburg Geography
Blacksburg is located at 37°13'48" North, 80°25'4" West (37.229874, -80.417694).According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 50.2 km2 (19.4 mi2). 50.1 km2 (19.4 mi2) of it is land and 0.1 km2 (0.04 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 0.10% water.
The tallest building in Blacksburg is Slusher Tower, a twelve story residence hall on the Virginia Tech campus.
Blacksburg Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 39,573 people, 13,162 households, and 4,777 families residing in the town. The population density is 789.2/km2 (2,044.2/mi2). There are 13,732 housing units at an average density of 273.9/km2 (709.4/mi2). The racial makeup of the town is 84.39% White, 4.39% African American, 0.11% Native American, 7.80% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.90% from other races, and 2.36% from two or more races. 2.32% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.There are 13,162 households out of which 16.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.7% are married couples living together, 5.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 63.7% are non-families. 26.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 3.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.37 and the average family size is 2.79.
Blacksburg's age distribution is: 9.7% under the age of 18, 57.4% from 18 to 24, 18.9% from 25 to 44, 9.2% from 45 to 64, and 4.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 22 years. This unusual age distribution is explained by the presence of Virginia Tech, which heavily skews the population toward the 18-24 group. For every 100 females there are 127.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 129.7 males. Virginia Tech's presence also explains the unusual sex distribution; it has large and well-regarded programs in several male-dominated academic fields, most notably engineering.
The median income for a household in the town is $22,513, and the median income for a family is $51,810. Males have a median income of $37,129 versus $24,321 for females. The per capita income for the town is $13,946. 43.2% of the population and 15.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 23.7% of those under the age of 18 and 6.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. However, traditional measures of poverty can be highly misleading when applied to communities with large student populations, such as Blacksburg.
External links
- Town of Blacksburg
- Blacksburg Electronic Village
- New River Valley
- The Roanoke Times
- Virginia Tech
- Collegiate Times
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Blacksburg,_Virginia".