Wytheville, Virginia | |
|---|---|
 Main Street in Wytheville | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Location in the Commonwealth ofVirginia | |
| Coordinates:36°56′52″N81°05′13″W / 36.94778°N 81.08694°W /36.94778; -81.08694 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Wythe |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Beth A. Taylor[1] |
| Area | |
• Town | 14.58 sq mi (37.77 km2) |
| • Land | 14.49 sq mi (37.53 km2) |
| • Water | 0.093 sq mi (0.24 km2) |
| Elevation | 2,287 ft (697 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Town | 8,265 |
• Estimate (2022)[3] | 8,177 |
| • Density | 546.7/sq mi (211.07/km2) |
| • Metro | 28,290 |
| U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census | |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 24382 |
| Area code | 276 |
| FIPS code | 51-88000[4] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1498537[5] |
| Website | wytheville |
Wytheville (/ˈwɪθvɪl/WITH-vil) is a town in and the county seat ofWythe County,Virginia, United States. It is named afterGeorge Wythe, a signer of theUnited States Declaration of Independence and mentor toThomas Jefferson. Wytheville's population was 8,264 at the2020 census.[6] Interstate Highways77 and81 were constructed to intersect at the town.
During the American Civil War, Wytheville had a strategic importance. It was attacked in 1863 (Toland's Raid) and 1865 (Stoneman's 1865 Raid). The town is the birthplace ofEdith Bolling Wilson, second wife of PresidentWoodrow Wilson.
Wythe County was created in 1789 and named forGeorge Wythe, the "father of American Jurisprudence" and signer of theDeclaration of Independence. In May 1790, Chris Simmerman donated 85 acres, Robert Williams II donated 50 acres, and John Davis donated 10 acres to establish a town and county seat. Robert Adams completed a town survey in November of that year, dividing the area into half-acre lots. The town did not have an official name yet, but was generally known as Wythe Court House.[7]
Two years later, in October 1792, the town was officially named Evansham, for prominent local citizen Jesse Evans. After a disastrous fire in March 1839, the town was renamed Wytheville. At that time, it was home to about 500 residents.[7]
In 1926, the last documentedlynching in Virginia took place here, whenRaymond Byrd, an African-American man, was murdered by a large group of masked and costumed men while under arrest in the local jail. Byrd was accused of raping or assaulting the three white daughters of Grover Grubb, his employer. The two older sisters, both of whom bore Byrd's children, were of age and revealed that the relationship was consensual and thus did not constitute a crime. He was, however, eventually arrested on the accusation that he assaulted the minor daughter. Byrd was shot and killed by the mob while he was in his jail cell. Then his dead body was dragged a few miles behind a truck, placed in the boot of a car, and then hanged from a tree on Charley Brown's land near St. Paul Lutheran Church.[8] The event provoked outrage and national coverage by newspapers.[9]
Byrd's death was a catalyst for Virginia's passing an anti-lynching law in 1928, largely because of a campaign led byLouis I. Jaffé, editor of theNorfolk Virginian-Pilot. It was supported by GovernorHarry Flood Byrd Sr., who linked the bill to his efforts to attract new businesses to the state.[9][8]
A few cases ofpolio during the summer of 1950 swelled into an epidemic of hundreds. It was known to cause infantile and even adult paralysis. Of the 5,513 inhabitants of the town,[10] 184 people contracted the disease, resulting in 17 fatalities.[11] From the beginning of June until the end of August, parents kept children inside, and large gatherings were cancelled to diminish the chance of infection.[12]
As the epidemic progressed, ambulances drove victims approximately 80 miles (130 km) to Memorial Crippled Children's Hospital inRoanoke, Virginia. Hearses from localfuneral homes were used when ambulances were unavailable.African-American patients with polio were repeatedly denied admission to Roanoke's hospital and were forced to drive approximately 180 miles (290 km) to St. Philip's Hospital inRichmond, the closest hospital to serve blacks.[13]
The Town Council erected billboards at all five entrances to the county, warning potential visitors of the epidemic and urging tourists to return the following year. By the end of the summer, all five billboards were stolen or demolished. Though the Town Council offered a reward for information, no one came forward.[13][14]
TheCrockett's Cove Presbyterian Church,Haller-Gibboney Rock House,Loretto,St. John's Episcopal Church,St. John's Lutheran Church and Cemetery,Wythe County Poorhouse Farm, andWytheville Historic District are listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[15]
Wytheville is located at36°56′52″N81°5′13″W / 36.94778°N 81.08694°W /36.94778; -81.08694 (36.947679, −81.086955).[16]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 14.3 sq mi (37.0 km2), of which 0.04 sq mi (0.1 km2) (0.14%) is water.
Wytheville is an important point on bothI-77 andI-81 and lies amidst awrong-way concurrency of I-77 and I-81. It is located about halfway betweenBristol,Tennessee/Virginia andRoanoke. On the I-77 corridor, it is located about halfway betweenCharleston,West Virginia andCharlotte, North Carolina. The nearby community ofFort Chiswell is thecontrol city for the northbound traffic on I-77 coming from Charlotte,Statesville,Elkin, andMount Airy, North Carolina. In the near future,Interstate 74 will go through Wytheville in addition to the two other interstates.
Due to the confluence of I-77, I-81, and severalU.S. Highways and its location in the foothills of theBlue Ridge Mountains, Wytheville is known as "The Hub of Southwest Virginia" and "The Crossroads of the Blue Ridge".
Due to its elevation, the climate of Wytheville is either classified asmountain temperate orhumid subtropical (KöppenCfb orCfa, respectively), and the town straddles the border betweenUSDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6B and 7A.[17] Summers are warm and humid, although significantly cooler than low-elevation places within the state, with only 4.6 days of 90 °F (32 °C)+ highs annually, and winters are generally cool to cold, with occasional intervening warm periods and 11 nights of sub-10 °F (−12 °C) lows. Monthly mean temperatures range from 32.9 °F (0.5 °C) in January to 71.7 °F (22.1 °C) in July. Snowfall averages 20.5 inches (52 cm) per season and generally occurs from December to March.
| Climate data for Wytheville, Virginia, elev. 2,458 feet (749 m) (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1893–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 78 (26) | 78 (26) | 83 (28) | 88 (31) | 91 (33) | 98 (37) | 98 (37) | 98 (37) | 97 (36) | 90 (32) | 80 (27) | 76 (24) | 98 (37) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 42.2 (5.7) | 45.9 (7.7) | 54.0 (12.2) | 64.5 (18.1) | 72.5 (22.5) | 79.3 (26.3) | 82.8 (28.2) | 81.8 (27.7) | 76.5 (24.7) | 66.6 (19.2) | 55.5 (13.1) | 45.8 (7.7) | 63.9 (17.7) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 32.9 (0.5) | 35.7 (2.1) | 42.6 (5.9) | 51.9 (11.1) | 60.5 (15.8) | 68.0 (20.0) | 71.7 (22.1) | 70.6 (21.4) | 64.6 (18.1) | 53.7 (12.1) | 43.2 (6.2) | 36.2 (2.3) | 52.6 (11.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 23.5 (−4.7) | 25.6 (−3.6) | 31.2 (−0.4) | 39.2 (4.0) | 48.5 (9.2) | 56.7 (13.7) | 60.6 (15.9) | 59.5 (15.3) | 52.8 (11.6) | 40.7 (4.8) | 31.0 (−0.6) | 26.6 (−3.0) | 41.3 (5.2) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −20 (−29) | −9 (−23) | 0 (−18) | 12 (−11) | 23 (−5) | 30 (−1) | 39 (4) | 35 (2) | 25 (−4) | 12 (−11) | 2 (−17) | −13 (−25) | −20 (−29) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 3.16 (80) | 2.88 (73) | 3.60 (91) | 3.75 (95) | 4.30 (109) | 4.06 (103) | 4.22 (107) | 3.63 (92) | 3.36 (85) | 2.92 (74) | 2.62 (67) | 3.18 (81) | 41.68 (1,059) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 5.9 (15) | 4.9 (12) | 2.9 (7.4) | 0.5 (1.3) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.4 (1.0) | 3.8 (9.7) | 18.4 (47) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 11.1 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 12.0 | 13.5 | 12.8 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.0 | 9.2 | 11.3 | 135.0 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 2.8 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 9.6 |
| Source:NOAA[18][19] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 1,111 | — | |
| 1870 | 1,671 | 50.4% | |
| 1880 | 1,885 | 12.8% | |
| 1890 | 2,570 | 36.3% | |
| 1900 | 3,003 | 16.8% | |
| 1910 | 3,054 | 1.7% | |
| 1920 | 2,947 | −3.5% | |
| 1930 | 3,327 | 12.9% | |
| 1940 | 4,653 | 39.9% | |
| 1950 | 5,513 | 18.5% | |
| 1960 | 5,634 | 2.2% | |
| 1970 | 6,069 | 7.7% | |
| 1980 | 7,135 | 17.6% | |
| 1990 | 8,038 | 12.7% | |
| 2000 | 7,804 | −2.9% | |
| 2010 | 8,211 | 5.2% | |
| 2020 | 8,265 | 0.7% | |
| 2022 (est.) | 8,177 | [3] | −1.1% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[20] | |||
As of the 2020census,[4]there were 8,264 people, residing in the town. Thepopulation density was 570.4 people per square mile (211.07/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 86.3%White (85.9%non-Hispanic white), 6.7%Black or African American (6.6% non-Hispanic black), 0.4%Native American, 1.1%Asian, 0.01%Pacific Islander, 1.1% fromother races, and 4.5% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 2.3% of the population.
There were 4,299 housing units at an average density of 296.7 units per square mile (113.8/km2), containing 3,922 households. There were 2,102 (53.6%) family households. 22.7% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.1% weremarried couples living together, 6.3% werecohabitating couples living together, 38% had a female householder with no partner present, and 20.% had a male householder with no partner present. 40.8% of all households consisted of single individuals living alone. The average household size was 2.1 and the average family size was 2.9.
In total 19.5% of the population was under the age of 18 and 25.3% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 87 males.
In the period of 2018-2022, the Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $39,459, while the mean income was $66,606. For family households, the median income was $75,964 while the mean income was $95,921. Theper capita income for the town was $33,813. 27.3% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 39.7% of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those age 65 or over.
WYVE 1280 on the AM dial signed on in 1949. In August 2018, WYVE acquired FM translator dial position 99.9 FM. Blue Ridge Media Partners owns WYVE and its sister stations WXBX and WLOY, with towers in Wythe County and studio space adjacent to downtown Wytheville. Wytheville is also served by the newspapers theWytheville Enterprise and theSWVA Sun.
Municipalities and communities ofWythe County, Virginia,United States | ||
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