At the time of European colonization, the native tribes of the area that would become Prince William County were theDoeg, anAlgonquian-speaking sub-group of thePowhatan tribal confederation.
WhenJohn Smith and other English explorers ventured to the upperPotomac River, beginning in 1608, they recorded the name of a village that the Doeg inhabited asPemacocack (meaning "plenty of fish" in their language). It was on the west bank of thePotomac River, about 30 miles south of present-dayAlexandria.[5] Unable to deal with European diseases and firepower, the Doeg abandoned their villages in the area by 1700.[6]
Fairfax County was split from Prince William County in 1742, and first Loudoun (in 1757) and then the incorporated town of Alexandria (in 1779, part of which later became Arlington County) would later be split from Fairfax County. Fauquier County was created from western Prince William County in 1759.
In 1790, Prince William County's population was 58% white; most of the remainder wereenslaved African Americans. The county had been an area of tobacco plantations, but planters were changing to cultivate mixed crops due to soil exhaustion and changes in the market. In the first two decades after the Revolution, the number and percentage of free blacks increased in Virginia as some whites freed their slaves, based on revolutionary ideals.
On March 19, 1892, two white men, Lee Heflin and Joseph Dye, werelynched in Haymarket. They had been convicted of the murder of a girl and sentenced to death, but the mob did not want to wait for the legal system. The men were hung from trees at the edge of woods; then the mob shot into their bodies.The Washington Post reported, "mob law...is a dangerous thing to encourage. There is too much of it already throughout the country, and it spreads like a contagion so long as public sentiment tacitly approves it."[8] It was unusual that white men were lynched; in Virginia and the rest of the South, black men were overwhelmingly the victims of lynching, the violence by which whites maintained dominance.[9][10][11] The county was rural and agricultural for decades.
Into the early 20th century, the population was concentrated in two areas, one at Manassas (site of a major railroad junction), and the other nearOccoquan andWoodbridge along thePotomac River, which was an important transportation route. Beginning in the late 1930s, suburban residential development began, and new housing was developed near the existing population centers, particularly in Manassas.
In 1960, the population was 50,164. Continued suburbanization and growth of theWashington, D.C. metropolitan area caused that to increase rapidly in the following decades. There was expansion of federal, military and commercial activities in Northern Virginia in the late 20th century. By 2000, this was the third-most populous local jurisdiction in Virginia. From 2000 to 2010, the population increased by 43.2%. During this period the county becameminority-majority: the new majority is composed of Hispanic (of any race, largely of Central and South American ancestry), African American, and Asian.[12] In 2012 it was the seventh-wealthiest county in the country.[13] The estimated population of 2014 is more than 437,000.
In 1994,The Walt Disney Company bought extensive amounts of land inHaymarket for a proposedDisney's America theme park.[14] Local resistance to the resort, because of its perceived adverse effects on the historicManassas Battlefield, led to its end as a viable idea.[15] William B. Snyder, a local businessman, convinced Disney to sell the property to him.[16] Snyder, in turn, sold off most of the land to developers, except for the 405 acres (1.64 km2) donated to the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts, who used the land to createCamp Snyder for Cub Scouts.[17]
The Marine Corps Heritage Museum and the Hylton Performing Arts Center opened in the 21st century. The American Wartime Museum is also to be located in this county. During the commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, reenactment of the First and Second Battles of Manassas was planned.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 348 square miles (900 km2), of which 336 square miles (870 km2) is land and 12 square miles (31 km2) (3.5%) is water.[18] It is bounded on the north byLoudoun andFairfax Counties; on the west byFauquier County; on the south byStafford County; and on the east by thePotomac River (Charles County, Maryland lies across the river). The western half of the county is occupied by agreen belt known as the rural crescent.[19]
Prince William County, Virginia – Racial and Ethnic Composition (NH = Non-Hispanic) Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of thecensus[26] of 2010, there were 402,002 people, 137,115 housing units, and 130,785 households residing in the county. The population density was 1,186 inhabitants per square mile (458/km2). There were 137,115 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile (156/km2). The racial makeup of the county (reporting as only one race) was:
57.8% White
20.2% Black or African American
0.6% Native American
7.5% Asian (1.5% Indian, 1.2% Filipino, 1.2% Korean, 0.8% Vietnamese 0.6% Chinese, 0.1% Japanese, 2.1% Other Asian)
0.1% Pacific Islander
9.1% from other races
and 5.1% from two or more races
20.3% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race (6.8% Salvadoran, 3.7% Mexican, 1.8% Puerto Rican, 1.1% Guatemalan, 1.0% Peruvian, 0.9% Honduran, 0.7% Bolivian, 0.4% Colombian, 0.3% Nicaraguan, 0.3% Dominican)
Also according to census figures, there were 130,785 households in Prince William County as of April 1, 2010. According to the Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey,[27] 76.1% of the county's households are occupied by families, (compared to 66.5% in the United States). This represents a decrease of 4.6 percentage points since 1990, when 80.7% of households in the county were families. Approximately 42.2% of Prince William County's households are family households occupied by parents with their own children under 18 years of age.
According to the Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey, 29.3% of the total County population was under 18 years of age; approximately 6.5% was aged 65 and over. The median age of the population was 33.2 years. The 2009 American Community Survey also indicated that 50.0% of the county's population was male and 50.0% is female.
According to the 2009 American Community Survey, the 2009 median household income in Prince William County was $89,785. The per capita income for the county was $35,890. The 2009 American Community Survey reported that in 2009, 6.0% of Prince William County's population was living below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
Prince William County Public Schools is the second largest school system inVirginia (having, circa 2007, overtakenVirginia Beach City Public Schools).[30] The system consists of 57 elementary, 16 middle, and 13 high schools, as well as a virtual high school, two traditional schools, three special education schools, and two alternative schools. The Superintendent of Prince William County Public Schools is Dr. LaTanya McDade. The system has a television station calledPWCS-TV. It is programmed and operated by Prince William County Public Schools' Media Production Services Department and is accessible to Comcast and Verizon subscribers in Prince William County.
The historicOld Dominion Speedway was located in Manassas. Opened in 1948, it was the location of the first commercial drag race held on the East Coast, and was a stop on the NASCAR Grand National schedule in the late 50s and early 60s. Old Dominion Speedway closed in the Fall of 2012 because of noise complaints.[33]
The county is divided into seven magisterial districts: Brentsville, Coles, Potomac, Gainesville, Neabsco, Occoquan, and Woodbridge. The magisterial districts each elect one supervisor to theBoard of Supervisors which governs Prince William County. There is also a chairman elected by the countyat-large, bringing total board membership to 8. A vice-chairman is selected by the board from among its membership. The county operates under the county form of thecounty executive system of government, with an elected Board of Supervisors. The board appoints a professional, nonpartisan county executive to manage operations of government agencies.
Christopher Shorter was named County Executive for Prince William County, Virginia, by the Board of County Supervisors in October 2022. Prior to serving as the County Executive in Prince William County, he served as the first City Administrator in the City of Baltimore, Assistant City Manager in Austin, Texas, and served for more than 10 years in various leadership roles for the District of Columbia government, including Director of the DC Department of Public Works.
Prince William County Judicial Center
In other elected County offices, the Prince William CountyCommonwealth's Attorney, Amy Ashworth, and the Prince William CountyClerk of Circuit Court, Jacqueline Smith are Democrats. The Prince WilliamCounty Sheriff, Glen Hill, is a Republican.
Republicans formerly held six of the eightVirginia House of Delegates seats that include parts of the county, with that delegation having consisted ofRobert G. Marshall,Scott Lingamfelter,Tim Hugo,Jackson Miller,Rich Anderson, andMark Dudenhefer. In the2017 legislative election, which saw the Democrats cut a Republican majority in the House of Delegates from 66 to 51, Prince William County saw its number of Republican Delegates be reduced from six to one, with Tim Hugo being the sole Republican to represent the county. Marshall, Lingamfelter, Miller, and Anderson all ran for reelection and were defeated by Democratic challengersDanica Roem,Elizabeth Guzmán,Lee Carter, andHala Ayala respectively. Dudenhefer opted to retire and instead successfully ran for a seat on theStafford County Board of Supervisors, and he was replaced by DemocratJennifer Carroll Foy. DemocratsLuke Torian andJohn Bell were already representing the county in the House at the time of the 2017 elections, and with the addition of the five newcomers, Democrats held seven of the eight House seats that include parts of Prince William County. Hugo was then defeated in the2019 election by DemocratDan Helmer.
In the 2025 election former delegate Elizabeth Guzman defeated the last republican delegate from prince William county in the house, delegate Ian Lovejoy. Democrats now hold all Seven house seats that include parts of the county.
All threeVirginia State Senate seats that include parts of the county are held by Democrats.
Democrats hold both of the U.S. Congressional seats that include parts of Prince William County. In 2006, Democratic U.S. Senator candidateJim Webb carried the county with 50.51% of the vote.
In the2008 United States presidential election, DemocratBarack Obama carried Prince William with 57.51% of the vote, compared to RepublicanJohn McCain who received 41.62%. Obama's final rally the night before the election was held at the Prince William County Fairgrounds, just outside the city of Manassas.[34] He was the first Democrat to carry the county since 1964.
Continuing demographic changes in the county, such as an increasingly diverse and urbanized population, were cited byThe New York Times as contributing to Obama's success in the2012 United States presidential election and suggesting the future appeal of the Democratic Party in the United States. Between 2000 and 2010, county population had increased by 121,189 persons (43.2%).[12] It had changed from a primarily white, rural county. Prince William by 2012 had an educated professional population with the seventh-highest income in the country; it is the first county in Virginia to be composed of a majority of minorities:Hispanic, African American, and Asian. Obama and the Democrats attracted their votes.[13]Time identified Prince William as one of five critical counties in Virginia for the election. Obama defeated Romney soundly by 16 percentage points with a margin of 57%–41%,[35] narrowly beating his 2008 margin.
The county continued its trend toward Democratic candidates in the2016 United States presidential election, Prince William County voted 57.6% for Hillary Clinton to Trump's 36.5%. Clinton's victory represented the largest margin of victory for any presidential candidate in the county since 1988. In 2020, Prince William County voted forJoe Biden with 62.6% of the vote, the largest share of the vote for a Democratic candidate since 1944.
The county has been a focal point forright-wing conspiracy theories about illegitimate votes during the 2020 presidential election.[36] Virginia conservatives cited the prosecution of Prince William County's former top election official, Michele White, for alleged vote count fraud in 2020 as evidence of election fraud concerns. However, the case was dropped,[37] and it was revealed that the errors in vote tabulation actually favoredTrump, with no evidence of intentional fraud or significant impact on election outcomes.[38]
United States presidential election results for Prince William County, Virginia[39]
TheNational Museum of the Marine Corps is located inTriangle, Virginia and is free to the public. The Historic Preservation Division of Prince William County also operates five museums: Rippon Lodge Historic Site, Brentsville Historic Centre, Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park, Lucasville Historic Site, and Ben Lomond Historic Site.
The Manassas National Battlefield Park visitor center in July 2003
TwoNational Parks lie within the county.Prince William Forest Park was established as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area in 1936 and is located in eastern Prince William County. This is the largest protected natural area in theWashington, D.C. metropolitan region at over 15,000 acres (6,070 ha).Manassas National Battlefield Park, located north ofManassas in Prince William County, preserves the site of two major American Civil War battles: theFirst Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861, and theSecond Battle of Manassas which was fought between August 28 and 30, 1862. Outside the South, these battles are commonly referred to as the first and second battles of Bull Run.
ThePrince William County Department of Parks & Recreation operates fifty parks, two water parks, two recreation centers (Birchdale Rec. Center and Sharron Baucom Dale City Rec. Center), two community centers, six sports complexes, and an ice-skating rink:
Theindependent cities ofManassas andManassas Park are surrounded by Prince William County. Before becoming independent cities in 1975, as are all cities in Virginia, both were towns and officially part of the county. The Prince William County Circuit, District, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts, Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney's Office, Prince William County Adult Detention Center, Prince William County Sheriff's Office, and other county agencies are located at Prince William County Courthouse complex. The courthouse complex itself is located in a Prince William County enclave surrounded by the city of Manassas.
Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park share a single judicial system (courts) and Constitutional offices (Commonwealth's Attorney, Sheriff, Circuit Court Clerk).
^Powell, Elizabeth A.; Stover, Sarah (July 26, 2010).The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A). Charlottesville. pp. 1–19.ProQuest872767379.
^Stewart, Nikita (April 5, 2006). "$17 Million Camp Pledges Cub Scout Nirvana in Va.: [FINAL Edition]".The Washington Post. Washington, D.C., United States. pp. –01.ISSN0190-8286.ProQuest410008043.