Albemarle facing growth issues

Staff Reports
Published: September 24, 2007

Albemarle County was formed by the General Assembly in 1744, and it originally included Amherst, Buckingham, Fluvanna and Nelson counties, much of Appomattox County and part of Campbell County. Its current boundaries were set in 1777. The county was named in honor of the colony’s then-governor, William Ann Keppel, second Earl of Albemarle.

Albemarle is home to President Thomas Jefferson’s estate,

Monticello, and President James Monroe’s Ash Lawn-Highland, as well as historic Michie Tavern. Pine Knot in southern Albemarle was a rendezvous spot for President Theodore Roosevelt.

Scottsville is its only incorporated town, which sits on the James River in the county’s southernmost point. The Blue Ridge Mountains line the county’s western edge, and the Southwest Mountains Historic District fills much of the eastern half of the county.

The county is facing significant growth in the coming years - in 2000, the county reported a population of 84,186, but officials estimate that number to reach 97,200 by 2010.

County planners are trying to confine development to designated growth areas near the city of Charlottesville and in Crozet, about 20 miles west of the city. By doing so, they hope to retain the rural nature of the majority of its 723 square miles, most of which include farms, vineyards and rolling forested hills.