Rockbridge County

Rockbridge County location. Rockbridge County is named for Natural Bridge, which is located in the southern portion of the County. George Washington surveyed the arch as a young man, and you may still see his initials carved in the rock. In 1774 Thomas Jefferson bought Natural Bridge from King George III. A few years later, in 1778, Rockbridge County was created from parts of neighboring Augusta and Botetourt Counties.

This county is centrally located in the historic and scenic Shenandoah Valley in west-central Virginia, and it is bounded on the west by the lower elevations of the Allegheny Mountains and on the east by the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is surrounded by the counties of Augusta, Nelson, Amherst, Bedford, Botetourt, Alleghany, and Bath, and lies at the headwaters of the James and Maury rivers. Two major interstates, 81 and 64, service the Rockbridge County area.

Today, Rockbridge County encompasses 607 square miles of diverse, rolling terrain. Within its borders are two incorporated towns, Glasgow and Goshen, and two independent cities, Lexington and Buena Vista. Lexington, the county seat, is an important educational, retail, commercial, and governmental center, and it was named for the town in Massachusetts where one of the first battles of the American Revolution took place. Buena Vista, situated 6 miles east from Lexington and adjacent to the Maury River, is the industrial and manufacturing nucleus of the area.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,557 kmÃ‚Â² (601 miÃ‚Â²). 1,553 kmÃ‚Â² (600 miÃ‚Â²) of it is land and 4 kmÃ‚Â² (1 miÃ‚Â²) of it (0.22%) is water. The land area figures do not include the independent cities of Buena Vista and Lexington.

Rockbridge County Court
2 South Main Street
Lexington, VA 24450
Phone: (540) 463-2232
FAX: (540) 463-3850

General

Rockbridge County Government
Census Bureau Profile
Rockbridge County Wikipedia
E-Podunk
NACo

Genealogical

Rockbridge Area Genealogical Society (RAGS)
Rockbridge County RootsWeb
Rockbridge County GenWeb Archives (FTP access)
Rockbridge County VA GenWeb
Rockbridge County Vital Records

Historical

Rockbridge Historical Society
Rockbridge County National Register of Historic Places
American Memory - Built in America - Rockbridge County images from the Library of Congress
Rockbridge County Storms (1950-2006)

Free Online Research Sources

1778 Tithables Rockbridge County
1783 Tax List Rockbridge County
Rockbridge County Census Online
Rockbridge County Confederate Units
WW II Casualties Army and Air Force

Cemeteries
USGS GNIS Rockbridge County Cemeteries
Rockbridge County Political Graveyard
Rockbridge County Find a Grave

Newspapers

Rockbridge Weekly - includes obituaries