Louisa

Formed June 19, 1742 (32^nd county)

Louisa County (33,153), Louisa (1,555)

The domed Classical Revival courthouse was built in 1905.  The courthouse is on Main Street at Courthouse Square.  United States Highway 33 is Main Street in the town.  The building was enlarged in 2000.  D. Whiley Anderson provided the designs for this red brick building.  A rot iron fence and veteran memorials are on the grounds.  There was an 1818 courthouse earlier.  Louisa County was organized on June 19, 1742 from Hanover County as the 32^nd county with Louisa as the only county seat.  Many of the Virginia counties have their county seat at a location named after the county followed by the words Court House.  Some counties maintain this in their official name.  The county and county seat are named for Princess Louise of Great Britain. 

Louisa County government consists of a sheriff and 7 Supervisors.  Three Circuit Court Judges and Nine District Court Judges serve Louisa, Albemarle, Culpeper, Fluvanna, Goochland, Greene, Madison, and Orange counties and Charlottesville City and Forty-two Magistrate Court Judges serve Louisa, Albemarle, Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Frederick, Goochland, Greene, Loudoun, Madison, Orange, Page, Rappahannock, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, and Winchester cities.  The county is located in the central part of the state.  Richmond, Virginia is southeast and Roanoke, Virginia is southwest of the county.  The county center is 4 miles Southeast of Louisa.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Spotsylvania, Hanover, Goochland, Fluvanna, Albemarle, and Orange counties. 

The area of the county is 511 square miles.  It is 24 out of 133 in the state.  It ranks 52 out of 133 in population in the state.  It has a density of 64.88 persons per square mile making it 85 out of 133 in the state.  Louisa County has 6.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 64 goes east to west in the southern part of the county from Goochland County to Albemarle County.  United States Highway 15 passes north to south from Orange County to Fluvanna County.  United States Highway 33 enters from Hanover County to Orange County, southeast to northwest.  United States Highway 522 comes from Spotsylvania County, northeast, to Goochland County, southeast.  The county looks like a bowl turned upside down.  The City of Louisa is located near the center of the county.  Louisa is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 4.7% of the county population.  The county and county seat are pronounced LOO-EE-SA.  This county is in the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area.