Surry

Formed January 1, 1652 (10^th county)

Surry County (7,058), Surry (244), Claremont (378)

The red brick Classical Revival facility was constructed in 1923 to replace a 1796 courthouse.  It is located at the intersection of Church and Oak streets.  Virginia State Highway 10 passes one block to the west.  G. A. Berryman provided the designs.  The building was renovated and enlarged in 2009.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  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 was founded on January 1, 1652 from James City County as the 10^th county with Surry as the only county seat.  The county and county seat are named for Surrey County, England.  

Surry County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Supervisors.  Two Circuit Court Judges and Five District Court Judges serve Surry, Brunswick, Greensville, Prince George, and Sussex counties and Emporia and Hopewell cities and Forty-nine Magistrate Court Judges serve Surry, Brunswick, Amelia, Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, and Sussex counties and Colonial Heights, Emporia, Hopewell, and Petersburg cities.  The county is in southeast Virginia.  Richmond, Virginia is northwest and Virginia Beach, Virginia is east of the county.  The county center is 3.8 miles Southwest of Surry.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Charles City and James City counties and the City of Newport News and Isle of Wight, Sussex, and Prince George counties. 

The area of the county is 279 square miles.  It is 80 out of 133 in the state.  It ranks 122 out of 133 in population in the state.  It has a density of 25.30 persons per square mile making it 126 out of 133 in the state.  Surry County has 12.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.  The county is shaped like a molar tooth facing northeast.  The City of Surry is located in the northeast quarter of the county.  Claremont is in the northwest quarter of the county.  Surry is the county seat and Claremont is the largest city.  Surry 3.5% of the county population while Claremont is 5.4% of the county population.  This county is in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metropolitan Statistical Area.