Sussex

Formed January 1, 1754 (44^th county)

Sussex County (10,831), Sussex* (256), Waverly (1,955)

The red brick Modern facility was built in 1995 to replace the 1828 courthouse.  It is on Courthouse Road at Princeton Road.  Virginia State Highway 40 is one block to the north of the site.  The Moseley-McClintock Group are the designers.  The building is in a complex of government structures.  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.  Sussex County was organized on January 1, 1754 as the 44^th county with Sussex as the only county seat.  The county and its county seat are named for Sussex, England. 

Sussex County government consists of a sheriff and 6 Supervisors.  Two Circuit Court Judges and Five District Court Judges serve Sussex, Brunswick, Greensville, Prince George, and Surry counties and Emporia and Hopewell cities and Forty-nine Magistrate Court Judges serve Sussex, Brunswick, Amelia, Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, and Surry counties and Colonial Heights, Emporia, Hopewell, and Petersburg cities.  Sussex County is located in the southern part of the state.  Richmond, Virginia is north and Virginia Beach, Virginia is east of the county.  The county center is 2.2 miles East-Northeast of Sussex.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Prince George, Surry, Southampton, Greensville, and Dinwiddie counties. 

The area of the county is 491 square miles.  It is 26 out of 133 in the state.  It ranks 113 out of 133 in population in the state.  It has a density of 22.1 persons per square mile making it 128 out of 133 in the state.  Sussex County has 28.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 95 enters the county from Prince George County, north, and exits to Greensville County, southwest.  United States Highway 301 parallels Interstate Highway 95 from Prince George to Greensville counties.  United States Highway 460 crosses north to east from Prince George County to Isle of Wight County.  The county resembles a plow blade facing southwest.  The City is Sussex is located in the western third of the county.  Waverly is in the northeast quarter of the county.  Sussex is the county seat and Waverly is the largest city.  Sussex is 2.4% of the county population although it is unincorporated.  Waverly is 18.1% of the county population.  This county is in the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area.