The Farmville Herald

40 Persons Per Square Mile
Prince Edward Follows National
Trend As 'Urban' Population Grows

A new portrait of Prince Edward County is emerging as final data from the recent Census of Population becomes available.

The unfolding picture shows just how the land area of the county is being used, what proportion of the residents live in rural areas and what part in urban sections, the density of the population and some of the changes that have taken place since the previous census.

More and better roads, a shifting of population between farm areas and urban areas, new houses, factories and shopping facilities for the transplanted people, a rise in the ratio of women to men, a decline in the amount of cropland--these are some of the developments of the past ten years.

300 Percent Urban

The final figures for Prince Edward County reveal a total population of 14,121, of which 4,293 live in urban areas, and 9,828 in rural.

The makeup of the local population, consequently, is 30.4 per cent urban and 69.6 percent rural compared with 28.4 percent and 71.6 percent in 1950.

By definition, the designation of "urban" covers all communities with 2500 or more inhabitants as well as the fringe areas of large cities.

Nationally, the 1960 census shows that cities and their suburbs are growing in population at a much faster rate than the rural areas. In area, too, they have grown, spreading over the surrounding countryside, gobbling up nearby cropland.

Land Disappearing

It is estimated by the U. S. Chamber of Commerce that nearly two million acres of farmland are being drawn each year into factory sites, suburban housing, roads and airports.

However, the urban areas of the country, although they contain over 70 percent of the nation's population, take up less than 7 percent of the nation's land area.

With this trend toward concentrated living have come many problems for municipalities. They have had to provide new schools, more streets and sewerage lines, increased water supply and added police and fire protection.

In Prince Edward County, which has a land area of 357 square miles, the census shows that the population density at the present time is 40 persons to the square mile.