Editing Culpeper County, Virginia (section)

==History==
At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of future Culpeper County were a [[Siouan languages|Siouan]]-speaking sub-group of the [[Manahoac]] tribe called the Tegninateo.<ref>{{citation|last=Swanton|first=John R.|title=The Indian Tribes of North America| publisher=Smithsonian Institution|year=1952| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtHI5pkJOGMC|isbn=0-8063-1730-2|pages=61–62|oclc=52230544}}</ref> Culpeper County was established in 1749, with territory partitioned from [[Orange County, Virginia|Orange County]]. The county is named for [[Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper]], [[colonial governor of Virginia]] from 1677 to 1683.
[[File:2ndLordColepeper.jpg|left|thumb|[[Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper]]]]
In May 1749, the first Culpeper Court convened in the home of Robert Tureman, near the present location of the Town of Culpeper. In July 1749, Tureman commissioned 17-year-old [[George Washington]] as the first County surveyor.<ref>Abbott, W.W., editor. The Papers of George Washington: Colonial Series, Vol. 1 (University Press of Virginia: 1983) p. 9</ref> One of his first duties was to lay out the county's courthouse complex, which included the courthouse, jail, stocks, gallows and accessory buildings. By 1752 the complex stood at the present northeast corner of Davis and Main Streets. The courthouse village was named Town of Fairfax for [[Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron]] (1693–1781).<ref>[http://culpepercounty.gov/PnZ/compPlan.asp Culpeper County Comprehensive Plan, 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024040243/http://culpepercounty.gov/PnZ/compPlan.asp|date=October 24, 2007}}</ref>

During the Virginia convention held in May 1775, the colony was divided into sixteen districts. Each district had instructions to raise a battalion of men "to march at a minute's notice." Culpeper, Orange and Fauquier, forming one district, raised 350 men in "Clayton's old field" on the Catalpa estate; they were called the Culpeper Minute Men. In December, the Minute Men, marching under their flag depicting a rattlesnake and inscribed with the words "Liberty or Death" and "Don't Tread on Me", took part in the [[Battle of Great Bridge]], the first Revolutionary battle on Virginia soil. The Culpeper Minute Men reorganized in 1860 in response to the impending Civil War and became part of 13th Infantry's Company B, fighting against the US Government forces. The Culpeper Minutemen were again organized for World War I, and joined the 116th Infantry.

In 1833, based on the county's growing population and the need of those in the northwestern area for easier access to a county seat, the upper {{convert|267|mi2|km2}} of Culpeper County was partitioned off to create [[Rappahannock County, Virginia]], which was founded by an act of the Virginia General Assembly.
[[File:Image of Lieutenant General A.P. Hill.jpg|left|thumb|[[A. P. Hill]] is buried in Culpeper, his boyhood home]]
During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] the [[Battle of Cedar Mountain]] took place on August 9, 1862, and the [[Battle of Brandy Station]] occurred on June 9, 1863, in Culpeper County.

Culpeper was the boyhood home of Civil War [[A.P. Hill|General A. P. Hill]], who fought against Union forces.

The negative impact of the [[Massive Resistance]] campaign against school integration led to the statewide election of a pro-desegregation [[Governor of Virginia|governor]]. By the middle of the 1970s,<ref>[https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Desegregation_in_Public_Schools#start_entry Encyclopedia Virginia: Desegregation in Public Schools], accessed March 2018.</ref> Culpeper was the last county in Virginia to desegregate its public schools. In 2018 Culpeper County Public Schools<ref>[http://culpeperschools.org Culpeper County Public Schools official website], accessed March 2018.</ref> has six elementary, two middle schools and two high schools. In 1935 the Rotary Club of Culpeper began a college loan fund, which in 1966 became a four-year scholarship based on academic achievement. The group also provides a Technical School scholarship based on academic achievement.<ref>[http://rotaryclubofculpeper.org/scholarships.html Rotary Club of Culpeper: Scholarships], accessed 2018.</ref>

Culpeper County is home to Commonwealth Park, site for many world-class equestrian events. It was here that actor [[Christopher Reeve]] suffered his 1995 accident during a competition.

The town of Culpeper was rated #10 by Norman Crampton, author of "The 100 Best Small Towns in America," in February 1993.

In April 2016, the county Board of Supervisors denied a routine request from the Islamic Center of Culpeper for a pump and haul permit to serve their envisioned mosque. This resulted in a lawsuit by the US Department of Justice in December.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-virginia-county-bigwigs-cry-sewage-to-block-a-mosque/2016/12/15/48e63084-c23f-11e6-9578-0054287507db_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1 Washington Post (15 December 2016)]</ref>