MANASSAS, VIRGINIA

: ''"Manassas" redirects here. For the 1970s rock band or its debut album, see Manassas (band) or Manassas (album).''
'Manassas' is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 35,135 at the 2000 census. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Manassas (along with Manassas Park) with Prince William County for statistical purposes. The City of Manassas is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Rail transportation

Schools

See also

External links

History

In 1861, the First Battle of Manassas – also widely known as the First Battle of Bull Run – the first major land battle of the American Civil War, was fought near here. Second Manassas (or the Second Battle of Bull Run) was fought near here on August 28-30, 1862. At that time, Manassas Junction was little more than a railroad crossing, but a strategic one, with rails leading to Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the Shenandoah Valley. Despite these two Confederate victories, Manassas Junction was in Union hands for most of the war.
The crossroads grew into the town of Manassas following the war, incorporated in 1873. In 1892, it became the county seat of Prince William County, replacing Brentsville. In 1975, Manassas became an independent city.
In modern times, Manassas's development has been strongly influenced by its position as a suburb of Washington, D.C. It has developed major problems with traffic and urban sprawl.
Manassas gained notoriety in 1993 as the hometown of John and Lorena Bobbitt, even though they resided outside the city and closer to the city of Manassas Park.[1] Their separate trials (John Wayne Bobbitt's for rape, Lorena Bobbitt's for malicious wounding) occurred at the Prince William County courthouse, which is in the city of Manassas.
On October 9, 2002, the eleventh of the Beltway sniper attacks occurred outside Manassas city limits when 53-year old Dean Harold Meyers was shot pumping gas at a Sunoco station on Sudley Road near Interstate 66 in Prince William County.
In October 2005, Manassas became the site of the first wide-scale Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) implementation in the United States. Currently 10 MBit/s service is offered for under $30/month to city residents.

Geography

Manassas is located at (38.751415, -77.476396).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.8 km² (10.0 mi²). 25.7 km² (9.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.20%) is water.
Manassas uses a council-manager system of government. The current city manager is Lawrence Hughes.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 35,135 people, 11,757 households, and 8,441 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,366.1/km² (3,537.0/mi²). There were 12,114 housing units at an average density of 471.0/km² (1,219.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.05% White, 12.91% African American, 0.36% Native American, 3.43% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 7.89% from other races, and 3.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.13% of the population.
In 2005 non-Hispanic whites were 56.8% of Manassas' population. 13.3% of the population was African-Americans. 0.5% were Native Americans. 3.8% were Asian. 25.6% were Latinos.
There were 11,757 households out of which 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.39.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.6% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 35.8% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 103.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $60,409, and the median income for a family was $70,141. Males had a median income of $43,646 versus $30,678 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,453. About 3.7% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.6% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.
A recent Washington Post story notes that the Hispanic community has grown to about 20-30,000, the majority of which are illegal immigrants. This implies that the city is now populated in large part (30-40%) by illegal immigrants. As these immigrants cluster into residential houses while increasing the town's population, local budgets are breaking under the strain of less property tax being paid per capita (source : Washington Post, March 20 2007, "For Many Immigrants, No Answers").

Rail transportation

Main articles: Manassas (Amtrak station)

Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, provides service to Manassas. Amtrak Train 19, the southbound Crescent, is scheduled to depart Manassas at 7:22pm daily with service to Culpeper, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Danville, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury, Charlotte, Gastonia, Spartanburg, Greenville, Clemson, Toccoa, Gainesville, Atlanta, Anniston, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Meridian, Laurel, Hattiesburg, Picayune, Slidell, and New Orleans. Amtrak Train 20, the northbound Crescent, is scheduled to depart Manassas at 8:46am daily with service to Alexandria and Washington, DC, before continuing on to New York City.
Amtrak Train 51, the westbound Cardinal, is scheduled to depart Manassas at 12:02pm on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday with service to Culpeper, Charlottesville, Staunton, Clifton Forge, White Sulphur Springs, Alderson, Hinton, Prince, Thurmond, Montgomery, Charleston, Huntington, Ashland, South Portsmouth, Maysville, Cincinnati, Connersville, Indianapolis, Crawfordsville, Lafayette, Rensselaer, Dyer, and Chicago. Amtrak Train 50, the eastbound Cardinal, is scheduled to depart Manassas at 4:35pm on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday with service to Alexandria and Washington, D.C., before continuing on to New York City.

Schools

The city of Manassas is served by the Manassas City Public Schools. There are five elementary schools in Manassas, one middle school, and one high school. On September 5, 2006, Mayfield Intermediate School opened, serving students in fifth and sixth grade.
Some schools in the Prince William County Public Schools district have Manassas addresses; they serve areas outside of the Manassas city limits and are located outside of the Manassas city limits.
Also in the vicinity of Manassas are branch campuses of George Mason University, Northern Virginia Community College, and Strayer University. Despite that some of these may in fact be just outside the city limits in Prince William County, NVCC and Strayer call these branches their "Manassas Campuses."

See also

★ List of Famous People from the Washington Metropolitan Area

External links

★ City of Manassas

★ Fairfax Underground - a message board designed to improve communication between residents of Northern Virginia

★ Fairfax Crime - a crime map of most of Northern Virginia and sex offender locations