Haymarket, Virginia

Haymarket is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,545 as of the 2020 census. They both involved Union encounters with the Confederate cavalry. Following General Robert E. Lee's surrender, Haymarket began to recover. Slowly it regained its former prosperity and size.

Haymarket was incorporated in 1882, the second town in Prince William County to do so. The first mayor elected was Garrett Hulfish and the first councilmen elected were T.A. Smith, Charles Jordan, and William W. Meade. In May 1882 during the council's second meeting, the rudimentary ordinances were drafted and adopted.

On March 19, 1892, Lee Heflin and Joseph Dye were lynched in Haymarket. They had been convicted of the murder of a girl and sentenced to death, but the mob thought the legal system moved too slowly. The men were hanged from trees at the edge of woods; then the mob shot into their bodies. The Washington Post said, "mob law...is a dangerous thing to encourage. There is too much of it already throughout the country, and it spreads like a contagion so long as public sentiment tacitly approves it." It was unusual that white men were lynched; in Virginia and the rest of the South, usually black men were victims of lynching.

From 1882 to the present day, most of the buildings in central Haymarket have remained unchanged. The town borders U.S Route 15. Growth has occurred outside the town. While no schools are located within the town, the larger area has five schools, and each are part of Prince William County Public Schools.

20th century

In the 1970s, during the construction of the Interstate System, Haymarket was served by Exit 40 of Interstate 66. Being connected to the interstate, during a period of growth in the Northern Virginia region, has produced a population boom in the area of suburban development.

thumb|St. Paul's Church in Haymarket

In 1994, The Walt Disney Company bought extensive amounts of land in Haymarket for a proposed Disney's America theme park. Local resistance to the resort, because of perceived adverse effects on the Manassas Battlefield, resulted in the defeat of the park.

21st century

William B. Snyder, a local businessman, convinced Disney to sell the property to him. Snyder, in turn, sold off most of the land to developers, except for the donated to the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. It used this land to develop Camp Snyder.

In addition to St. Paul's Church, Evergreen, Locust Bottom, Mt. Atlas, and Old Town Hall and School are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

Haymarket is located at (38.812670, −77.635084). Haymarket is located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, sitting at the base of Bull Run Mountains. Haymarket is located just outside of the region considered "NOVA". Geographically, Haymarket serves as a marker to show the start of Virginia outside of the "NOVA" region.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.6 square mile (1.5 km<sup>2</sup>), all land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 1,545 people living in Haymarket. The median age was 35.1 years. 29.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 6.9% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 477 households in Haymarket, of which 52.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 62.9% were married-couple households, 14.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 17.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 15.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Income and poverty

The median income for a household in the town was $128,125; the per capita income was $46,943. Haymarket's zip code 20169 is the wealthiest in Prince William County. About 3.7% of the population was below the poverty line.

Recreation

Haymarket is home to several golf courses, with over 38 golf courses located within 20 miles of the town. Notable courses include the Bull Run Golf Club and Raspberry Golf Academy, both situated in the nearby Bull Run Mountain Estates.

Another recreational area, Silver Lake Regional Park, can be found just outside Haymarket. This park spans over 230 acres and features a 23-acre lake, which is fed by the Little Bull Run and is open to fishing and non-motorized boats. The lake is home to various fish species, including trout, bass, and catfish. Additionally, the adjacent James S. Long Regional Park offers 4.6 miles of equestrian trails, which connect to Silver Lake Regional Park via a bridge.

Haymarket is located within the piedmont region of Virginia, an area known for its wineries, such as La Grange. The history of winemaking in Prince William County dates back to the 1800s and early 1900s, when several wineries were in operation.

Samuel L. Gravely Jr. Elementary School opened in 2008.
Alvey Elementary School opened in 2003 and enrolled 458 students as of September 2020.

thumb|left|View east along I-66 in Haymarket

Transportation

Interstate 66 is the primary highway serving Haymarket. It extends westward to Interstate 81 near Front Royal, and eastward to Washington, D.C., with connections to Interstate 95 via Interstate 495. North-south travel is provided via U.S. Route 15, which skims the northwest side of town. US 15 connects north to Leesburg and south to Warrenton. Virginia State Route 55 also passes through Haymarket, serving as a local service road for I-66 and acting as Main Street within Haymarket.