Mantua is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Mantua is a bedroom community serving as a suburb to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Most of the homes in Mantua were built between the 1950s and the 1980s. The population was 7,503 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Mantua is located in central Fairfax County at (38.852012, −77.257675). It is bordered to the west by the city of Fairfax, to the north by Merrifield, to the east by Woodburn, to the southeast by Wakefield, and to the south by Long Branch. The northern border of the CDP follows U.S. Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard), the southern border follows Virginia State Route 236 (Little River Turnpike), and the eastern border follows Prosperity Avenue. The Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) is to the east, and downtown Washington is to the east.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the Mantua CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.91%, is water. Accotink Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River, flows through the northern part of the CDP, and Crook Branch, a tributary of Accotink Creek, flows through the southern part.
History
Texaco oil leak
An oil distribution plant, located west of the community along Pickett Road in Fairfax City, was found in 1990 to have leaked approximately 200,000 gallons (approximately 4,700 barrels) of petroleum into of the soil and groundwater of the Crook Branch watershed. At the time, the distribution plant was owned in part by a subsidiary of Texaco. The oil leakage may have occurred over up to twenty-five years, as the distribution plant had opened in April 1965. Four families were evacuated, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directed the installation of a "pump-and-treat" groundwater remediation system, which was augmented in 2000 by digging of horizontal infiltration wells, intended to wash contaminated groundwater into the remediation system. and that groundwater contamination east of the distribution plant had fallen to levels controllable by natural degradation. The offsite remediation system was removed by 2016, but cleanup at the distribution plant is ongoing. and a task force appointed by Governor L. Douglas Wilder
2020 census
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Mantua CDP, Virginia – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>
!Pop 2000
!Pop 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020
!% 2000
!% 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020
|-
|White alone (NH)
|5,632
|4,920
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4,436
|75.24%
|68.96%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |59.12%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|144
|177
|style='background: #ffffe6; |279
|1.92%
|2.48%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.72%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|24
|17
|style='background: #ffffe6; |14
|0.32%
|0.24%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.19%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|1,019
|1,407
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,579
|13.61%
|19.72%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |21.04%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|3
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1
|0.04%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.01%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|13
|7
|style='background: #ffffe6; |39
|0.17%
|0.10%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.52%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|139
|166
|style='background: #ffffe6; |447
|1.86%
|2.33%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.96%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|511
|441
|style='background: #ffffe6; |708
|6.83%
|6.18%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |9.44%
|-
|Total
|7,485
|7,135
|style='background: #ffffe6; |7,503
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 7,135 people, 2,628 households, and 1,936 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 3,031.0 people per square mile. There were 2,766 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 73.5% White, 19.7% Asian, 2.6% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.2% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 6.2% of the population.
The median age was 46.1 years. 25.6% of the population was under the age of 18, 6.3% was 18 to 24, 18.6% was 25 to 44, 31.7% was 45 to 64, and 17.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the community was 48.2% male and 51.8% female.
The community is served by the Fairfax County Public Schools.
Secondary schools serving Mantua include:
- Frost Middle School
- Woodson High School
Notable people
- Gerry Connolly, former member of the United States House of Representatives
- Stephen E. Gordy, member of the Virginia House of Delegates
- Augusto and Michaela Odone, subjects of the 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil starring Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon
- Lorenzo Odone, notable ALD patient
References
External links
- Mantua.org