The first settlers came into area that would become Culpeper County in the early 1700's. Spotsylvania County, created in 1721, encompassed all lands west to the Blue Ridge Mountains and was eventually divided into what is now called Orange, Culpeper, Madison and Rappahannock Counties. Culpeper County was established in 1749.
The Constitution of 1869 created the establishment of Virginia’s first statewide system of public schools, and for the division of each county into magisterial districts. Before this, Culpeper was divided into tax-enumeration districts, but the boundaries of each district are not known. There were also only five county employees, none of which were full time, whose annual salaries totaled $600.00.
The first elected County Board of Supervisors first met on August 1, 1870 representing five districts, and addressed two items of business: to order the sheriff to collect taxes and to order the commonwealth attorney to protect and preserve the records of the County.
Today Culpeper County supports a thriving community of both agricultural and commercial interests. According to a 2002 estimate from the U.S. census, about 35,000 people live in Culpeper County, 9900 of them within the town of Culpeper.
