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2002 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 427
Commending King William County on the occasion of its 300th anniversary.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 28, 2002
Agreed to by the Senate, March 6, 2002

WHEREAS, by Act of the General Assembly in 1700, it was proclaimed that because of "inconveniences attending the inhabitants of that part of King and Queen County which lies within Pamunkey neck when they have occasion to prosecute law suits . . . or to go to any other publick meeting," the Virginia House of Burgesses established a distinct county from the Pamunkey Neck portion of King and Queen County; and

WHEREAS, on April 11, 1702, the area known as Pamunkey Neck, the land lying between the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers, became King William County, the 24th county in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, the county was named for William of Orange, the reigning English monarch known as King William III, who ruled from 1689 to 1702; and

WHEREAS, the King William County Courthouse, circa 1725, is considered one of the finest examples of early colonial brickwork and courthouse design and is purportedly the oldest courthouse in continuous use in the United States and the oldest public building in use in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood and the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe embarked in 1716 on their expedition to the Blue Ridge Mountains from Chelsea Plantation in King William County; and

WHEREAS, King William County was home to Carter Braxton III, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, from 1777 to 1786; and

WHEREAS, King William County was the birthplace in 1898 of Lieutenant General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, the most decorated Marine in the history of the United States Marine Corps; and

WHEREAS, King William County is home to three Native-American tribes--the Mattaponi, the Pamunkey, and the Upper Mattaponi--that were part of Chief Powhatan's confederacy; and

WHEREAS, the only two Native-American reservations in Virginia, and the two oldest reservations in the United States, are located in King William County; and

WHEREAS, the King William County Tricentennial Celebration, Inc., is holding numerous commemorative activities throughout 2002, including a birthday party on April 12th and a Heritage Day Festival on April 27th, to celebrate the 300th anniversary of King William County; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend King William County on the occasion of its tricentennial celebration; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to JudiAnn H. Shaver, president of the King William County Tricentennial Celebration, Inc., as an expression of the General Assembly's congratulations and best wishes for a glorious 300th anniversary celebration.