Amherst County
Sign in to saveAlso known as Amherst County, Virginia, Amherst County, VA
county in Virginia, United States
Key facts
- Country
- United States
- State
- Virginia
- Named after
- Jeffery Amherst
- Seat
- Amherst
- Largest town
- Amherst
- Total
- 479 sq mi (1,240 km )
- Land
- 474 sq mi (1,230 km )
- Water
- 4.9 sq mi (13 km ) 1.0%
- Estimate 2025
- 31,962
- Density
- 66.05/sq mi (25.50/km )
- Time zone
- UTC−5 ( Eastern )
- Summer dst
- UTC−4 ( EDT )
- Congressional district
- 5th
- Website
- www .countyofamherst .com
via Wikipedia infobox
Official website
Home / Amherst County, Virginia
The official website of Amherst County, Virginia
countyofamherst.com →Link to the official site · 8,730 chars · not written by Vinony
Wikidata facts
- Population
- 31307
- Area
- 1240
- Official website
- www.countyofamherst.com
- Image
- Amherst County Courthouse.jpg
- Households
- 12161
Show 5 more facts
- Commons category
- Amherst County, Virginia
- water as percent of area
- 1
- native label
- Amherst County
- inception
- 1758-00-00
- per capita income
- 28866
Sources (9)
via Wikidata · CC0
~10 min read
Article
Amherst County is a county, located in the Piedmont region and near the center of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The county is part of the Lynchburg metropolitan area, and its county seat is also named Amherst.
Amherst County was created in 1761 out of Albemarle County, and it was named in honor of Lord Jeffery Amherst, the so-called "Conqueror of Canada". In 1807 as population increased, the county was reduced in size in order to form Nelson County. Tobacco was the major cash crop of the county during its early years. The labor-intensive crop was worked and processed by enslaved Africans and African Americans before the American Civil War.