Nestled in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, Craig County was named for Robert Craig, a 19th-century Virginia congressman. Formed from parts of Botetourt, Roanoke, Giles, and Monroe counties in 1851, Craig was later enlarged with several subsequent additions from neighboring counties. The secluded, mountainous New Castle community, the county seat, has one of the commonwealth's antebellum court complexes, including a porticoed courthouse built in 1851. Craig Healing Springs, a collection of well-preserved early-20th-century resort buildings representative of the architecture of Virginia's more modest mountain spas, is located here.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. Most of the county is national forest.
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,091 people, 2,060 households, and 1,507 families residing in the county. The population density was 15 people per square mile. There were 2,554 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 98.94% White, 0.20% Black or African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.14% from other races, and 0.35% from two or more races. 0.33% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 2,060 households out of which 30.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.90% were married couplesliving together, 7.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.80% were non-families. 23.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.88. In the county, the population was spread out with 23.60% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 26.70% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 103.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $37,314, and the median income for a family was $41,750. Males had a median income of $26,713 versus $21,337 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,322. About 6.60% of families and 10.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.90% of those under age 18 and 10.50% of those age 65 or over.
