Get an ADT-Monitored Home Security System in Emporia, Virginia

Emporia is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, surrounded by Greensville County, United States. Emporia and a predecessor town have been the county seat of Greensville County past 1791. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,766, making it the third-least populous city in Virginia. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Emporia when surrounding Greensville County for statistical purposes.

Emporia has long been a transportation crossroads. The Meherrin River, like the Nottoway River and the Blackwater River, empties to the southeast into Albemarle Sound. The Town of Hicksford (originally Hicks’ Ford) was established by Captain Robert Hicks (1658-1739) in the Virginia Colony, where the Fort Road of eastern Virginia crossed the Meherrin River en route to Fort Christanna. The road was a major north-south trail used by original peoples and sometimes called the “Halifax road”. Capt. Hicks was an Indian trader who resided in Prince George Co. prior to distressing his relatives to Hicksford on becoming the Commander of Fort Christanna. (His surname is spelled both “Hicks” and “Hix” in colonial records.) In 1709, Hicks purchased a home tract of 1280 acres along the northside of the Meherrin River that has been back surveyed by Arthur Kavanaugh.

Greensville County on bad terms from Brunswick county in 1781 and Hicksford became the county seat (court convening monthly at a affable tavern). In May 1781, British Col. Banastre Tarleton’s cavalry crossed at Hicksford even though raiding Greensville and Southampton counties.