HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 5014 Offered April 12, 2006 Commending Prince William County on the occasion of its 275th anniversary. ----------
Patrons-- McQuigg, Frederick, Lingamfelter and Marshall, R.G.; Senators: Chichester, Colgan, O'Brien and Puller
----------

WHEREAS, Prince William County was formed in 1731 from parts of Stafford and King George Counties and named for a son of King George II, Prince William Augustus (1720-1765), Duke of Cumberland, who became Captain-General of the British Army; and

WHEREAS, Captain John Smith and his party of exploration were the first recorded Europeans in Prince William in 1608 as they rode a barge along the Potomac River and stopped in Prince William County on their way from Jamestown; and

WHEREAS, the first land patent in what is now Prince William County was taken out in 1653 by Thomas Burbage, and after successive divisions, Prince William County reached its current outer boundaries in 1759; and

WHEREAS, the port of Dumfries was the second leading port in Colonial America, receiving tobacco from the upland for export to points overseas; and

WHEREAS, Occoquan was settled in the 18th century and was the site of several mills, warehouses, and storehouses that were key to commerce in the region; and

WHEREAS, the County was the site of several battles during the War Between the States including First and Second Manassas in 1861, Town of Haymarket in 1862, and Bristoe Station in 1863; and

WHEREAS, the United State Marine Corps established a military reservation adjacent to the Town of Quantico in 1917, and that reservation is now known as the “Crossroads of the Marine Corps”; and

WHEREAS, the County is home to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, which has hosted every President’s Cup golf tournament held on American soil; and

WHEREAS, the Prince William Campus of George Mason University is recognized for its focus on bioinformatics, biotechnology, and forensic biosciences educational and research programs; and

WHEREAS, today Prince William County is home to nearly 370,000 people and is recognized for its outstanding quality of life, business environment, and educational institutions; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly of Virginia hereby commend Prince William County on the occasion of its 275th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Prince William County Board of Supervisors as an expression of the General Assembly’s congratulations and best wishes for continued success in the future.