South Hill, Virginia

South Hill, Virginia
Town
Route 1 in downtown South Hill
Location of South Hill, Virginia
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Virginia
County	Mecklenburg
Area
• Total	9.31 sq mi (16.4 km2)
• Land	9.31 sq mi (16.4 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	466 ft (142 m)
Population (2015)
• Total	10,250
• Density	696.2/sq mi (268.8/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	23970
Area code(s)	434
FIPS code	51-73904
GNIS feature ID	1484872

South Hill is a town in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2015 census, total population was 10,250. Located on major Interstate and U.S. highways, it has a full-service hospital (serving patients from several rural counties), a tobacco market, and several hotels, and the SouthSide Mall. South Hill has a close relationship with the neighboring town of La Crosse. Lake Gaston, a large reservoir popular with boaters and fishermen, is a short distance to the southwest.

The Colonial Theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Geography

South Hill is located at (36.726759, -78.130597).

The town has a total area of 9.31 square miles (16.4 km²), of which 9.27 square miles (16.4 km²) is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1 km²) (0.47%) is water.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1910	732		—
1920	1,074		46.7%
1930	1,405		30.8%
1940	1,739		23.8%
1950	2,153		23.8%
1960	2,569		19.3%
1970	3,858		50.2%
1980	4,347		12.7%
1990	4,217		−3.0%
2000	4,403		4.4%
2010	4,650		5.6%
Est. 2014	4,541		−2.3%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2010, there were 8,254 people, 3,489 households, and 2,231 families residing in the town. The population density was 890.4 people per square mile (503..3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 56.3% White, 39.4% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 1.1% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.5% of the population.

Of the 2,231 households in the town, 1,047 had children under the age of 18 living with them. Of the 1,258 non-family households, 22% were headed by females and 14% by men. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals living alone. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.9 individuals.

The median age of residents in 2010 was 43.3 years. Those residents under the age of 18 numbered 1,876, or 22.7 of the total population. 7.3% of the population were aged 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 85.6 males. For those aged 18 to 64, the ratio was 88.3 males to every 100 females, and for the population 65 years and older, there were only 64.3 males per 100 female residents.

The median income for all households in 2010 was approximately $37,200, and for families $53,056. The per capita income for the town was $22,313. About 21.1% of residents were below the poverty line in 2010, including 18.6% of families. 30.7% of those under 18 fell under the poverty line, and 11.8% of senior over the age of 65. 10.3% of households earned $100,000 or more annually. Over 17% of households received cash public assistance income or food stamp/SNAP benefits.

Of the 8,254 residents, 6,785 of those were over the age of 16. Of those, 4,070 were in the labor force (just below 50% of the total population). 3,865 were employed at the time of the 2010 census. Of the 8,254 residents, 9.4% did not have any health insurance in 2010. Of the 3,657 employed in the labor force between the ages of 18 and 64, 12.5% had no coverage.

69.6% of residents aged 25 or older had attained high school diplomas or higher educational credentials. 13.6% of 25-year-olds or older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher.

Politics

2008 Presidential Candidates Contributions from South Hill, VA
Candidate	Party	Total Contributions
Obama, Barack	Dem	$62,311
McCain, John	Rep	$59,990
Paul, Ron	Rep	$39,257
Clinton, Hillary	Dem	$34,777
Huckabee, Mike	Rep	$23,650
Keyes, Alan	Rep	$550

In previous years, election returns have shown that South Hill citizens favored Republican candidates (more often at 60% or above) in state and national elections since 1996, though this slipped to only 57.5% support for Republican candidate Mitt Romney in the 2012 Presidential election.

In the 2006 election cycle, while donations from residents to Democratic and Republican candidates and organizations were almost evenly divided, citizens favored Republican candidate George Allen over Democratic candidate Jim Webb. Webb eventually went on to win the election.

In 2007-2008, contributions to presidential campaigns favored Republican candidates overall, although the top single recipient as of March was Democratic Senator Barack Obama. The 283 South Hill voters who participated in the state's February 12 Democratic primary also favored Obama over Senator Hillary Clinton, 58% to 41%; the 244 Republican primary voters supported Senator John McCain (62.3%) over Governor Mike Huckabee (34.8%).

Local government

South Hill is governed by a council-manager government more specifically the weak mayoral system with an eight member town council and a mayor.

'Weak' is not a derogatory term here. In this form of the mayor-council government, the council possess both legislative and executive authority. The council may appoint officials and must approve of mayoral nominations. The council also exercises primary control over the municipal budget. It comes from the belief that if politicians have few powers and many checks, then they can do relatively little damage." This form of government is most commonly used in small towns like South Hill.

Members of the South Hill Town Council:
Chad J. Barbour
Lillie Feggins-Boone
M.B. "Millie" Bracey
Gregg Harper
J. Woodrow "Woody" Kidd
Mike Moody
C. Leroy Sasser

Mayor: Earl O. Horne

The daily operation of South Hill is overseen by a town manager, Kim Callis.

The town council and mayor seats are non-partisan, and elections are held every four years.