Culpeper, Virginia

Culpeper (formerly Culpeper Courthouse, earlier Fairfax) is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat and part of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. At the 2020 United States Census, the population was 20,062, an increase from 16,379 in 2010. Culpeper is located along U.S. Route 15, U.S. Route 29, and U.S. Route 522, and is served by intercity passenger rail at Culpeper station and by local and regional bus services operated by Virginia Regional Transit and the Virginia Breeze network.

The town was laid out in 1749 by a young George Washington while working as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax, and formally established in 1759 by the Virginia House of Burgesses under the name Fairfax. During the American Revolutionary War, the Culpeper Minutemen militia organized here in 1775. In the American Civil War, Culpeper was occupied by both Union and Confederate forces due to its strategic position along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and the surrounding county saw engagements including the Battle of Brandy Station, the largest cavalry battle of the war and the largest that had ever occurred in North America, as well as the Battle of Cedar Mountain.

In the late 19th and 20th centuries, Culpeper grew as a regional rail and market center. A major cultural landmark is the Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation, opened by the Library of Congress in 1997 on the site of a former Federal Reserve facility. Culpeper has also been affected by modern events such as the 2011 Virginia earthquake, which damaged downtown structures, and recent technology-related investment, including data centers within the Culpeper Technology Zone.