NELSON COUNTY
County Offices
84 Courthouse Square
Lovingston 434-263-7000
www.nelsoncounty-va.gov
Chamber of Commerce
124 Main Street
Lovingston 434-263-5971
http://nelsonchamber.org
Beautiful Nelson County enjoys a strategic Central Virginia location between Charlottesville and Lynchburg. The county’s boundaries include the James River to the south and east and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the north and west, reaching elevations above 4,000 feet in George Washington National Forest. The local economy balances business and industry with recreation, tourism, and agricultural activity from orchards to vineyards. Major highways include Interstate 64 and US Routes 29 and 250. Both Charlottesville and Lynchburg offer regional airports with commercial airline service.
Services
Quality educational opportunities in Nelson County are anchored by a respected public school system and options for private education from preschool through 8th grade. Those who are interested in pursuing post-secondary career training or degrees will find a number of options within an easy commute. Central Virginia Community College maintains its flagship campus in Lynchburg, while Charlottesville offers the main campus for Piedmont Virginia Community College. Charlottesville is also the proud home of the University of Virginia, an internationally recognized public-private research institution that US World & News Report consistently ranks as #1 or #2 among America’s best public universities. Lynchburg offers three private institutions of higher education close to home including Lynchburg College, affiliated with the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ, and the private Christian college of Liberty University. The latter enrolls more than 14,000 students and competes in NCAA Division I athletics as the Liberty Flames. Also in Lynchburg, the private liberal arts institution of Randolph College was founded in 1891 as Randolph-Macon Woman’s College but changed its name in 2007 when it became coeducational. In addition to a wide range of undergraduate programs, Randolph College offers dual-major options, pre-professional programs, and select master programs. Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar just north of Lynchburg is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts and sciences colleges for women.
Routine and preventative healthcare services are available close to home in multi-specialty centers like the Blue Ridge Medical Center in Colleen or family practice centers in Nellysford and the Rockfish Valley. Should the need for advanced care arise, UVA Health in Charlottesville is less than a 40-minute drive. Anchored by a state-of-the-art 570-bed Magnet® hospital, UVA Health encompasses a Level I Trauma Center and nationally recognized cancer and heart centers as well as primary and specialty clinics throughout Central Virginia. UVA Hospital and UVA Health consistently earn top national rankings including honors for superior nursing processes, quality patient care, and programs and specialties from orthopedics to UVA Children’s Hospital. Charlottesville is also home to Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital, a 176-bed facility with a patient-centered philosophy and all private rooms. To the south, Lynchburg offers the 161-bed Centra Virginia Baptist Hospital and the 358-bed Centra Lynchburg General Hospital, an emergency and critical care center that is nationally recognized for oncology, cardiac care, neuroscience programs, and nursing quality.
Lifestyle
The beauty and simplicity of small-town or rural living in Nelson County is always balanced with easy access to first-rate urban amenities including world-class arts and entertainment in Charlottesville and Lynchburg. The University of Virginia enriches the Charlottesville area with international exhibits at the Fralin Museum of Art and Charlottesville Symphony concerts at the acoustically praised Old Cabell Hall along with other venues. Right outside the front door, the Wintergreen Performing Arts organization takes advantage of venues throughout the region to offer quality symphonic and chamber concerts, a dazzling summer music festival, and the Wintergreen Summer Music Academy. Hamner Theater in Crozet provides a space for community theater productions and other programs that showcase the bounty of artistic talent in Nelson County including classical musicians, bluegrass and rock bands, and Irish fiddlers. The Monticello Artisan’s Trail provides a convenient link to studios, galleries, and retail shops that showcase the rich variety of local talent from potters, painters, and sculptors to poets and novelists. Among the abundant historic attractions, one of the most beloved and visited is The Walton’s Museum, replicating rooms from The Waltons television show created by native son and author Earl Hamner, Jr.
In a county located at milepost zero of the Blue Ridge Parkway, mountain and forest vistas create a scenic backdrop for hiking trails, fishing streams, and James River water recreation including boating and water-skiing. Nelson County maintains the pristine beauty of Spruce Creek Park while James River State Park invites visitors to enjoy rolling grassland, stately forests, and breathtaking views. Popular activities include hiking, cycling, boating, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, horseback riding, and camping. The local recreational and cultural treasure of Wintergreen Resort offers four-season outdoor enjoyment with premier facilities that include two golf courses, tennis courts, family attractions, nature programs, and Lake Monocan water sports. Whether the winter snow is piled high or not, Wintergreen covers 100 percent of its terrain with automated snow coverage to offer the gold standard of surfaces for skiing, snowboarding, and tubing. Throughout the countryside, family orchards, local farmers markets, cider-makers, craft breweries, and picturesque wineries offer the finest of nature’s bounty. In every season, Nelson county residents enjoy a calendar brimming over with colorful festivals and competitive sports events. Offering an unrivaled quality of life and country charm just minutes from two vibrant urban centers, Nelson County is a jewel in the heart of Central Virginia.
COMMUNITIES
Lovingston, Rockfish, Faber, Shipman
County Offices
434-263-7000
www.nelsoncounty-va.gov
Chamber of Commerce
434-263-5971
http://nelsonchamber.org
Lovingston, Rockfish, Faber, and Shipman welcome newcomers to sleepy rural small towns where local business owners know their customers by name and neighbors stop to chat. Serving as the Nelson County seat of government, Lovingston features an unusually charming town center where 134 buildings are recognized on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. The variety of magnificent architecture represented in this 255-acre district includes Federal, Greek and Gothic Revival, Italianate, Colonial and Dutch Revival, and Craftsman. Over the centuries, very little of the grid pattern originally plotted around the Nelson County Courthouse has changed. The small rural community of Faber is best known as the location of The Monroe Institute or TMI, a nonprofit educational and research organization devoted to exploring human consciousness. The small community of Rockfish developed a recognizable name with its frequent reference in The Waltons television series as the closest town to Waltons Mountain. Newcomers will find a wide range of home styles and price ranges including options for country manors and scenic view lots for custom builds.
Wintergreen, Nellysford, Roseland, Afton
County Offices
434-263-7000
www.nelsoncounty-va.gov
Chamber of Commerce
434-263-5971
http://nelsonchamber.org
The Wintergreen community is developing around the focal point of the vast Wintergreen Resort, a four-season alpine resort nestled into the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains less than 45 minutes from Charlottesville. Residents enjoy local restaurants, a lively nightlife, premier golf and tennis facilities, and family attractions as well as hiking, climbing, cycling, and winter sports. Little wonder that this paradise of recreational, cultural, and entertainment amenities also offers some of Nelson County’s finest residential properties. New residents have a choice of elevations for handsome townhomes, magnificent mountain estates, woodland seclusion, and golf-course or ski-slope front properties. The lower-elevation community of Nellysford features the nationally ranked Stoney Creek Golf Course, listed by Conde Nast Traveler magazine among the “Top 50 Golf Resorts in the World.” Just 15 minutes south of all that Wintergreen has to offer, the friendly small town of Roseland welcomes visitors to the attraction of the award-winning Devils Backbone Brewing Company. Afton is less than 20 minutes north of Wintergreen in Nelson and Albemarle counties, just 20 miles west of Charlottesville.
