Briefly: Highland County, Virginia – News, Life, Society, Houses, Business, Abonded, Townships

Highland County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,232, making it the state’s least populous county. Its county seat is Monterey. Known as “Virginia’s Switzerland” or “Virginia’s Little Switzerland”, Highland County is the least populous jurisdiction in Virginia, including counties and independent cities. Highland lays claim to being one of the least populous counties and one of the highest average elevations east of the Mississippi River. Highland County has significant wind resources, attaining an average annual wind power class of 5 in some regions. Class 5 wind power is considered excellent for generating electricity via wind power, with average annual wind speeds between 16.8 and 17.9 miles per hour (27.0 and 28.8 km/h). Between 1955 and 2012, there have been twenty-one instances of damaging wind in the county on record with the National Weather Service. Of the nine instances which have estimated wind speeds, the average maximum gust speed was 52.8 miles per hour (85.0 km/h). Highland County does not have a hospital, the closest being in neighboring Augusta and Bath Counties, such as Augusta Health. The Highland Medical Center, Inc. is located in Monterey and is the only general patient care medical facility in Highland County. The center opened in 1996 and became a Federally Qualified Health Center in 2003. Highland County is one of four counties in Virginia and one of only 50 counties in states east of the Mississippi River (excluding Minnesota) that is designated as a frontier county. This designation is applied because of Highland’s remote characteristics with a low population density and limited access to healthcare and other services.

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