Woodstock, the county-seat, is 150 miles NW. of Richmond, and 32 SSW. of Winchester, on the Staunton and Winchester macadamized turnpike, and about a mile from the N. fork of the Shenandoah. The town was established in March, 1761. It contains several mercantile stores, 1 newspaper printing-office, an academy, a masonic hall, 1 German Reformed, 1 Lutheran, and 1 Methodist church, and a population of over 1,000.

Washington, the seat of justice, is 123 miles NW. of Richmond, and 75 from Washington city. It is a fine village, near the foot of the Blue Ridge, in a fertile country, and upon one of the head branches of the Rappahannock. It contains a church, an academy, 2 stores, and about 60 dwellings.

RAPPAHANNOCK was formed in 1831, from Culpeper. It is named from the river which runs on its northern boundary. Its soil is fertile, and productive in wheat and corn. Length about 18, breadth 17 miles. Pop. in 1840, whites 5,307, slaves 3,663, free colored 287; total, 9,257.

Harrisville, the county-seat, lies about 37 miles east of Parkersburg, and 4 miles S. of the NW. turnpike: it contains 2 stores, 1 tannery, 1 Baptist and 1 Methodist church, and about 15 dwellings.

RITCHIE was formed in 1843, from Harrison, Lewis, and Wood, and named in honor of Thomas Ritchie, Esq.: it is about 25 miles long, and 20 broad. The surface is generally hilly and broken, and the soil not fertile, except on the streams, where there is considerable champaign country…Estimated population of the county, 1,800.

Salem, the county-seat, is in the valley of Virginia, on the west bank of the Roanoke River, 178 miles westerly from Richmond, 25 miles NE. of Christiansburg, and 23 from Fincastle. The navigation of the Roanoke, from Weldon, N.C., to this place, 224 miles, is completed by canals, sluices, &c. Salem is a neat village, and contains 6 stores, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist church, and a population of about 450.