Frederick County, formed in 1743 from Orange County, was home to George Washington for ten years. The apple industry was for many years the main economic base, but industry now dominates. Frederick County has a population of 50,000 and is experiencing tremendous growth. At the TOP OF VIRGINIA, Frederick County is the gateway to the great Valley of the Shenandoah.

 Winchester is the oldest town west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was settled in the 1730's, saw George Washington spend his formative years here and changed hands 72 times during the Civil War. Today, it has a population of 23,000, is the Apple Capital of the nation and Harry Byrd and Patsy Cline both called Winchester " Home. "

Winchester, like all cities under Virginia law, is an independent city—politically independent of any county.

 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 416 square miles (1,076 km²), of which, 415 square miles (1,074 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (3 km²) of it (0.24%) is water. This is the northernmost county in the state of Virginia.

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 59,209 people, 22,097 households, and 16,727 families residing in the county. The population density was 143 people per square mile (55/km²). There were 23,319 housing units at an average density of 56/square mile (22/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.99% White, 2.62% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.56% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. 1.70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.