Chairman Corey A. Stewart
State of the County Address
January 11, 2011
They met here, in Prince William County, on July 21, 1861, to engage in battle. It was supposed to be a quick battlefield victory for the Union and bring about an early end to the civil war.
But Union forces were routed in this first major battle of the war. The North was shocked. There was little celebration in the South, however, as both sides realized the war would be longer and more brutal than they had imagined.
This year, we will commemorate that battle. We will give thanks that the war ended the scourge of slavery and preserved our nation. The war was not so long ago. We may meet living children of those who fought. And perhaps, most importantly, we will come to understand our own place in history.
When you elected this board in 2007, the county—and the nation—was entering the longest and deepest economic downturn since the end of World War II. The housing market had gone from boom to bust, and county tax revenues were plummeting.
