Yorktown is the county seat of York County, Virginia. Yorktown was founded in 1691 and named for the York River and the English city of York, and Yorktown initially served as a port town for the export of tobacco to Europe. By 1750, Yorktown had a population of 2,000 people, and British general Charles Cornwallis used Yorktown as a base during the closing campaign of the American Revolutionary War; the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, which resulted in Cornwallis' surrender to the French and American army of George Washington and Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau, essentially marked the end of the conflict and catapulted Yorktown into eternal fame. However, the relocation of the state capital from Williamsburg to Richmond attracted development to the center of the state, and the planting of tobacco depleted Yorktown's soil, resulting in many local residents moving to the Piedmont or the western lands of Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Northwest Territory. In 1862, Yorktown was once again the site of a siege during the American Civil War during George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. During World War I, the US Navy established Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, as well as a US Coast Guard training center. The Yorktown National Battlefield and Yorktown National Cemetery, as well as the town itself, became major tourist attractions, revitalizing the town. In 2010, Yorktown had a population of 195 people, of whom 91.79% were white, 6.67% Black, .51% Asian, and 1.03% other. Starting in 1972, York County became a reliably Republican county, although presidential elections became more competitive in the 2010s as the Republican lead was steadily reduced from a roughly 60%-40% margin towards an even split.
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