A notice of the counties, cities, townships, and villages?
Counties, Towns The counties have been enumerated under Query
IX. They are 74 in number, of very unequal size and population.
Of these 35 are on the tide waters, or in that parallel; 23 are
in the Midlands, between the tide waters and Blue ridge of
mountains; 8 between the Blue ridge and Alleghaney; and 8
westward of the Alleghaney. The state, by another division, is
formed into parishes, many of which are commensurate with the
counties: but sometimes a county comprehends more than one
parish, and sometimes a parish more than one county. This
division had relation to the religion of the state, a Parson of
the Anglican church, with a fixed salary, having been heretofore
established in each parish. The care of the poor was another
object of the parochial division. We have no townships. Our
country being much intersected with navigable waters, and trade
brought generally to our doors, instead of our being obliged to
go in quest of it, has probably been o