Sinkhole risk in King and Queen County, VA: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 37%
At or near the surface: 37%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in King and Queen County

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 117 of King and Queen County's 315 square miles on soluble rock, 117 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 6,747 residents (21 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 304 map points about 1.0 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around King and Queen County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Hertford County, NC, about 94 miles south. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

King William County, VA 10 mi west · 37% at surface
Essex County, VA 15 mi north · 42% at surface
New Kent County, VA 15 mi south · 22% at surface
Richmond County, VA 18 mi northeast · 23% at surface
Middlesex County, VA 22 mi east · 14% at surface
Charles City County, VA 26 mi south · 5% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Chesapeake Group (sand), Tertiary in age, covering about 37% of the county.

Against the rest of Virginia

King and Queen County ranks 32 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 83% of US counties on that measure.