Mount Airy is a city in Surry County

Surry County, North Carolina

Surry County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010, the population was 73,673. Its county seat is Dobson.- History :The county was formed in 1771 from Rowan County...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,388.
Mount Airy was settled in the 1750s as a stagecoach

Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

 stop on the road between Winston-Salem

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...

 and Galax

Galax, Virginia

Galax is an independent city in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is bounded to the northeast by Carroll County and to the southwest by Grayson County. The population was 7,042 as of 2010...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. It was named for a nearby plantation. Mount Airy was incorporated in 1885.
Mount Airy is located at 36°30′3"N 80°36′34"W (36.500756, -80.609311), along the Ararat River

Ararat River

The Ararat River is a tributary of the Yadkin River in southwestern Virginia and northwestern North Carolina in the United States. Via the Yadkin it is part of the watershed of the Pee Dee River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean....

. The United States Census Bureau

United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

 says the city has a total area of 8.4 square miles (21.8 km²), all of it land.
As of the census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 8,484 people, 3,667 households, and 2,130 families residing in the city.