Virginia is a gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 mining town located in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality

Lejweleputswa District Municipality

Lejweleputswa is one of the 5 districts of Free State province of South Africa. The seat of Lejweleputswa is Welkom. The majority of its 657 019 people speak Sotho...

 of the Free State

Free State

The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic and later Orange Free State Province. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans...

 province in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 about 140 km (90 mi) northeast of Bloemfontein

Bloemfontein

Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...

 the provincial capital. Virginia is surrounded by some of the largest gold fields in Free State, and its economy is dominated by mining, gold-extraction plants, and the manufacture of sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...

 from gold ore. It is also known for having the deepest pipe-mine into the earth on the planet. Commercial farms in the surrounding area primarily grow maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

 (corn) and raise livestock. Virginia is located on the main rail line between Bloemfontein and Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

.

In 1890

1890 in South Africa

-March:* 17 March - The first railway line in the Transvaal is opened for service between Boksburg and Braamfontein in Johannesburg-June:* 6 June - Magadu Bhambada becomes chief of the AmaZondi people at the age of 25 after the death of his father and uncle...

, two railway surveyors from the state of 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...

 in the United States

United States

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

 etched the name of their birthplace on a boulder near the farm Merriespruit. When a railway siding was eventually established at this spot, the name was adopted, and it stuck after the discovery of gold in 1955

1955 in South Africa

-January:* Mimi Coertse makes her debut as the First Flower girl in Parsifal at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples with Karl Böhm conducting.-March:...

 which resulted in a mushrooming settlement on the banks of the Sand River. In 1988

1988 in South Africa

-January:*1 January - Nordic countries implement comprehensive sanctions against South Africa and South West Africa which are intended to counteract apartheid...

 the Sand River burst its banks and flooded parts of the town. In 1994

1994 in South Africa

-February:* 28 February - At midnight Walvis Bay was handed over to Namibia* Bophuthatswana public servants go on strike-March:* 1 March The African National Congress president Nelson Mandela and Inkatha Freedom Party leader Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi in Durban...

 the Merriespruit tailings dam disaster

Merriespruit tailings dam disaster

The Merriespruit tailings dam disaster occurred on the night of 22 February 1994 when a tailings dam failed and flooded the suburb of Merriespruit, Virginia, Free State, South Africa. Seventeen people were killed....

 occurred just outside of Virginia, killing seventeen people.

On the 5 December 2000, Virginia was incorporated into the Matjhabeng Local Municipality

Matjhabeng Local Municipality

Matjhabeng Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Lejweleputswa District of the Free State in South Africa, that includes the city of Welkom. The name is a Sesotho word meaning "where nations meet". It is derived from the migrant labour system where people from various countries like...

 along with the city of Welkom

Welkom

Welkom is a city in the Free State province of South Africa, located 160 kilometres northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. Welkom received municipal status in 1961 and was declared a city in 1968 on the 14th of February...

 and the towns of Allanridge

Allanridge

Allanridge is a gold mining town in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality of the Free State province in South Africa. It is the main centre of the Lorraine Gold Mining Company and is dominated by the tall headgear and complex reduction works that processes thousands of tons of gold-bearing ore...

, Hennenman

Hennenman

Hennenman is a small town in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality of the Free State province of South Africa. The town is unusual in the district as its economy is based mainly on agriculture not gold. The town, which started out as a railway station, was previously called Ventersburg Road. The...

, Odendaalsrus

Odendaalsrus

Odendaalsrus is the oldest gold mining town in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality of the Free State province in South Africa.-History:It started out in 1912 as a ramshackle collection of farms and a central church that became a town. In April 1946 gold was struck on the farm Geduld near the town...

 and Ventersburg

Ventersburg

Ventersburg is a small town in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality of the Free State province in South Africa. It was established on the farm Kromfontein which was owned by PA Venter who died in 1857. His son allowed a Reform Church to be established on the farm in 1864 and by 1871, the first...

. During the apartheid era, black people were forced to live outside Virginia in the location of Meloding.