By Gwen Albers
The Tidewater News

The Town of Windsor’s population nearly tripled in the last 10 years, jumping to 2,626 in 2010 from 916 in 2000, according to data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Some of the growth is attributed to people moving into the community, but most is a result of the town’s annexation of a portion of Isle of Wight County around 2002, said Windsor Mayor Carita Richardson.

“We annexed more people than the original town’s (population),” Richardson said Friday.

The numbers make the town along Route 460 the fastest growing town in Western Tidewater, and Richardson expects that growth to continue.

“We have two new housing developments in Windsor, and we have an intermodal park sitting right outside our boundary. If and when that takes off, we would expect a large amount of growth,” Richardson said.

There’s also been talk of a high-speed passenger rail-line going through Windsor and the development of a new U.S. 460 from Suffolk to Petersburg.

About 105 new homes are planned for Holland Meadows, and a Virginia Beach developer has proposed building a 212-unit housing complex near Windsor Middle School.

Isle of Wight County saw its population grow from 29,728 to 35,270 over the last 10 years.