Since 1998 - Historical and Genealogical Resources
for the Upper New River Valley of North Carolina and Virginia
University of Virginia Record Extension Series
Vol. XVII, No. 6, December, 1932
by Ben Bane Dulaney
Often in a day's work questions arise about one's county or town and because of the lack of a convenient and authoritative source of information, these questions must go unanswered. Almost daily, local chambers of commerce receive detailed inquiries from outsiders interested in the county from a business or residence point of view; and for a similar reason, the replies must be only partial or general in nature. The civics, history, geography and other courses in our public schools are incomplete because there is no comprehensive source book of definite information on the economic and social life of the county. Annually, the program committees of numbers of women's clubs search for worth whfle topics of study, and no time can be better spent than that which is used in gaining a thorough knowledge of their home counties in the several phases that go to make up the life of such a unit.
During the past several years, among the courses offered in rural social economics at the University of Virginia one has been listed as "Economic and Social Surveys of Virginia Counties: a laboratory course in rural social economics dealing with the economic and social problems of the counties in Virginia. These studies when completed will be published as bulletins of the University." It is clear from this excerpt of a catalog statement of the course that the work of these surveys is a part of the student's class room instruction, and that he receives regular college credit for it as one of the five or more courses he is entitled to take as his normal load of work during the academic year.
Usually, two or these studies have been published each year. Unfortunately, straitened financial circumstances due to the depression have necessitated a reduction of this program at present to one such bulletin a year.
At the present time, seventeen such surveys, including this one of Washington County, have been completed and published. Others are under way in varying stages of completion. The work proves exceedingly interesting to the good student, particularly when, as is usually the case, he or his forebears are natives of the county which he surveys. The bulletins when pub]ished are made widely available mainly to the thoughtful citizenship of the county concerned. Out of these surveys has come an interesting series of County Geography Supplements, which are prepared in the Summer Quarter of the University by a group of teachers from the particular county. These supplements conform in arrangement with the State adopted geography text, and have proved very interesting and worth while subject matter for the geography pupils in the graded schools of the several counties for which the work has been done.
The following pages of the Washington County Survey are the result of a year of class work, and much outside labor in addition, on the part of Mr. Ben Bane Dulaney, of native Washington County stock. An unusually capable student, true to the best traditions of one of the outstanding counties, not only of the Commonwealth but of the Nation, he has applied himself unsparingly and devotedly to the task. The outcome is an excellent piece of work in the reading of which every thoughtful citizen of Washington County will experience time interestingly and profitably spent; and the large array of statistical material included makes the survey valuable for reference purposes. Mr. Dulaney has made a significant contribution to the existing literature on a county with a distinguished record, and this survey will not become less valuable as historical source material in future years.
WILSON GEE,
School of Rural Social Ecoitomics.
University, Virginia,
January 21,1933.
A really comprehensive survey of this type is very difficult to make. To begin with, one is buried under an avalanche of statistics-statistics from a hundred sources on everything under the sun. Many of these figures are continuously changing, others seem to contradict each other. They must be assorted, correlated and interpreted. And when this is done, the job is not half way complete. For statistics, no matter how exhaustive or well presented, still show the county as more or less of a machine. From perusing a page full of numbers, one cannot get the "feel" of an area, cannot fully realize that here are people, individuals who live and love and work and die.
So a survey of this kind must be humanized to a degree. To do this there must be contacts-letters, conversations and observations. To make a perfect representation of Washington County, the figures and humanizing contacts must be combined with a very real personal knowledge of the territory. And for one of college age-and a non-resident of the county at that-this is a rather tough proposition. So at the outset, before they are discovered, we want to apologize for any errors or biased views which may have crept into this booklet.
We want to express our gratitude, first of all, to Dr. Wilson Gee, head of the School of Rural Social Economics of the University, who initiated these county surveys some ten years ago and who has been the guiding light before each one. Dr. Gee's strong personal interest and criticisms of this survey have made it possible. Many thanks are also due to Miss Hazel Key, Rural Social Economics Librarian, who seems to consider it her duty to do most of the dirty work for students of this department. Mr. W. L. Leap and Mr. S. L. Charlton, instructors in the department, also cheerfully volunteered aid at all times.
Further, there are many residents of the county and city of Bristol who have taken enough interest in this survey to help out in various ways. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Mr. Lewis Preston Summers of Abingdon for his history of the county and for permission to reprint parts of his comprehensive book, and to Mr. T. W. Preston of Bristol for his very interesting sketch of that city and his condensed history of the county. Attention is called to the insertion of the two histories-one rather complete and detailed and the other touching the high spots, the more interesting phases of the county development.
Thanks are also expressed to Mr. P. L. Barker, Rev. Goodridge Wilson and Mr. S. C. Hobart, District Forester, the first two for their help in preparing sketches of towns and the last for his complete report of the forests of the county.
Some of the other individuals who cooperated in the completion of this survey are Mr. Sam Keys, Mr. W. P. Buchanan and Miss Anne Asbury of Glade Spring, Mr. Joe Phipps, County Agent, Mrs. Baxter W. Mock of Damascus and Mr. John Blakemore of Abingdon. Sincere appreciation is accorded Mr. C. W. Keatner, County Engineer, for the time he took in explaining the more intricate processes of government.
Organizations and clubs which helped us immensely include: Southwestern Virginia, Inc., The Bristol Chamber of Commerce, the Norfolk and Western Railway, the Mathieson Alkali Works, the Bristol Herald-Courier, various service clubs and manufacturing concerns which were kind enough to give us information as to their business.
To all these people and organizations and to the many others who offered criticisms, gave helpful hints and new slants, the author wishes to express his sincere appreciation.
B. B. D.
BRIEF HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
By T. W. Preston
In the year 1738 an act was passed establishing the County of Augusta. The new county embraced all of the territory south of Frederick County and west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and extended in a westerly direction to the Mississippi River. In 1769, the House of Burgesses of Virginia passed an act for the division of Augusta County, and all of the territory lying south and west of the North River was given the name of Botetourt County.
In 1772, the inhabitants on the Holston and New Rivers petitioned the House of Burgesses to set up a new county, by reason of the remoteness of these settlements from the seat of government. This was accordingly done, and the territory west of New River was established as Fincastle County, with the Lead Mines as the County Seat.
On the 6th of December, 1776, the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act dividing the County of Fincastle into three separate counties: Montgomery, Washington and Kentucky. The boundaries of Washington County were to he as follows: "That all of that part of said county of Fincastle included in the lines beginning at the Cumberland Mountains, where the line of Kentucky County intersects the North Carolina (now Tennessee) line; thence east along the said Carolina line to the top of Iron Mountain; thence along the same easterly to the source of the South Fork of the Holston River; thence northwardly along the highest part of the Highlands, ridges and mountains that divide the waters of the Tennessee from those of the Great Kanawha, to the most easterly source of Clinch River; thence westwardly along the top of the mountain that divides the waters of the Clinch River from those of the Great Kanawba and Sandy Creek to the line of Kentucky County; and thence along the same to the beginning, shall be one other distinct county, and called and known by the name of Washington." (Hening's Statutes. 1776).
Washington County was the first place in the United States named for George Washington. Since its establishment in 1776, eight counties of southwest Virginia have been carved from it. They are Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Lee, Buchanan, Dickenson, and Wise.
The first court of Washington County was held at Black's Fort in January, 1777. The justices present were: Arthur Campbell, John Coulter, William Campbell, Daniel Smith, William Edmiston, Joseph Martin, John Campbell, Alexander Buchanan, John Kinkead, James Montgomery, John Snoddy, George Blackburn, and Thomas Mastin. Nearly all of these men rendered valiant service at King's Mountain and in other battles of the Revolutionary War.
The first county court of the new county was held at Black's Fort, which had been erected in 1776 for protection against the Cherokee invasion in the summer of that year. This fort was situated on Eighteen Mile Creek, just south of the present Norfolk and Western Railroad yards.
One of the first acts of the court was to appoint commissioners to bring up the salt allotted to the county by the General Assembly of Virginia. This is interesting from the fact that inexhaustible salt beds were discovered shortly thereafter within the borders of the county and only a few miles distant. Washington County was supposed to embrace all of the territory north of the Holston River, and county officials exercised jurisdiction far into what is now Tennessee.
One of the next nets was to fix the price of liquers, which was done as follows: Rum, 16 s. per gallon; rye whiskey, 8 S.; corn whiskey, 4 S.; a bowl of rum toddy, with loaf sugar, 2 s, with brown sugar, 1 s.
Horse stealing was considered a more grave offense than murder, as evidenced by the fact that Thomas Jones was acquitted of a charge of murder but was remanded to the General Court at the capitol, Williamsburg, on the charge of having stolen a horse.
When Dr. Thomas Walker first visited this section in 1749, he followed the Buffalo, or Indian Trail, down the Shenandoah Valley and across the Allegheny Mountains to Big Island (Kingsport), and this route became the main highway to the West. Numerous orders were entered by the first courts for the viewing and estaMishing of sections of this road. The present Lee Highway follows the ancient route very closely.
In the lower end of the county, a short distance from Big Island, was a place called "Anderson's Block House". This point was the beginning of the Wilderness Trail, which was cut out by Daniel Boone and his party in March, 1777. It is estimated that over one hundred thousand emigrants passed through Abingdon and via the "Anderson Block House" on the way to Kentucky during the decade, 1780-1790.
In 1773, the first permanent church west of the Blue Ridge Mountains was founded at Abingdon. It was the Presbyterian Church, which is still flourishing at this time. The Reverend Charles Cummings was the first pastor.
An order was entered at the April, 1779, term of court for the erection of the pillory and stocks. This form of punishment was used for many years in the county.
In 1780, the militia of Washington County, under Col. William Campbell, rendered splendid service in breaking up Tory bands on the headwaters of New River. In October of the same year, Col. Campbell in command of four hundred men, took part in the King's Mountain campaign, which ended in such a signal victory.
In 1759, Col. William Byrd headed an expedition, consisting of nearly one thousand men, for the relief of Fort Lowden on the Little Tennessee River, which was besieged by the Cherokee Indians. He was compelled to cut out a new road from Eastern Virginia through this section. It took a year to reach Long Island on the Hoiston, where Fort Robinson was erected.
He built Fort Chiswell in what is now Wythe County, then a part of Washington County. [Erroneous - Fort Chiswell was never in Washington County, it was in Montgomery, and later Wythe County - JCW, May 1, 2000.] This fort became a very prominent frontier refuge, and was, for a time, the county seat of Fincastle County.
This route from Fort Lewis to Long Island was the first through road to the west, and all future roads followed its course very closely. It led to the beginning of the "Wilderness Trail", which started at the Anderson Block House, and followed tbrough Cumberland Gap into Kentucky.
Practically all of the southwestern states, including Tennessee and Kentucky, were settled by emigrants from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. The majority of these followed the old trail up the Shenandoah Valley, and thence over the route above described.
Three governors of Virginia have been furnished by Washington County: John B. Floyd, Wyndliam Robertson, and David Campbell. For more than one hundred years the County has been progressive in educational matters, and noted for its culture. Emory and Henry College and Martha Washington Collegel were founded nearly a century ago. There are three other colleges in the county at the present time--Stonewall Jackson1, Sullins, and Virginia Intermont. There are a number of high schools and grammar schools scattered throughout the county at strategic points.
Washington County has splendid natural resources in timber, minerals, and grazing lands. There are numerous industries located in the county, such as: The Mathie son Alkali Works, the Columbia Paper Company, the Charles A. Schieren Company Tanneries, and many woodworking industries. The county has grown rapidly in population, which is given by the last census as 33,841.
By Lewis Preston Summers
It is with a great deal of hesitation that I undertake to prepare a brief history of Washington County.
Washington County was a part of what was originally Fincastle County, Virginia. Fincastle County embraced all of the territory in Virginia west of the line which ran about four miles west of Salem in a north and south direction and as far west as the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Fincastle County was organized pursuant to an act of the House of Burgesses of Virginia in 1772, and at a time when the population of all Western Virginia was sparse and settlements but few. All of the measures formulated by the patriots living in Fincastle County prior to January, 1777, were developed at the Lead Mines, the county seat of Fineastle, now in Wythe County, Virginia.
By the year 1776, population had increased greatly throughout Southwest Virginia and numerous setflements were found in Kentucky and what is now a part of East Tennessee. The extent of the territory Included in Fincastle County was so great that there was an insistent demand that Fincastle County be divided into two or more counties; and in the year 1776, the settlers in Kentucky assembled and selected General George Rogers Clark and Hon. John Gabriel Jones as their representatives, and sent them to Richmond to the Genjeal Assembly of the new Commonwealth, to demand a division of Fincastle County.
At this time Col. William Christian, who lived on New River, was the representative in the Senate of Virginia, and Col. William Russell of Castle Woods, now Russell County, Virginia, and Col. Arthur Campbell represented Fincastle County in the Legislature of Virginia. It will he observed from this statement that the territory afterwards embraced in Washington County furnished both of the representatives from Fincastle County in the General Assembly of Virginia.
The representatives from Fincastle County, having and exercising all the powers of government, were very much averse to the division of Fincastle County and of being deprived of their power and position in government. When General George Rogers Clark and John Gabriel Jones appeared at Richmond they found the measure proposed by them vigorously opposed by Col. Arthur Campbell and Col. William Russell and probably by William Christian. The question of the division of Fincastle County was brought to the attention of the General Assembly of Virginia and was submitted to a committee of which Hon. Carter Braxton was Chairman, and Thomas Jefferson, a member. The question of the division of the County of Fincastle was referred to Thomas Jefferson by the committee of which he was a member; and, after a long and bitter struggle, Mr. Jefferson recommended to the committee, and the committee recommended to the General Assembly that Fincastle County be divided into two counties. And on motion of Col. William Christian, the recommendation of the House Committee was amended in the Senate, and the bill provided for a division of Fincastle County into three counties, to-wit: Montgomery County, Washington County, and Kentucky County. Montgomery County was named for Robert -Montgomery, a Revolutionary patriot; Washington County, for General Washington; and Kentucky (Kentucke) County was given an Indian name. This bill became a law on the 6th of December, 1776, and provided that the first court of Washington County should assemble at Black's Fort on the 28th of January, 1777. On the 28th of January, 1777, the first court of Washington County assembled at Black's Fort, now Abingdon, Virginia, with the following officers present, and members of the County Court commissioned by Governor Patrick Henry on the 21st day of December, 1776:
| Arthur Campbell | Joseph Martin |
| Evan Shelby | John Campbell |
| James Dysart | Alexander Buchanan |
| John Anderson | John Kinkead |
| Daniel Smith | James Montgomery |
| John Coulter | John Snoddy |
| William Campbell | George Blackburn |
| William Edmiston | Thomas Mastin |
On the same day, acting under commissions from Governor Henry, the following officers qualified for Washington County:
Sheriff-James Dysart,
County Lieutenan~Arthur Campbell,
Colonel-Evan Shelby
Lieutenant-Colonel-William Campbell,
Major-Daniel Smith,
Attorney for the Commonwealth-Ephriam Dunlop,
County Surveyor-Robert Preston.
The extent of the boundary of Washington County at the time of its formation was as follows: the boundary of Washington County as defined in the act establishing the County provided that all that part of the said County of Fincastle included in the lines beginning at the Cumberland Mountains where the line of Kentucky intersects the North Carolina (now Tennessee) line (Cumberland Gap), thence east along the said Carolina line to the top of Iron Mountain; thence along the same easterly to the source of the South Fork of Holston River; thence northwardly along the highest part of the highlands, ridges and mountains that divide the waters of the Tennessee from those of the Great Canawan (approximately Rural Retreat) to the most easterly source of Clinch River; thence westwardly along the top of the mountain that divides the waters of the Clinch River from those of the Great Canawan and Sandy Creek to the line of Kentucky County, and thence along the same to the beginning, shall he one distinct county and called and known by the name of Washington.
The territory included in Washington County at the time of its formation is now embraced in the following counties:
| Washington | Russell | Scott |
| Smyth | Tazewell | Lee |
| Buchanan | Dickenson | and Wise, |
The formation of this county and the giving of the name of Washington to the county constituted this county the first locality in the world to receive the name of WaAhington, in honor of our first President, the Father of his Country, the one man who was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". As to who suggested the name of Washington County, we do not know; it may have been Hon. Carter Braxton, or Thomas Jefferson, Col. Arthur Campbell, Col. William Russell, or Col. William Christian; but one thing is certain, that before and subsequent to the division of Fincastle County, Abingdon and the territory included in Washington County was, for possibly sixty years, the center of the political, religious and educational activities of Southwest Virginia, and continues after a period of more than 150 years to exercise an influence in the councils of state second to no other county in Virginia.
At the time of the formation of Washington County, and until the year, 1781, it was believed that all of the lands north of the South Fork of Holston River and as far west as the present Rogersville, Tennessee, was within the territory of Virginia, and the officers of Washington County exercised all governmental authority over the territory mentioned until the year, 1781.
The first representative from Washington County in the General Assembly of Virginia was Col. William Cocke, afterwards United States Senator from Tennessee, and Major Anthony Bledsoe, afterwards, a distinguished citizen of Tennessee, both of whom were later ascertained to he citizens of North Carolina, now Tennessee, at the time of their election as representatives in the General Assembly of Virginia.
It will be further noted that the first representative in the Congress of the United States was General Francis Preston, a son of Col. William Preston of Smithfield, and a son-in-law of General William Campbell of Kings Mountain.
It will be of interest to note the qualifications of voters at the time of the formation of our government. The qualification of electors was as follows: every free man, who at the time of the election, shall have been for one year preceding in possession of 25 acres of land with a house and plantation thereon, or 100 acres of land without a house or plantation, or having the right of an estate for life at least in the said land in his own right or in the right of his wife. The first election held in the county was at Black's Fort, the one and only voting precinct in the county, at which election there appeared at the voting precinct, in person, 946 men from Powell's Valley, Clinch Valley, Carter's Valley, and Watauga, afterwards Tennessee. Voting was compulsory at that time, and each man was required to vote or suffer a penalty for not doing so.
The county seat of Washington County, as designated by the act establishing the county, was Black's Fort, which stood about one-fourth of a mile southwest of the present court house. This fort was erected by possibly 500 settlers, upon the opening of hostilities with the Cherokee Indians in the year, 1776. It was erected upon land given to the county by Dr. Thomas Walker, Joseph Black, and Samuel Briggs, and received its name from Joseph Black. It was one of those rude structures which the pioneers built for defense against the Indians, consisting of a few log cabins surrounded by a stockade. Prior to the building of Black's Fort, in the year, 1776, this locality was known as Wolf Hills, deriving the name from Daniel Boone, who upon one of his hunting expeditions in the year, 1760, spent the night in this locality, and he and his,dogs were so disturbed by wolves with their home in the cave that underlies the Town of Abingdon, that he gave to the locality the name of Wolf Hills.
A remarkable incident connected with Black's Fort has been preserved by Benjamin Sharp, who in an article in The Pioneer, published at Cincinnati in the early years of the nineteenth century, stated that he was an occupant of Black's Fort in 1776. He describes the fort and its occupants, and states that upon one occasion, men from the fort captured and scalped about nineteen Indians at a point five miles south of the fort; and upon the following day, they cut the tallest tree they could find in the forest, tied the scalps of the Indians to the top of the pole, and erected the pole at the gate of the fort.
Upon the organization of the Town of Abingdon the name of Black's - Fort disappeared. This locality was known by the name of Abingdon in honor of Martha Washington, the wife of General Washington, the name being that of the parish in which she was reared and worshipped in Eastern Virginia.
Washington County was largely settled by Scotch, Irish, German, Dutch and Swiss people. They were protestant people. Most of them landed at Philadelphia, traveled down the Cumberland Valley, down the Valley of Virginia, and into Southwest Virginia. They came to America because of religious persecution. They were rebels at heart, cultivated their rebellious spirit, and at the first opportunity afforded them, they gave voice to their sentiments. On the 20th day of January, 1775, at least four months prior to the Mecklenburg Declaration, in the Fincastle Resolutions adopted by the freeholders of Fincastle County at the Lead Mines, they gave expression of their resentment and their disposition and determined purpose to have freedom of conscience and self-government. Four of the active participants in the Revolution from this section of Virginia-General William Campbell, Colonel William Christian, Colonel Thomas Madison and General William Russell--were brothers-in-law of Patrick Henry, and the entire citizenship was actively in sympathy with the purposes of the Revolution. The members of the Committee of Safety that drafted the Fincastle Resolutions of date January 20th, 1775, were as follows: Rev. Charles Cummings, Col. William Preston, Col. William Christian, Capt. Stephen Trigg, Major Arthur Campbell, Major William Inglis, Captain Walter Crockett, Captain John Montgomery, Captain James McGavock, Captain William Campbell, Captain Thomas Madison, Captain Daniel Smith, Captain William Russell, Captain Evan Shelby and William Edmiston.
Subsequently, Col. William Campbell with a company of men from Washington County, was at Williamsburg under Col. Patrick Henry and assisted in the rescue of the powder from Governor Dunmore. One or more companies of volunteers from this county participated in the Battle of Great Bridge, where the first blood on Virginia soil was shed in the Revolution.
It may be mentioned, at this point, that in 1774, at least four companies of men from Fincastle County participated in the Battle of Point Pleasant, and in winning that battle, forever expelling from this country the Indians from north of the Ohio River.
In the year, 1778, two full companies of men from Washington County volunteered, accompanying General George Rogers Clark upon his expedition to Kaskaskia and Vincennes, and assisting in expelling the British forces from the Great Northwest.
In 1780 when the Whigs, the lovers of liberty, had been practically expelled by Lord Corawallis from the states of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, and when the hopes of the most enthusiastic lovers of liberty were at lowest ebb, four hundred men from Washington County, under the command of General William Campbell, marched to the Sycamore Shoals (Happy Valley), Tennessee. There they joined forces with Col. John Sevier, Generals Evan Shelby, McDowell, Cleveland and others from North Carolina, made a hurried march to King's Mountain, South Carolina, where they surrounded, captured or killed an entire division of the British Army under the command of Col. Ferguson, turned the tide of the Revolution, pursued and harassed Corawallis from King's Mountain to Cowpens, Guilford Court House, and on to Yorktown and to his surrender, with a dogged persistence and a relentless purpose such as has actuated but few men in the history of the world.
With the opening of the War of 1812, possibly 1,000 volunteers from Washington County and Southwest Virginia under the command of Col. Alexander Smyth, Col. David Campbell and others, participated in all of the battles of that War.
With the opening of the War with Mexico in 1846, Col. Arthur Campbell Cummings led volunteers from this county and took an active part in the Mexican War.
In the year, 1860, the descendants of the men who had so materially aided in the establishment of this Republic were very loath to join in the secession of the South. In the elections held early in 1861, Robert E. Grant and John A. Campbell, advocates of union, were elected to the Constitutional Convention of Virginia over John B. Floyd and William Y. C. White, advocates of secession, by an ovenvhelming majority, and it looked at that time as if Washington County would not join in the secession. But, when President Lincoln called upon the states to furnish 75,000 troops to suppress the rebellion, the citizens of Washington County, placing their fealty to the state above their fealty to the nation, joined heartily in the cause of secession and organized and sent to the Confederate Army many regiments of men, who upon the field of battle demonstrated a fighting quality that was unsurpassed in the Confederate Army. The 48th Regiment under the command of Col. John A. Campbell, the 37th Regiment under the command of Col. Samuel V. Fulkerson, and the 33rd Virginia Regiment under the command of Col. Arthur C. Cummings constituted a part of the Stonewall Brigade and brought great honor and distinction to the people of this county by their bravery and their indomitable purpose.
With the coming of the World War in 1917, great numbers of the stalwart sons of Washington County volunteered; and large numbers passed through the Selective Board, constituting an army of nearly 1,000 fighting men. As a part of the 80th Division, they made a record of which all of our people are proud.
Space will not permit me to discuss this subject as fully as I would like to, and I will have to close with the statement that if there is a more fertile delightfully pleasant and attractive land, inhabited by a more enterprising and patriotic people than Washington County, it has never been my pleasure to know of it.
I cannot close this article without calling attention to the fact that Washington County has furnished three Governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia-Hon. Wyndhans Robertson, Hon. David Campbell, and Hon. John B. Floyd, all of them residents of Abingdon, Virginia; and, in addition thereto, this county has furnished several United States Senators, many Congreesmen, Judges of our highest courts, as well as distinguished soldiers, notably, General Joseph E. Johnston, General Wm. E. Jones and others.
TOWNS
Probably no county in the State has such a variety of different types of towns within such a small radius as does Washington County. A thirty-mile circle includes Bristol, a thriving industrial city; Abingdon, a very old town and the centre of a prosperous farming section; Emory, a typical quiet college village; Glade Spring, many of whose inhabitants work for the railroad; and places similar to Saltville and Plasterco, owned almost entirely by great corporations. Washington Springs is a summer resort, while Clinchburg and Konnarock are the centres of large lumber operations.
There are six incorporated towns in Washington County, a short sketch of each being included in this chapter. They are:
The unincorporated villages with post offices are:
| Meadow View | Alvarado | Emory | Clinchburg |
| Wallace | Wyndale | Konnarock | Taylor's Valley |
| Benham's | Plasterco | Greendale | Holston |
| Lodi | Robuck | Wolfrun | Cole |
| Alum Wells | Glenford | Green Cove | Zenobia |
In addition to this imposing list, there are a number of small places listed on more detailed maps and known because they are crossroads, resorts or railroad sidings. They include:
| Phillip | Mountain | Brumley Gap | Ora |
| Hayter | Watauga | Vail's Mill | Laureldale |
| Creek Junction | Drowning Ford | Washington Springs | Grassy Ridge |
| Litz | Fleet | Friendship | Lindell |
| McConnell |
Following are brief summaries of the histories and characteristics of the incorporated towns.
By T. W. Preston
Bristol is located geographically in a kind of "No Man's Land", lying between the States of Virginia and Tennessee. This strip of territory was a bone of contention between the two states for more than one hundred years. The dispute was brought about by an error in running the original line. The dividing line between the states of Virginia and North Carolina was designated as Latitude 360 30' 20", and the original line was surveyed by Col. Wm. Byrd in 1728, starting at Curritucket Inlet. He ran it due westward for two hundred and forty-one miles. In 1749 the line was extended westward by Frye and Jefferson to a point on Steep Rock Creek, a distance of eighty-eight miles, making a total of three hundred and twenty-nine miles from the coast. The point reached was carefully marked and the work abandoned for the time being.
This original line was never again located and various other boundaries were surveyed from time to time, with a variation north or south of as much as five miles. The matter was not settled until 1890, when the Supreme Court of the United States held that the compromise of 1808 should be the dividing line.
Few sections have a more interesting historical background than the Bristol territory. The first record we have of this location was a survey made by Charles Lewis, deputy surveyor of Augusta County, Virginia. In February, 1749, he surveyed a tract of nineteen hundred and forty-six acres for John Tayloe, Jr., of Richmond County on Shallow Creek, a branch of Indian River. This grant was sold to Col. James Patton for nine pounds, seven shillings and one sixpence, and is on record in the Land Office at Richmond, Virginia. The present city of Bristol just about covers the original grant of nineteen hundred and forty-six acres.
At that time, the Province of Virginia claimed sovereignty over territory that is now embraced in Hawkins County, Tennessee. Bristol is probably the only town in the United States whose corporate limits have been under the jurisdiction of five sovereign states at various times without changing its location.
In 1779, a new survey was made by Col. Henderson, Dr. Thomas Walker, and Daniel Smith. This survey gave the Sapling Grove Tract to North Carolina. In 1785, the state of Franklin was set up, which included the Tayloe, or Sapling Grove Survey, within its limits. The new state had only one governor, John Sevier, and lasted but four years.
In 1789, we find the territory in question once more under the jurisdiction of North Carolina. In this same year, however, North Carolina ceded all of her territory west of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Federal Government President George Washington appointed William Blount, governor of the new territory, which was designated as "The Territory South of the Ohio River". On October 1st, 1795, Governor Blount took up his residence and official duties at the home of William Cobb on the Watauga River. A record tide of emigrants flowed into the new country; in 1796, Tennessee was received into the Union, and John Sevier was elected as the first governor.
About 1768, Col. Evan Shelby and Isaac Baker purchased the Sapling Grove Tract of nineteen hundred and forty-six acres from the executors of James Patton. The land was divided equally- each one receiving nine hundred and seventy-three acres. Col. Shelby did not live to take title to his one-half of the Sapling Grove Tract, he having died in 1794. The deed made to Isaac Shelby, executor in 1798. The consideration was three hundred and four pounds.
Col. Evan Shelby took up his residence on his portion of the Sapling Grove Tract about 1771. He built a fort and stockade on the hill overlooking Beaver Creek. The fort was a haven for thousands of emigrants on way to Kentucky and Tennessee. It must have been formidable, for there is no record of its ever having been attacked by the Indians.
Here at this fort, Col. Shelby opened a store and started the first commercial enterprise in the Holston Valley. The goods had to he brought from the eastern markets on pack-horses, and were purchased by the exchange of furs and skins that were brought in by the frontiersmen and traded for powder and lead. Daniel Boone often visited Shelby's Fort and traded at his store. It was within this fort that Campbell, Sevier, and Shelby met and planned the campaign which led to the battle of King's Mountain.
Col. Isaac Shelby removed to Kentucky after the Revolutionary War, and became the first governor of that state. Col. James King, a prominent Revolutionary officer, purchased the Shelby interest for the sum of $10.000. In 1814 he built a brick residence, which is designated on John Wood's map of Washington County (1820) as "Col. James King's Brick House. The original of the map is on file in the State Library at Richmond. James King operated extensive iron-works and foundries a short distance below Bristol. It is believed that his was the first iron furnace in the State of Tennessee.
In 1852, Joseph R. Anderson bought one hundred acres of land in is now the very heart of Bristol. In 1856, the Atlantic, Mississippi and Railroad reached Bristol, and in the fall of the same year, the East Tennessee Railroad reached Bristol from the south. Joseph R. Anderson had the forsight to see that Bristol had a strategic location and would be a railroad terminal. He divided his one hundred acres into town lots, secured a town charter, and became its first mayor. He also founded the first bank in this section, which is now the First National Bank of Bristol, the sixth oldest bank in the state of Tennessee.
The town furnished its full quota of soldiers to the Southern Confederacy, and such able leaders as Col. John S. Mosley, Col. S. V. Fulkerson, Col. Abram Fulkerson and others.
After the war, the town continued to grow slowly until the latter part of the nineteenth centory when both towns were incorporated as cities. In 1890, the Virginia and South Western Railway was built to Big Stone Gap, making connection with the Louisville and Nashville Railway, and another line was constructed connecting Bristol and Elizabethton.
In 1899, there was a great industrial awakening in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee. Iron and steel furnaces were established at Bristol and many other industries were attracted by the cheap coal and iron.
Bristol industries have always heen well diversified. They include lumber manufacturing, mill work, paper mills, tanneries, extract plants, car wheel factories, overall factories, and textile plants. For many years it has heen an important jobbing center and the distributing point for the agricultural products for Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee. There are three colleges in the city and fifteen colleges within a radius of one hundred miles. Bristol is today a city of twenty-one thousand population and is the commercial center of a territory with a population of one-half million.
Abingdon
(Condensed by permission from L. P. Summers' History of Southwest Virginia and Washington County)
Abingdon, the county seat, is by far the oldest town in Southwest Virginia. In early days, its site was the crossing of two Indian trails, one which followed in a general way the route taken by the Lee Highway today and another which came through Cumberland Gap and wound on to the southwest toward North Carolina.
When Dr. Thomas Walker and his company of explorers visited the country in 1749, they followed this Indian trail; and later, King George II granted Dr. Walker a large body of land surrounding the present town. He made no immediate effort to settle the land, and the next mention we have of the territory is when Daniel Boone and a companion camped there in 1760, They were greatly disturbed by the depredations of a number of wolves which lived in a cave under the site of the town, and gave the section its first name, "Wolf Hills". A creek to the west of the town still bears that title.
By 1774, a great number of people, including James Douglas, Andrew Colvill, George Blackburn, Joseph Black, Samuel Briggs, and James Piper, had settled in the vicinity and a Presbyterian church was built.
Because of uprisings among the Cherokee Indians who had determined to drive the whites from what had been their exclusive hunting grounds, Black's Fort was built in 1774. When the ferocious bands of Indian marauding became more frequent and dangerous, nearly four hundred men, women and children assembled at this fort for protection. This date, July, 1776, should he considered that of the true founding of Abingdon.
A large amount of guerrilla warfare then took place between the Cherokees and whites. After much bloodshed, the settlers succeeded in ambushing a party of red men and killed eleven. Tired of being scalped, they turned the tables on their foes and hung their trophies on a pole in front of the fort.
The State Assembly established the County of Washington in 1776, and the first meeting of the County Court was held at Black's Fort on January 28, 1777. The court ordered that the lands given the town by Walker, Black and Briggs be disposed of and this was done by public auction. A log courthouse was constructed, as also, was a prison "fourteen feet square". A couple of examples of that good old Puritan institution, the stock, were also erected and were said to have been unparalleled as corrective measures. A square area of about eight acres, embracing the "gaol" at one corner, was laid off and designated as "prison bounds". This was used until 1850 as a place of confinement for delinquent debtors, and it would he a matter of great surprise if the present generation could read the names of the prominent citizens who were confined for this reason.
In October, 1778, the town of Abingdon was established by an act of the Assembly and Evan Shelby, William Campbell, Daniel Smith, William Edmiston, Robert Craig, and Andrew Willoughby were named as trustees and given considerable power.
The origin of the town's name is in dispute. Some say that it is in honor of Martha Washington, whose country seat near Mount Vernon here that name, others that William Campbell named it after his friend, Lord Abingdon, an English nobleman, and still others that Daniel Boone called it after his first residence in America, Abingdon, Pennsylvania. As it may be, the county seat thrived. In 1783, it contained, in addition to the courthouse, jail and residences, four taverns and a general store. The country was settled with English of several classes, Irish, who are everywhere, and Germans, who emigrated from Pennsylvania.
Abingdon steadily grew. From time to time additional lots and streets were laid off. In 1792, a town market was constructed, and Tuesdays and Saturdays were designated as market days, those selling meats on other days being vigorously prosecuted. A Masonic lodge was built in 1796 and the Abingdon Academy opened in 1803. It is interesting to note that a lottery was conducted by the trustees to provide funds for its library and apparatus.
The first post office in Southwest Virginia was established at Abingdon in April, 1793, and it was the only one in the county until 1833. Until about 1835, Abingdon was the centre of the business life of Southwest Virginia, East Tennessee and Kentucky. All mails for the sections were distributed there, and a large per cent of the wholesale trade for the same section was controlled and supplied by Abingdon merchants.
In 1834, a new charter was given the town. It greatly extended the corporate limits and provided for the Mayor and Council form of government which still endures.
The Council, in 1837, passed an act which for sheer word twisting should be given a prize: It reads: "If any person within the corporation shall sell by retail (other than an ordinary keeper), be drunk in or at the place where sold, or in or upon the premises of which such person has control, or within the said corporation, any wine, rum, brandy, or other ardent spirits, or a mixture thereof, he or she so offending shall pay a fine of $5.25 for each offence."
Abingdon was described in 1835 as having a population of 1,000, two schools, five hotels, thirteen attorneys, three physicians, one manufacturing flour mill and forty-eight business enterprises.
Improvements in the next twenty years included a new court house in 1850, and the arrival from the north of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad in 1856. Then came the Civil War, most of the able-bodied men left and the rest of the town busied itself in nursing the injured and doing all they could for the absent fighters.
Although there were several threatened invasions of Union troops, none actually arrived until December, 1864, when General Stoneman and 10,000 men marched in. They burned the railroad depot, the commissary, barracks and other government property, and continued on to the east. Later in the day a single renegade entered the town on horseback and proceeded to fire all property on both sides of Main Street before he could be killed. The courthouse and most of the buildings of Abingdon were destroyed, valuable records were burned and many of the people were left homeless.
Abingdon at present has a population of 2,877, and is the centre and market place of a prosperous, rolling farm land. The town has several large business enterprises, notably the new plant of the Pet Milk Company. It is one of the few cities in Virginia which have wide, tree-lined streets, throughout, and is probably the longest town for its width in the world. Martha Washington College for girls and the George Ben Johnson Hospital are located in Abingdon.
(Revised from article by Goodridge Wilson in Roanoke Times, June 7, 1930)
There is an old brick Presbyterian church two miles east of the town of Glade Spring whose members for more than one hundred and fifty years have lived in various communities scattered over a wide area of as fine farming land as ever raised tobacco and blue grass cattle. It was built near a spring in a glade noted among pioneer settlers, and called Glade Spring Church. All that wide territory in which its far flung congregation has dwelt for generations takes its name, which is indicative of the pervading and prevailing influence of that old church. When a man says he lives at Glade Spring, he may actually live there, or somewhere five or six miles away.
The Beatties, emigrating from Kerr's Creek in Rockbridge County about 1772, were the original settlers of this locality. They "forted" the Indians in the glen where the Old Glade Church now stands, and began preaching at the Ebbing Spring Meeting House on the Middle Fork of the Holston, later moving the church to the site of the fort. The whole Beattie clan were active and energetic pioneers. They fought Indians, English, and hardships and made great estates out 0£ the wilderness. The old homesteads around Glade Spring, now in 6ther hands, are eloquent witnesses to the energy and foresight of these settlers and their sons.
The railroad in 1856 put a depot where a branch led off to Saltville and called it, for some unknown reason, Passawatomie, but the Beatties, Allisons, Edmondsons and Ryburns, the four families which comprised the village, soon put a unanimous quietus on this and called the town Glade Spring. A year later, W. B. Dickenson and J. S. Buchanan built a large storehouse southwest of the station which, still standing, was the town's first business enterprise.
It is a fine type of Southwest Virginia town, solidly substantially prosperous, holding on to the old and yet sanely progressive in taking up the new. There are modern homes; bungalows, cottages, more pretentious residences, and mellowed brick houses with fine old shade trees. There are substantial brick churches, a new high school . . . rolling hillsides, cultivated fields... rich meadows in the immediate background and a beautifully broken fresco of mountains on the northern sky line. According to Mr. Lew Summers, Washington County's recognized historian, Glade Spring is situated in the best section of the county.
Primarily a railroad town, serving as a junction point for the entire products of the industrial towns of Saltville, Plasterco and Clinchburg, Glade Spring could, nevertheless, exist as the centre and shipping point for the nearby agricultural lands. Tobacco, cattle, produce, rare herbs and cabbage are the principal exports.
In bygone times, Glade Spring was also a college town with a Baptist girls' school inside of it and a Methodist boys' school several miles outside it. The Methodist boys are still where they were, at Emory and Henry, now enlarged to take in girls, but the Academy at Glade Spring burned and was moved to Bristol where it has become the Virginia Intermont College.
The Seven Springs (side by side and each having a varying mineral content) and Washington Springs are near at hand, and because of them Glade Spring was once a fashionable and popular summer resort, with Wytheville in the visitors that came to its hotel and private boarding houses to enjoy the scenery and partake of the health-giving mineral waters Washington Springs Hotel still operates and is famed throughout the section for its restful atmosphere and excellent home cooking.
Glade Spring has a present population of 669, modern stores of all descriptions, six churches, one of the county's best schools, and flour mill several wholesale produce companies. The Bank of Glade Spring is one of the oldest and most firmly entrenched financial institutions in the region. The town has an up-to-date water system and is served by a state highway and numerous paved county roads.
By Goodridge Wilson
Damascus, industrial town of the forest, is the National Forest town of Southwest Virginia. It is the only town of considerable size within the Unaka National Forest and the Forest Rangers headquarters are located there. Its industries are and have ever been based on forest products. An extract plant and wood-working plants are carrying on there and formerly great sawmills employing hundreds of workmen operated there, feeding on the magnificent timber in the virgin forests for many miles around until they ate it all up. Now under the watchful care of the government rangers the mountains and their water course valleys are being clothed again with a fine thick growth of new timber and the attractive little town is almost surrounded again by forest running up to its very edge. It is a beautiful town from the outside, and not ugly from the inside. Driving in from the northwest over the state highway along the bluff, one looking out over the town built on level land below, and seeing the clear mountain streams running through, snugly sheltered by wooded mountains all around, feels like stopping for a while to take in the unique beauty of the scene.
A post office called Mock's Mills was located in the only water gap through Iron Mountain between New and Watauga Rivers, and when a railroad was projected through the gap it became the site of a future great city. In 1892, streets were laid off, plans for a magnificent hotel and for numerous business enterprises were projected, and the name was changed to Damascus, because, it is said, somebody thought it looked like the town in Syria where St. Paul was converted. Then the so-called Cleveland hard times hit the country, and stopped everything around Damascus for six or eight years. That great hotel was never built, but after the lapse of time, many business enterprises did materialize and are still materializing. In February, 1900, the first train carrying passengers arrived in Damascus, and trains are now earrying passengers and freight through the water gap and on into a rapidly developing section of North Carolina. Damascus may yet he the city the boomers dreamed, because it is in the water gap, and because it is in the National Forest, and because it has excellent water power and other natural advantages for industry, and because it has an aggressive and substantial citizenry. Whatever it may become, it is now a corking good forest town, and it has the most picturesque and one of the all-around best public school plants in Southwest Virginia.
Mendota
By P. L. Barker
Mendota is situated on the North Fork of Holston River, in the west end of Washington County, Virginia, about half way between Bristol and Gate City, opposite the noted Kinderhook Farm and immediately on the Southern Railway.
The excellent river-bottom lands at Mendota were patented by the Commonwealth to Thomas Kendrick, Wflliam Todd Livingston and others, and the home of Peter Livingston was but a short distance below Mendota at the time the noted half-breed Benge made his raid thereon in the year 1794, burning the homestead and carrying off the wife of Peter Livingston. After several days hot pursuit the Indians were overtaken, the savage Benge was killed at long range by Lieutenant Vincent Hobbs. Mrs. Livingston was struck with a tomahawk by an Indian and left for dead-the remaining Indians fleeing-but after being senseless about an hour was revived by the rescue party.
The river-bottom land opposite Mendota, some time previous to 1860, became the property of Adam Hickman, a native of Kinderhook, N. Y. Upon his acquisition of this property, he gave it the name of Kinderhook, and from this farm Kinderhook magisterial district derived its name.
The post office at this point was for many years Kinderhook, but the name was changed to Mendota by Henry C. Holley, who for many years was a merchant at the place.
Hamilton Institute was established at Mendota in the year, 1874. It drew a large, earnest and determined patronage from the Cumberlands on the north to the Blue Ridge Mountains on the south, and is said to have sent more Christian young men and women into the professional and common walks of life than any other institution of learning of its class in its wide territory.
As to the old settlers, it may be remarked that it was no ordinary people who pushed the frontiers back and settled this section. They were of the best stock that Virginia had to offer, and were as high-minded and far-seeing as they were brave and adventurous.
Mendota is the center of the glass sand industry in Virginia. It has one of the finest deposits of silica, used in the manufacture of glassware, pottery, etc., in the United States, said to be inexhaustible in quantity. While industrial development at present is in its infancy, the great number and variety of natural resources, the place being touched by a river and great trunk line railway, it is destined to increase greatly. At present there is considerable prospecting for oil and gas in this vicinity. The town has two flour mills, plAning and lumber mills, five stores, and is served by a high-powered electric line, the East Tennessee Light and Power Company, a subsidiary of Cities Service.
The Blue Grass Trail, State Highway No.42, has lately been constructed into the town.
Located in a level valley beside the North Fork of the Holston River, in both Smyth and Washington counties, Saltville has one of the most interesting histories of any town in this section. Formerly a number of salt springs flowed into a large lake which covered the lower portion of the valley. Wild animals of all kinds came here for the salt necessary to their lives, and Indians boiled the spring water for it. Numerous Indian relics as well as bones of prehistoric monsters have been found. In 1848, a piece of rib over six feet long was unearthed and a short time later the skeleton of a seven-foot man was brought to view.
First surveyed in 1748, when a party led by Colonel James Patton of Augusta County explored the entire section, the land comprising the present town of Saltville was patented in 1768 by Charles Campbell. The grant was at that time in Augusta County, which extended all the way to the Mississippi. It was inherited by General William Campbell, hero of King's Mountain and brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. After his death, his widow married General William Russell, and in 1788, he dug a well on the property and started the first salt operations. It is interesting to note that practieally everyone connected with the early history seems to have been at least a general.
To give a detailed description of the various owners of the two saline estates in this famous valley, and the sundry disputes which they engaged in, would be boring. Salt was refined here by Colonel Thomas Madison, cousin of the President, General Francis Preston, and many other famous men.
In 1863, George W. Palmer and William A. Stuart, the father of Governor Henry Stuart, bought the valley, organized the Holston Salt and Plaster Company, which they operated until 1898, when the Mathieson Alkali Works, present owner, took charge.
During the Civil War, Saltyille was the only source of salt for the Confederate armies, and a number of battles were fought near the coveted wells. The Union troops were repulsed several times with heavy losses, hut finally captured the town, destroyed tile salt works, and filled the wells with cannon balls. Salt was distributed at that time by fiat boats which floated down the Holston to the Tennessee and on into the South. Legends tell us that during the War, wagons were often lined up for miles, awaiting their turn for salt. They were loaded half with wood for the furnaces and half with Confederate currency, which was about worth its weight in wood.
Palmer and Stuart, besides their salt operations, conducted a large farm, on which registered cattle and purebred Clydesdale horses were raised.
The Mathieson people, an English concern, discontinued the manufacture of salt and made great alterations. At first, the plant manufactured caustic soda, bleaching powder, and baking soda. Now many other products are made.
The Mathieson Alkali Works owns 12,000 acres in the vicinity and, with the exception of a row of independent stores, the entire town of Saltville. They operate a clubhouse, commissary, drug store, and hospital. The Company also maintains a medical department, including a modern hospital, and contributes to the upkeep of the schools. Saltville has five Churches-Methodist, Episcopal, Christian, Presbyterian, and Baptist, and one bank, with 1931 resources of $326,183. Its people have been for many years ardent baseball enthusiasts, and have recently become interested in a newly constructed golf course.
Total business in and out of Saltviile has been estimated at $18,000,000 yearly. If the entire annual output were to be hauled out in one train, over the Norfolk and Western Railway which serves the town, that train would be 162 miles long.
Products shipped by Mathieson, by the two gypsum plants outside the town, and by others, include: gypsum, ash, varieties of plaster, caustic soda, plaster board, agricultural lime, bicarbonate, baking soda, gypsum rock, lumber, and cattle. In thirty-nine years the plant has never been shut down a day on account of lack of business. During the depression it has run practically to capacity.
Saltville's population (1930) is 2,964, of which 557 are in Washington County.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Geography
Washington County is in the extreme southwestern portion of the State. Shaped roughly as a triangle, it is bounded on the south by Tennessee, for a short distance on the southwest by Scott County, on the northwest by Russell County, and on the northeast by Smyth County. It is Mso touched for a few miles in the extreme southeast portion, where the northern line of Tennessee makes one of its queer turns, by Grayson County.
Washington County, striefly speaking, is at the southern end of the famed Valley of Virginia, but here the Valley is cut by many knobs and minor mountain ranges and it is difficult to distinguish it. The western bounding line runs through the summit of the Clinch Mountain Range, at a height of 3,000 feet, while on the east is Iron Mountain with an altitude of 3,500 feet. The county also includes most of White Top Mountain, the summit of which, in Grayson County, attains the height of 5,520 feet, one of the highest points in Virginia. The central portion is rolling land and, for the most part, very fertile.
Washington County is drained principally by the three forks of the Holston, all of which flow into the Tennessee, but in the eastern portion, are a few small tributaries of the New River, which winds northward through West Virginia anti eventually empties into the Ohio.
The elevation varies from 1,400 feet in Poor Valley to 5,100 feet in the extreme southwest. The altitude of Bristol is 1,689 feet, of Abingdon, 2,114, and of Damascus, 2,000. Its area is 602 square miles, ranking it eleventh in the State.
The climate of Washington County is typical of this section; due to the high altitude, the air is clear and bracing. Over a period of fourteen years, the highest temperature ever recorded at Bristol was 96 ° Fahrenheit. The mean temperature in the summer is about 71 degrees, and in the winter, 35 degrees. The average growing season, or period between killing frosts, is six months.
The average annual rainfall at Bristol is forty-one inches and about forty-eight inches at Mendota. Though greatest precipitation occurs in July and August, the rainfall is fairly evenly distributed throughout the twelve months. A record heavy rainfall of 50.85 inches was reported from Mendota in 1906 and 1912, while the lightest ever measured was 29.42 inches, reported from Damascus in 1930. The average annual snowfall of only twelve inches is almost the lowest in the State.
The following tables collected from climatological Data of the United States Weather Bureau indicate weather conditions at the county's two stations:
|
Degrees Fahrenheit |
Expressed in Inches |
||||||
| Month | Mean | Highest | Lowest | Mean | Total Amount Driest Year - 1904 |
Total Amount Wettest Year -1895 |
Snowfall Average |
| December | 36.9 | 67 | -11 | 3.26 | 3.80 | 1.00 | 1.3 |
| January | 34.3 | 70 | -15 | 2.79 | 1.87 | 1.59 | 4.6 |
| Feburary | 33.7 | 84 | -20 | 3.40 | 1.56 | 2.51 | 3.1 |
| Winter | 34.9 | 84 | -20 | 3.15 | 7.23 | 5.70 | 9.0 |
| March | 47.1 | 86 | 2 | 4.58 | 3.10 | 7.87 | 1.5 |
| April | 53.6 | 88 | 20 | 2.78 | 2.47 | 1.94 | 0.6 |
| May | 64.7 | 91 | 30 | 2.05 | 2.23 | 3.00 | Trace |
| Spring | 55.1 | 91 | 2 | 3.47 | 7.80 | 12.81 | 2.1 |
| June | 70.9 | 94 | 40 | 4.31 | 4.68 | 4.23 | - |
| July | 74.1 | 96 | 48 | 5.64 | 3.98 | 7.74 | - |
| August | 73.2 | 94 | 46 | 4.19 | 3.09 | 7.63 | - |
| Summer | 72.7 | 96 | 40 | 4.71 | 11.75 | 19.60 | 0 |
| September | 68.0 | 92 | 27 | 2.28 | trace | 3.17 | - |
| October | 55.4 | 86 | 23 | 2.00 | trace | 1.05 | trace |
| November | 44.8 | 78 | 11 | 2.72 | 3.91 | 5.47 | 0.8 |
| Autumn | 56.1 | 92 | 11 | 2.33 | 3.92 | 9.69 | 0.8 |
| 15 year period | 54.7 | 96 | -20 | 40.00 | 30.70 | 47.80 | 11.9 |
|
at Saltville 1924-1930 Degrees Fahrenheit |
1905- 1930 Expressed in Inches |
||||||
| Month | Mean | Highest | Lowest | Mean | Total Amount Driest Year - 1925 |
Total Amount Wettest Year -1929 |
Snowfall Average |
| December | 36.2 | 79 | -1 | 4.19 | 1.53 | 1.98 | 2.8 |
| January | 35.0 | 71 | -4 | 4.52 | 4.57 | 3.85 | 4.5 |
| Feburary | 39.5 | 76 | 10 | 3.27 | 3.44 | 4.48 | 3.2 |
| Winter | 36.9 | 79 | -4 | 3.99 | 9.54 | 10.31 | 10.5 |
| March | 44.2 | 86 | 12 | 4.87 | 1.86 | 5.59 | 1.5 |
| April | 53.9 | 88 | 18 | 3.84 | 2.73 | 2.97 | 0.1 |
| May | 61.7 | 95 | 32 | 3.78 | 1.67 | 7.28 | - |
| Spring | 53.3 | 95 | 12 | 4.16 | 6.26 | 15.84 | 1.6 |
| June | 70.8 | 99 | 41 | 4.93 | 5.86 | 7.49 | 0 |
| July | 75.3 | 102 | 45 | 4.92 | 1.80 | 6.96 | 0 |
| August | 74.6 | 100 | 46 | 4.61 | 2.12 | 1.59 | 0 |
| Summer | 73.6 | 102 | 41 | 4.82 | 9.88 | 16.04 | 0 |
| September | 68.9 | 94 | 34 | 3.67 | 1.10 | 1.72 | 0 |
| October | 57.9 | 92 | 24 | 3.18 | 7.07 | 5.48 | trace |
| November | 44.7 | 81 | 2 | 2.61 | 3.39 | 4.81 | 0.8 |
| Autumn | 57.2 | 94 | 2 | 3.15 | 11.56 | 12.01 | 0.8 |
| Year | 55.2 | 102 | -4 | 49.39 | 37/.14 | 54.20 | 12.9 |
Washington County lies in the physiographic section called by geologists, the Appalachian Province, which extends throughout the entire western portion of the State and far to the northeast and southwest. This Province is divided into three sections, the Allegheny Vafley ridges, the Great Valley Region, and the Blue Ridge Region.
The Allegheny Valley ridges extend from the western boundary of the State to the Clinch Mountain range and include little of Washington County save a wide and sparsely populated plateau in its northwestern portion. The Blue Ridge Region extends westward to Iron Mountain and takes in the extremely mountainous section in the southeastern part of the county. Most of Washington lies in the Great Valley Region, noted for the complexity of its geological formation.
Commercially, the most important mineral is gypsum, mined on a large scale at Plasterco and North Hoiston. This small area is the only spot in the South in which this mineral is found. Gypsum, or hydrous calcium sulfate (CaSO4.2H2O), is used as a wall-plaster, as a fertilizer, as a filler in paper, as a bed for plate glass during its grinding and polishing. It is also manufactured into plaster of Paris, and is a minor constituent of Portland cement.
These deposits were mined from the surface as early as 1835. Now, at Plasterco, the United States Gypsum Company carries on operations on an extensive scale. The beds now being worked are reached by two main shafts, each about two hundred feet deep. Various levels branch off these shafts, the gypsum being mined in a way similar to coal. When the large chunks of the mineral are brought to the surface, they are carried to the mill in electric cars, roasted and pulverized in preparation for their manufacture into plaster board and some of the products enumerated above. Statistics on this enterprise may be found in the chapter on Industries.
Before white men ever set foot in the area now known as Washington County, salt seepages were known in the lowland south of the present town of Saltville and this spot was frequented by Indians and wild animals. Later, pioneer settlers sunk shallow wells and boiled the salt from the brine that flowed from them and from natural springs. In 1836, two wells, each 212 feet in depth, were in operation. The brine was carried some two miles in wooden pipes, impurities were filtered and boiled out. The annual production was 200,000 bushels and, even with the crude methods of purification, the salt was free from magnesium and calcium chlorides. During the Civil War, these wells were practically the only source of salt for the Confederate armies.
About fifty wells have been drilled in this district, and some twenty-five are now in operation. The Mathieson Alkali Works purchased the field in 1895, and since that time no salt has been produced. Instead, the brine is manufactured into soda ash, used in glass and pottery production, sodium bicarbonate, used as a basis of baking powder, sal soda and caustic soda.
In this process, large quantities of pure calcium carhonate are needed. Limestone for this purpose is mined at the Company's quarry, three miles east of Saltville. Here is mined limestone which is ninety-seven per cent pure CaCO3. Phosphate rock has been discovered and analyzed at a point on Tumbling Creek on the southeastern slope of Clinch Mountain, some four miles west of Saltville. The creek has cut through a thick bed of chert-bearing limestone, and has exposed a vein of phosphate rock about a foot in thickness. It is thought that this bed extends along the foot of Clinch Mountain for a good distance in both directions, though it is covered by sandstone debris from above. Another phosphate-bearing bed is indicated by outcrops which run from a point about a mfle west of Emory, along the southeastern slope of Walker Mountain, northeast into Smyth County.
Considerable manganese (used principally as an alloy for steel) is mined in Scott and Russell counties and manganese ore is definitely reported in Washington County, on Clinch Mountain, five miles northeast of Mendota. The bed has never been mined commercially.
Near Abingdon are scattered deposits of ferruginous limestone, hematite and magnetite which have been mined in a small way. The limestone, as mined, contains about so per cent metallic iron.
Barium sulphate, or barite, occurs near Bristol and at a point four and one.half miles west of Glade Spring. Used principally as a white pigment in paint manufacture, it was mined for a number of years outside of Bristol.
Mineral springs of pronounced medicinal content are situated at Litz, two miles west of Glade Spring, and at Washington Springs, two miles north of the same town. The former consist of seven springs, side by side, each containing a different kind of water. Formerly this water was bottled and sold, but the springs have now fallen into disrepair. Washington Springs has been for many years a summer resort and its waters are famed through-out the section.
In bygone years, several oil wells have been sunk in the vicinity of Mendota without success. It is reported, however, (Bulletin 27, Virginia Geological Survey) that there are oil and natural gas possiblities in the vicinity of Early Grove, just over the line in Scott County.
In June, 1931, a gas well was brought in at this point by Davis Elkins and associates. According to The Mountain Empire, organ of Southwest Virginia, Inc., the flow was estimated to be one million cubic feet per day This well, together with favorable geological reports, has brought much interest in oil and gas possibflities in the section. The Davis Elkins associates drilled another well in Washington and many other lands of Southwest Virginia have been leased for drilling purposes. "A well is being drilled on the John M. Arnold property, six miles north of Abingdon, by Behn and Company, Inc., of Washington, Pennsylvania."
There are also coal deposits in Washington County, but not of sufficient quality to warrant mining at this time.
As a summation, Washington County's mineral resources include gypsum, salt, phosphate, barite, iron, coal, pure limestone, manganese, medicinal springs, and possibly oil and natural gas. No comprehensive geological survey has ever been made of the county, but in view of its peculiar geologic structure, there are great possibilities of mineral development .
No detailed study of the soils of Washington County has ever been made. Outcropping of a great number of limestones, ordovician, and lower cambrian sbales are in evidence. In the western section the carboniferous Pennington frirmation of red and green shale and sandstone and several types of limestone are the principal soils.
Comprising the most common soil in the rolling broken valley which includes the central part of the county is the Jonesboro limestone, the fertility of which is exceUent for general garden crops, corn, and tobacco.
Several heavy black loams found in the bottom lands of Washington are extraordinarily fertile. Poor Valley, in the west, is covered with a sticky yellow soil which for years was good for very little. It has been discovered recently, however, that it is capable of raising very fine tobacco.
By S. G. Hobart, District Forester
Location and Area
It is supposed that the white man found prackeally the whole of what is now Washington County in forest when he first visited that section about the middle of the eighteenth century. In preparing lands for agriculture, the original forests on the richer and smoother sites have been destroyed, until in 1930, 54.4 per cent of the land area was crop land, unforested pasture, or other unforested farm land.
According to the 1930 Census, the land area was classified, as follows: total area, 385,280 acres; land in farms, 274,168 acres; crop land, 74,974 acres; plowable pasture, 68,686 acres; woodland pasture, 18,441 acres; other pasture, 54,246 acres; woodland in farms, not pastured, 46,148 acres; all other land in farms, 11,673 acres; land not in farms, 111,112 acres.
No exact data are available as to the present area of forests. However, from the census figures and from observation in the county, it is estimated that the present forest area is not far from 174,000 acres, or about forty-five per cent of the total land area. This includes all farm woodland and most of the land not in farms. Although definite data are lacking, it is certain that the amount of barren land not in farms is quite small.
A large portion of this forested area lies either northwest of the North Fork of Holston River, on the slopes of Clinch Mountain, or southeast of the South Fork, along Iron Mountain. The area between the North and South Forks is for the most part smooth and fertile and much of this por- tion of the county is cleared for agriculture and grazing. Such forests as are situated in this central valley, between the two high mountains, are for the most part relatively small. The only large continuous wooded areas are on the slopes of the mountains.
The mountainous section of Washington County lying southeast of the South Fork of Holston River is within the purchase boundary of Unaka National Forest, and within this boundary, 14,534 acres of forest land have been acquired by the United States Forest Service in Washington County. This is a part of a total of more than 200,000 acres comprising this national forest, which extends along this mountain range from Unicoi County in Tennessee into Wythe County in Virginia.
The forests as a whole consist of a mixture of both broad-leafed and coniferous species, with the broad-leafed trees, or hardwoods, usually predominating. This is not always the case, however, as pure stands of pine or spruce are often found, and, likewise, in many places mixed stands of hardwood species may occur with no mixtures of conifers.
Early records indicate that the original forests consisted for the most part of a dense stand of large trees of high quality, except on the exposed mountain tops where conditions of site were such as to produce scrubby, limby timber. Practically all of these original forests have been removed, and the present forests are largely second growth stands which vary widely in stand and in condition. Fires have taken their toll, and through the removal of the better trees, inferior species have been enabled to crowd in and replace the more valuable timber trees.
The present area of virgin timber is so small as to be negligible. Lightly culled forest-land areas which, although considerable timber has been removed, still have sufficient timber left to make logging economically possible under a normal lumber market, make up about twenty-three per cent of the total forest area. About sixty-five per cent of the forested area has been heavily culled, with no considerable amount of merchantable trees remaining. The remaining twelve per cent must be classified as brush land, covered with scrub oak and other worthless species. This cover, although of no commercial value, serves to protect the soil and regulate stream flow, and with proper protection from fires will gradually give way to valuable timber-producing species.
Forest types, usually based upon site characteristics and dominant species, are the result of the division of the whole forest into stands that differ from each other so materially that they should be managed differently. There is seldom a distinct line of demarcation between types. They usually merge from one into another by gradations difficult to distinguish. Five distinct types may be recognized in this region.
SPRUCE ALPINE TYPE. Red spruce is the dominant species with a tendency toward pure stands, especially at the higher elevations. Mixtures of sugar map]e, chestnut, chestnut oak, scrub pine, red oak, and occasionally white oak may be found at lower elevations, but this type is seldom found lower than 4,500 feet above sea level. This type is of small importance in Washington County and is limited to a few acres on the highest peaks of Iron Mountain, with a few scattering spruces on the highest portion of Clinch Mountain. The crest of White Top is covered with a pure stand of spruce, but this is outside of the county. Trees at this high elevation are typically short and scrubby and the type is of little commercial importance.
CHESTNUT AND CHESTNUT-OAK RIDGE TYPE. As the name implies, chestnut and chestnut oak are the most abundant trees of this type, which covers the most of the high ridges, grading into the spruce alpine type at the extreme elevations of the high peaks. Associated with these species may be found red oak, hickory, sugar maple, black oak, white oak, scarlet oak, locust, black gum, scrub and pitch pines, and occasionally white pine in exposed elevations. As in the spruce alpine type, timber is characteristically short and scrubby. The chestnut blight has infected and is rapidly killing the chesnut, and this species will gradually give way to others in most cases probably to chestnut oak. Where fire damage has been severe, scrub pine sometimes tends to encroach upon this mixed hardwood type. From the same cause, heavy and dense growths of the laurels often result, which robs the site of much of its timber-producing possibilities. Proper fire protection will eventually cure this condition by permitting the crown cover to close and gradually shade out the undesirable species. Heavy yields of high grade lumber cannot be expected from this type. It may more profitably he managed to produce tan bark, cord wood, cross ties, posts, and similar forest products.
This type, together with the spruce alpine type, embraces about twenty per cent of the forest area of the county.
WHITE OAK SLOPE TYPE. Associated in this type with the white oak, which is one of the most valuable timber trees of the southern Appalachians, may be found sugar maple, buckeye, black birch, black cherry, basswood, cucumber, white ash, red oak, black gum, walnut, locust, white pine, chestnut, chestnut oak, yellow poplar and hemlock. Commercially it is the most important of the types, since it covers fully sixty per cent of the forest area of the county and, along with the cove type, it produces the most valuable lumber. It is a highly complex type, gradually merging into the ridge type on the upper slopes and varying widely in composition with variations in exposure, altitude, soils, and other site factors. This type should be managed primarily for the production of lumber, endeavoring to favor the more valuable species and to discourage the further encroachment of the undesirables which produce inferior lumber and grow slowly.
YELLOW POPLAR COVE TYPE. Another complex type, in which the yellow poplar appears as dominant species, associated with a large number of subordinate species such as white oak, basswood, cucumber, white pine, hemlock, white ash, red maple, buckeye, locust, black gum, hickory, chestnut, black and river birch, pin oak and others. The deep soil in the coves, enriched by an abundance of humus which is formed by the rapid decomposition of the leaf litter which accumulates in these sheltered areas through the action of wind and water, enables the yeflow poplar and its most valuable associates to make its thriftiest growth. The site is protected from undue drying effects of sun and wind, and hence serious fire damage is least to be expected in this type. The trees are likely to be tall and straight, and a large amount of upper grade lumber is therefore cut from, cove-grown trees. Not more than fifteen per cent of the forest area of Washington County is included in the yellow poplar cove type.
HEMLOCK BOTTOMLAND TYPE. In the bottomlands, hemlock displays a tendency toward almost pure stands on some sites. Elsewhere, it may occur with a heavy mixture of hardwoods. Its usual associates in this type are river birch, black gum, buckeye, sycamore, red maple, pin oak, and occasionally basswood and poplar. Hemlock and river birch reach their best development here, and hemlock in this type produces much high grade framing lumber and tan bark. This type occupies perhaps five per cent of the forest area, and because of this small relative area is of less importance from a commercial standpoint than either the cove or slope type.
The chestnut bark disease caused by the parasitic fungus known as Endothia parasitica (Murr.) was brought into this country from Asia early in the present century. From the initial infection in New York City, where it was first observed in 1904, it has spread to almost all parts of the range of the chestnut, probably reaching Washington County about 1924. At the present time (1931), probably between eighty and ninety per cent of the chestnut trees in the county are infected and perhaps five per cent are dead. The infection may be expected to continue to increase until the entire chestnut stand is killed. This is likely to have been accomplished before 1940. The chestnut timber should, therefore, be cut and utilized as rapidly as market conditions will permit, not only as a salvage operation but also in order that the infected and dying trees may not continue to occupy space in the forest which might well be used in growing healthy timber. The immediate future of chestnut is hopeless. It is hoped that a blight-resistant strain of the native chestnut may be developed, but this cannot possibly be accomplished for many years to come.
Until 1922 there was no organized protection against forest fires except on the Unaka National Forest. A beginning was made during that year by the appointment of a number of forest wardens within the forest areas, and the organization has been improved and strengthened until at present twenty wardens, each with a well organized fire-fighting crew and equipped with proper tools, are in readiness to make an immediate attack on such forest fires as they may discover. Further strengthening of the fire protection system is needed, with properly located towers and lines of communication, which can be supplied when additional funds are available for the work.
WOOD PRODUCTS. Complete statistics are not available as to the amount or value of the lumber cut annually in Washington County. One rather large band sawmill and several smaller outfits manufacture rough lumber, and a considerable portion of this is. shipped out of the county. Neither the exports or imports of lumber is definitely known, but it is likely that exports slightly exceed imports.
Other important forest products cut in the county include pulp wood, chestnut extract wood, cross ties, poles, and oak and hemlock tan bark. The manufacture of lumber and other forest products gives employment to a considerable number of persons, as well as providing profitable work for farmers during seasons when their full time is not required at farm work.
PROTECTION TO SPRINGS AND STREAMS. Forests play an important part in the regulation of the flow of springs and streams. The floor of a well-managed forest has an accumulation of humus and a deep mulch of leaves which act as a huge sponge, retarding run-off at times of excessive rainfall, and holding back a supply of water to feed the springs and streams during dry seasons. It is important that a large proportion of the steep land be permanently wooded and that the forest floor be protected from fires and excessive grazing if we are to prevent floods during wet seasons and keep water in the springs and streams when rainfall is deficient.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE CLIMATE. Through transpiration a tree returns a large amount of water to the atmosphere. The amount returned by a forest is immense. Large areas of forest, therefore, tend to bring about a more even distribution of rainfall. It is also observed that they tend to moderate both the extreme heat of summer and cold of winter.
PROTECTION OF THE HABITAT OF WILDLIFE. We derive many benefits from the birds and animals which find food and cover in the forest. Not only do they furnish us food and sport, but many of them are the natural enemies of insects and other pests of mankind. Without the insectivorous birds the earth would become uninhabitable. The removal of the forests by axe or by fire destroys the homes of birds and the food of the game animals.
BEAUTY AND SHADE. With its high mountains, its forests, and pleasant streams, Washington County is a county of great natural beauty. This beauty has a very real economic value. Tourists and pleasure-seekers are attracted who contribute through the purchase of necessities to the general welfare of the county. This value can be enhanced by the proper care of the trees, or destroyed by neglect.
1. PROTECT THE FORESTS FROM FIRE AND ExCESSIVE GRAZING.
2. CUT TIMBER CONSERVATIVELY. Look forward to a new crop by cutting only in accordance with the principles of forestry. Leave the land in good condition to replace the trees cut.
3. REFOREST WASTE AREAS. The lands now unproductive could be made to raise valuable crops by re-establishing forests on them.
FACTS AND FIGURES CONCERNING WASHINGTON
COUNTY PEOPLE
Regardless of a county's (or an empire's) resources, size, or natural beauty, it is always the people who make or unmake it. This chapter is devoted entirely to a statistical study of the population of Washington County.
Over a period of many years, the population of Washington County has increased very little. Reports of the 1930 Census indicate a population of 42,690, including Bristol. In 1920, the corresponding figure was 39,105; in 1910, 39,077; and in 1900, 33,574. This is little more than the natural increase of its excess of births over deaths; for most of its families have been living there for several generations.
The area of Washington County is 604 square miles and, as the population is 42,690, the density of population is 70.6 inhabitants per square mile. This is considerably greater than the State average of 57.4, and ranks the county 20th in this respect. Arlington is most densely peopled, with 1,110 inhabitants per square mile, while Highland's population is most sparse, with only 11.7 people per square mile. As the United States Census defines all towns under 2,500 as urban, we subtract the population of Bristol, Abingdon and Saltville, and discover the rural population to be 30,416 or approximately 50.6 persons per square mile.
The following table compiled from United States Census reports shows the county's population (including Bristol) by decades, 1840-1930:
| YEAR | Population | Increase | YEAR | Population | Increase |
| 1840 | 13.001 | 1890 | 29.020 | 15.1 | |
| 1850 | 14,612 | 11.4 | 1900 | 31,574 | 15.7 |
| 1860 | 16,802 | 15.6 | 1910 | 20,077 | 16.4 |
| 1870 | 18,516 | -0.4 | 1920 | 39,105 | 0.1 |
| 1880 | 25,205 | 49.8 | 1930 | 42,690 | 9.1 |
Total population Increase (1840-1930) over 328 per cent.
Washington County is divided into seven minor civil districts, not including Bristol City. They are: Abingdon, Glade Spring, Goodson, Holston, Kinderhook, Saltville, and North Fork. As in most Virginia counties, the supervisor system of county government is used; one representative is elected from each district and these seven form the County Board of Supervisors. The Goodson district has the largest population with 7,571 inhabitants, and the North Fork district in the western and more mountainous portion has fewest people-2,670.
Following is a detailed table, showing growth by districts:
| DISTRICT | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 |
| Abingdon | 7,120 | 6,370 | 6,822 |
| Glade Spring | 3,575 | 3,547 | 4,106 |
| Goodson | 5,811 | 6,143 | 7,571 |
| Holston | 5,765 | 5,565 | 5,268 |
| Kinderhook | 3,918 | 3,316 | 2,789 |
| Saltville | 3,642 | 4,492 | 4,624 |
| North Fork | 2,999 | 2,994 | 2,670 |
| Bristol City | 6,247 | 6,729 | 8,840 |
When the county was first divided into districts, each division contained approximately the same number of people. It is interesting to note the population changes since that time, which have made the districts vastly unequal.
The table below gives the rank of the seven incorporated towns in Washington County, according to population. Figures are from the 1930 Census.
| Rank | TOWN | Population: 1930 | Population: 1920 |
| 1 | Bristol | 8,840 | 6.729 |
| 2 | Abingdon | 2,877 | 2,532 |
| 3 | Damascus | 1,610 | 1,599 |
| 4 | Glade Spring | 669 | 281 |
| 5 | Meadow View | 618 | 609 |
| 6 | Saltville | 557 | 448 |
| 7 | Mendota | 223 | 258 |
NOTES--Bristol has a population of 12,005 in Tennessee. Saltville has a population of 2,407 in Smyth County. The marked increase of the population of Glade Spring is due to an enlargement of town boundaries. At the date of printing, Meadow View is no longer incorporated.
The following table showing the population ratings of unincorporated villages is compiled from a Rand-McNally atlas and the figures are merely estimates based on the 1920 Census. These figures do not approach accuracy, but the tab~ation is included to give a general idea of the size of unincorporated towns
| TOWN | Population | TOWN | Population |
| Konnarock | 517 | Watauga | 25 |
| Wallace | 270 | Green Cove | 16 |
| Emory | 192 | Fleet | 15 |
| Lodi | 153 | Brumley Gap | 15 |
| Wyndale | 128 | Cole | 15 |
| Clinchburg | 121 | Litz | 13 |
| Greendale | 80 | Gleford | 12 |
| Friendship | 62 | Ora | 12 |
| Taylor's Valley | 56 | Zenobia | 12 |
| Alvarado | 54 | ||
| Holston | 52 | ||
| Lindell | 51 | ||
| Alumwells | 50 | ||
| Roebuck | 38 | ||
| Benhams | 33 | ||
| Plasterco | 28 |
Note: Since the atlas was compiled lumber operations have ceased at Konnarock. The railroad has been removed and the town now contains but few people.
Washington Courity, including the City of Bristol, had in 1930 a population of 42,690, of which 89,962 were native-born white persons. There were, at that time, 2,641 negroes and 84 foreign-born whites residing in the county. This gives the low rates of 6.1 per cent negro, and 0.2 per cent foreign-born population.
A table might indicate these facts somewhat more clearly:
| 1930 | WASHINGTON COUNTY | BRISTOL CITY | City and County Combined | |||
| Number | Per Cent | Number | Per Cent | Number | Per Cent | |
| Native-born whites | 32,314 | 95.6 | 7,588 | 85.8 | 39.962 | 93.6 |
| Foreign-born | 19 | 0.1 | 55 | 0.7 | 84 | 0.2 |
| Negroes | 1,457 | 4.3 | 1,184 | 13.4 | 2,641 | 6.2 |
| Oriental, Indians | 3 | 3 | ||||
Irrespective of the independent city of Bristol, the county average of 4.3 per cent negro population ranks it eighty-sixth in that particular among the counties of Virginia. Charles City County leads the list with a colored population of 75.2 per cent, and Buchanan is last with 0.8 per cent negroes. The percentage of colored inhabitants has been slowly decreasing for several decades; for in 1920, they constituted 5.5 per cent of the inhabitants, in 1910, 7 per cent, and in 1900, 7.6 per cent of the whole.
It can be seen that the foreign-born population of the county is negligible. There have been few emigrants to Washington County. Over 90 per cent of her people are native-born, of native parents, and the great majority of these have ancestors who have lived in this same county for generations.
Using the 1930 Census as a basis, we discover that of the total combined population of Washington County and Bristol there are 21,285 males and 21,305 females. This difference of only 120 persons in the ratio of the sexes is extraordinarily small. There are fewer male negroes in the county than females, the figures being 1,278 men and boys, and 1,363 girls and women. Statistics on the white population are as follows: males-20,005; females-20,041.
According to the Census Bureau, an illiterate is a person over ten years of age who is unable to write his own name, regardless of his ability to read. 'This, of course, is a very lax definition of illiteracy and denotes "sheer illiteracy", but as census takers can scarcely be expected to give in- telligence tests to every one enumerated, they are the best data that can be had on the subject.
On this basis, 11.2 per cent of the State's inhabitants were illiterate in 1920. The figure was reduced to 8.9 per cent in 1930. One of the reasons for this relatively high average is the large number, 19.2 per cent, of illiterate colored people. Figures for Washington County are much the same as those of the averages for the State in 1930. Eight and seven-tenths per cent of the total pppulation and 16.3 per cent of the negroes were unable to write their names, the first figures ranking Washington 49th in the roll of counties in this respect. Dinwiddie has most illiterates proportionately, with a percentage of 20.7 and Arlington has the least with a total illiteracy of only 1.7 per cent in 1930. Fifteen and nine-tenths per cent of all males, twenty-one years of age and over, are illiterate, as are 12.2 per cent of all females above that age. The percentage of illiterate older persons is higher than the total, indicating that the young are being educated and in a few years will lower, appreciably, the illiteracy figure.
Those who could not write formed 14.9 per cent of the total population of Washington County in 1910 and 11.2 per cent in 1920. The two decades showed, therefore, a substantial reduction in the number of illiterates.
In 1930, according to data compiled by the Virginia State Department of Health, there occurred 860 births in Washington County, not including Bristol, giving the county a rate of 25.41 per 1,000 population and a standing of 24th among the counties of Virginia. Arlington ranked last with a birth rate of but 7.18, and Buchanan was first with 41.16 nativities per 1,000 inhabitants. The white birth rate of Washington was 25.93, while the colored rate was 13.78. For the seven years, 1922-28, the county's average yearly birth rate was 30.43. The county rate in 1920 was 31.57, and in 1929, 29.20 per 1,000, indicating a decline in the rate of births.
Bristol led all the independent cities of Virginia in this respect by reporting 297 births, or a rate of 83.60 per 1,000. In the county there were but 20 negro births, making a rate of 13.78 per 1,000 of the negro population, and placing it 93rd in this respect. Bristol's high white rate may be partially explained by the fact that the hospital which serves both the Virginia and Tennessee sections is located on the Virginia side.
In 1930, deaths within the county numbered 335, 311 of which were white persons and 24 colored. The total mortality rate was 9.90 per 1,000 of the population, well under the State rate of 12.53. The white rate of deaths to 1,000 of the population was 9.60 and the negro, 16.47. The total rate ranked Washington County 74th among her sister counties, James City County leading the list with 28.99 and Arlington County coining last with 6.24. Each year the county makes substantial gains in cutting down the death rate. Bristol, in the same year, reported 137 white and 24 colored deaths, or a rate of 18.21 per 1,000 of the population, placing it 14th among the twenty-one independent cities reporting.
Attention should be called here to the phenomenal decrease in deaths in the short space of two years. In 1928, the county had a rate of 11.80 which placed it 87th. In 1930, it reduced its rate to 9.90 and jumped to 74th position among the counties, this in spite of the unusually high percentage of old people. The United States Census of 1920 lists 7,284 persons in the county, or almost one-fifth of the population, who are over forty-five years of age. This is much higher than in most counties of Virginia and, the majority of deaths came from what are known primarily as "old age diseases".
The infant mortality rate is well below the average. In 1930, 53 infants died under one year of age; for every 1,000 living births, there were 62 deaths among those under one year of age. This placed Washington County 73rd among thg counties of the State, and below the State figure of 77. Between 1922 and 1930, the county showed steady improvement in reducing infant mortality.
Two men and two women out of every 1,000 persons in Washington County were married in 1928. To the woman hater, these statistics are very cheering, but in two years the rate jumped from 2.59 to the 1930 figure of 6.32 marriages per 1,000 population. There were in 1930, 207 white, and seven colored marriages in Washington County, or a ratio of 6.32 per 1,000 people. This rate pulled the county from undisputed last place in 1928 to 68th in 1930. Greensville County ranked first with a rate of 44.59 and Powhatan last with 3.58. In the City of Bristol, there were 254 marriages, or a rate of 28.73 per 1,000, which is abnormally high. This city is a haven for North Carolinians seeking to evade the more rigid marriage laws of the Tar Heel State.
Washington County in the same year had thirty-seven divorces with a rate of 1.09 per 1,000 of the population. Twenty-five decrees were granted in the City of Bristol giving it a rate of 2.83. The total divorce rate for the state of Virginia was 1.35, and Washington's 1.09 placed her 22nd in the ranking of counties having most divorces per 1,000 population. Arlington led the field with 5.60 divorces per 1,000 people, and King William was last with no divorces.
There were 5.78 marriages for every divorce in the county, placing it 76th among the counties of Virginia. King William was first with no divorces and Arlington was last with only 1.24 marriages to every divorce.
The church membership in Washington County, as in other counties in Southwestern Virginia, is fairly low according to the last Federal Census of Religious Bodies in 1926. Of the 33,850 persons in the county, not including Bristol, only 11,378 of them, or 35.1 per cent are members of some church. Among her sister counties, Washington ranks 79th; Gloucester leads with a percentage of 78.7, and Dickenson is last with 9.1 per cent as its figure. A slight increase is noted over 1916, when there were 10,194 church members in the county.
In contrast to the county, Bristol stands very high. Five thousand three hundred persons, or 74.6 per cent, of the population are church members. This ranks Bristol third among the independent cities of the state, which were led by Charlottesville, with 75.2 per cent of the people church members. Radford was last with 27.5 per cent. These figures for Bristol cannot, however, be taken as entirely accurate, because the town is half in Tennessee and residents of that state naturally belong to Virginia churches and vice versa.
A detailed chart, showing membership by denominations in 1926, follows:
| DENOMINATION | County | Bristol | Combined |
| Total Population-1930 | 33,850 | 8,840 | 42,690 |
| Church members-1920 | 11.378 | 5,300 | 10,678 |
| Methodist Episcopal, South | 4,303 | 1,872 | 6,175 |
| Southern Baptists | 2,430 | 1,072 | 3,502 |
| Presbyterian | 1,909 | 495 | 2.404 |
| Methodist Episcopal Church | 1,174 | 357 | 1,531 |
| African M. E. Zion | 379 | 83 | 462 |
| Disciples of Christ | 319 | 477 | 790 |
| Negro Baptists | 304 | 505 | 809 |
| Protestant Episcopal | 70 | 151 | 221 |
| Roman Catholic Church | 231 | 231 | |
| United Lutheran Church | 134 | 80 | 164 |
| Conservative Dunkards | 99 | 99 | |
| Methodist Protestant | 54 | 54 | |
| All other bodies | 168 | 37 | 205 |
Following is a summary of the standing of Washington County, in various population items as compared with the other 99 counties of the State:
| Rank | ||
| 11th | In size in Virginia, land area in square miles Pittsylvania ranked first with 1,015 square miles and Arlington last with 31 square miles. Total area of the State, 40,262 square miles. |
604 |
| 7th | In county population, 1930 Pittsylvania ranked first with 61,424; Craig ranked last with 8,562. This does not indude independent cities. Total Virginia population was 2,421,851 |
33,850 |
| 20th | In density of population, per square mile, 1930 Arlington ranked first with 1,064.6 per square mfle; Craig last with 10.7. This does not include independent cities. |
56.2 |
| 86th | In percentage of total population that is negro, 1930 Charles City ranked first with 75.8 per cent negroes; Buchanan was last with 0.8 per cent negroes. Colored in the total population of Virginia, 26.8 per cent. |
4.3 |
| 49th | In percentage of total illiteracy, 1930 Dinwiddie was first with 20.1 per cent of its inhabitants illiterate. Arlington was last with 1.7 per cent. State average was 8.7. |
8.6 |
| 78th | In percentage of negro illiteracy, 1930 With 83.8 per cent of all negroes unable to write, Patrick led the list. Arlington was last with 9.9 per cent illiterate. As has been noted, Buchanan and Craig had practically no negro population. The State percentage was 19.2. |
16.3 |
| 26th | In percentage of white illiterates over 10 years of age, 1930. Buchanan was first with 17.4 per cent; Arlington was last with 0.4 per cent State average, 4.8 per cent. |
8.6 |
| 24th | In total birth rate per 1,000 population, 1930 Buchanan ranked first with 41.16 births per 1,000 population, and Arlington was last with a birth rate of 7.18. Rate for State, 22.64 per 1,000 population. |
25.41 |
| 16th | In white birth rate per 1,000 population, 1930 Buchanan ranked first with a rate of 41.49, and Arlington last with with 6.45. State average, 22.04. |
25.93 |
| 93rd | -In negro birth rate per 1,000 colored population, 1930 Lee was first with 37.81 births per 1,000 negroes; Frederick ranked 98th with 8.73, and Craig and Buchanan reported no negro births. |
13.73 |
| 74th | In death rate per 1,000 population, 1930 James City County was first with 28.99; Arlington was last with 6.24. The State mortality rate was 12.53 per 1,000 of the population. |
9.90 |
| 47th | In death rate per 1,000 white population, 1930 James City County was first with 86.13 deaths per 1,000 whites; Warwick was last with 5.06. State figures were 10.51 per 1,000 of the population. |
9.60 |
| 37th | In death rate per 1,000 negro population, 1930 Craig stood first with 133.83; Scott ranked last with 3.61. The State rate was 18.01 per 1,000 of the negro population. |
16.47 |
| 68th | In marriage rate per 1,000 population, 1930 Greensville County was first with 44.59; Powhatan was last with 3.58. The figures for Virginia were 9.92 per 1,000 of the population. |
6.32 |
| 59th | In marriage rate per 1,000 white population, 1930 Greensyille County's total of 53.62 was first in this respect, Accomac was last with a figure of 2.88. The State average for white marriages per 1,000 white population was 9.82. |
6.39 |
| 86th | In marriage rate per 1,000 colored population, 1930 Greensville again was first with 88.75. Shenandoah was 97th with 2.00 and Buchanan, Craig and Page had no negro marriages. The State figures were 10.19 per 1,000 of the colored population. |
4.80 |
| 22nd | In divorce rate per 1,000 population, 1930 Arlington led with 5.60 per 1,000 persons; Surry County was 99th with a rate of .14 and King and Queen last with no divorces. The State rate was 1.85. |
1.09 |
| 77th | In number of marriages for each divorce, 1930 King and Queen was first with no divorces; Greensville was second with 35.29 marriages to each divorce decree and Arlington was last with 1.24 marriages to each divorce. The State average was 7.4. |
5.78 |
Following are a few comparisons of the City of Bristol with the other independent cities of Virginia.
| Rank | ||
| 16th | In total population, 1930 Richmond was first with 182,929; Williamsburg was last with 8,778. |
8,840 |
| 17th | In percentage of total population that is negro, 1930 Petersburg was first with 44.1; Buena Vista last with 6.6 per cent. |
13.4 |
| 18th | In percentage of total population that is foreign-born, 1930. Hopewell was first with 4.4 per cent foreign-born, while Buena Vista was last with 0.1 per cent |
0.7 |
| 1st | In total birth rate per 1,000 population, 1930 Charlottesville was last with 15.15 per 1,000. |
33.60 |
| 1st | In total white birth rate per 1,000 population, 1930 Portsmouth with a rate of 16.89 was last in this respect |
36.20 |
| 17th | In negro birth rate per 1,000 negro population, 1930 Buena Vista stood first with a rating of 34.09; Charlottesville last with 11.01. |
16.85 |
| 7th | In total death rate per 1,000 population, 1930 Staunton was highest with a rate of 32.03; Radford was lowest with 9.15 per 1,000. |
18.21 |
| 6th | In white death rate per 1,000 population, 1930 Staunton led in this respect also with 34.20; Newport News was last with 5.50 per 1,000. |
17.90 |
| 15th | In negro death rate per 1,000 population, 1928 Fredericksburg ranked first with a high rate of 44.00; Buena Vista reported no negro deaths. |
19.02 |
| 7th | In total marriage rate per 1,000 population, 1928 Danville was first with 49.75; Radford last with 7.16 per 1,000. |
15.21 |
| 6th | In number of marriages for each divorce, 1930 Danville ranked highest with 59.85 and Norfolk was last with 2.99. |
10.16 |
WEALTH AND TAXATION
Strictly speaking, there is no possible way that one can judge the true wealth of a county. The only practical way is by analyzing the tax assessments, and tax assessments vary enormously from county to county and from district to district, depending on the individual whim of the assessor. In Washington County, he is supposed to assess upon a basis of twenty per cent of a fair market price for personal property. Real estate, formerly assessed every five years upon this twenty per cent basis, was valued by appraisers appointed by the court. This law was changed, effective 1930, and an equalization board was set up, not to assess, but to adjust any inequalities that might be found between the various sections of the county or between individuals. Contrary to conditions in many counties, Washington's equalization board really works and has corrected many faulty and erroneous assessments in its year and a half of existence.
Let us now plunge into the avalanche of figures concerning Washington County and the City of Bristol.
For the fiscal year 1928, the aggregate assessment, including everything, for Washington County was $11,722,060.22, ranking it thirtieth among the hundred counties of the State. For the City of Bristol the figures were $10,739,410, placing her sixteenth among the twenty-three cities of the State.
According to the system of segregation which went into effect in 1927, taxes levied on real estate, tangible personal property, merchants' property, and property of public service corporations are taxed by the local government and intangible personal property, capital other than merchants' capital, bank stock, corporation incomes, etc., are levied on by the State.
Then let us take the aggregate value subject to local and state taxation and analyze them- $11,723,060.22-aggregate assessed value.
| 1928 | ||
| COUNTY COLLECTS TAXES ON: | ||
| Tracts of Land-Improvements. | $4,063,674 | |
| Town lots-Improvements | 1,097,007 | |
| Standing Timber | 36,295 | |
| Mineral Lands | 136,288 | |
| Real Estate | $5,333,264 | |
| Tangible Personal Property | 910,845 | |
| Machinery and Tools | 1,040 | |
| Merchants' Capital | 147,400 | |
| Public Service Corporations | 2,021,307 | |
| Total value subject to local taxes | $8,416,681 | |
| STATE COLLECTS TAXES ON: | ||
| Intangible personal property | $2,823,911 | |
| Bank Stock | 482,468.22 | |
| Total value subject to State taxes | $3,306,879.22 |
NOTE.-The figures for 1930 were practically the same as the above.
City of Bristol-$10,739,410.00-aggregate assessed value.
| CITY COLLECTS TAXES ON: | |
| Real Estate-town lots-improvements | $5,972,715 |
| Tangible personal property | 483,855 |
| Public Service Cornorations | 727,971 |
| Total value subject to local taxes | $7,184,541 |
| STATE COLLECTS TAXES ON: | |
| Intangible personal property | $3,057,719 |
| Bank Stock | 497,150 |
| Total value subject to State taxes | $3,554,869 |
The following table is inserted as the clearest way to show the comparison of values between 1918 and 1928.
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
| Washington County | $5,333,204 | $4,137,093 |
| Real Estate | 3,734,756 | 2,691,129 |
| Bank Stock | 482,468 | 358,257 |
| Pulic Service Corporations | 2.021,307 | 1,261,508 |
| $11,571,795 | $8,447,987 | |
| City of Bristol | $5,972,715 | $3,101,808 |
| Real Estate | 3,541,574 | 1,141,588 |
| Personal Property | 497,150 | 167,810 |
| Public Service Corporations | 727,971 | 258,870 |
Though the foregoing table is not strictly accurate, due to the changes in tax procedure over the ten-year period, it indicates clearly the remarkable advance in value made in Washington County and Bristol over the period.
Following is a compilation condensed from County Government in Virginia, a survey made by the New York Bureau of Municipal Research, which compares the per capita wealth and expenditures of Washington County with that in several other Virginia counties.
| County | Rank | Per Captia Taxable Wealth |
County | Rank | Per Capita Expenditures |
| Arlington | 1 | $2,818 | Arlington | 1 | $39.50 |
| Washington | 87 | 625 | Washington | 84 | 9.80 |
| King and Queen | 100 | 456 | Patrick | 100 | 6.80 |
|
|
Rank |
to Taxable Wealth |
| Norfolk | 1 | .0229 |
| Washington | 39 | .0157 |
| Grayson | 100 | .0065 |
The most important fact to be gleaned from the above figures is that there are 83 counties in the State whose inhabitants pay more taxes per capita than the people of Washington County.
The figures in this section come from the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Census. In 1930, the total value of all farm property in Washington County was $21,785,346 ranking it 7th in that respect. Rockingham was first with farms valued at $32,810,333 and Arlington was last with $1,891,725. The average value per county of farm property in Virginia was only $9,168,925.
Other statistics and comparisons would perhaps be clearer in tabular form:
| County | Rank |
LAND AND BUILDINGS |
| Augusta | 1 | $31,118,195 |
| Washington | 6 | 21,152,847 |
| Arlington | 100 | 1,367,000 |
| Average value per county | $8,558,496 | |
|
|
||
| Rockingham | 1 | $13,149,671 |
| Washington | 8 | 6,351,333 |
| Arlington | 100 | $397,500 |
| Average value per county | $3,219,418 | |
|
|
||
| Augusta | 1 | $1,616,654 |
| Washington | 16 | 632,499 |
| Arlington | 100 | $24,725 |
| Average value per county | $443,192 | |
|
|
||
| Augusta | 1 | $3,291,878 |
| Washington | 5 | $2,232,292 |
| Arlington | 100 | 41,997 |
| Average value per county | $926,557 |
These simple tables indicate that in all phases of farm wealth, Washington County is far above the State average and ranks well up to Augusta and Rockinghnm, larger and more populous counties.
Statistics as to increased values are also best expressed in tabular form.
| YEAR | Total Farm Property |
Land | Buildings | Implements and Machinery |
Livestock |
| 1930 | $21,785,340 | $14,801,514 | $6,351,333 | $632,499 | $2.232.292 |
| 1925 | 23,494,151 | 15,952.121 | 5,385,970 | 597,027 | 1,559,033 |
| 1920 | 27,661,717 | 19,532,540 | 4,454,330 | 834,999 | 2,839,848 |
| 1910 | 14,245,972 | 10,044,272 | 2,164,327 | 302,847 | 1,734.526 |
| 1900 | 6,610,594 | 4,436,950 | 1,091,670 | 157,520 | 924,554 |
A close inspection of the above table brings out some rather peculiar things. It is noted that values between 1910 and 1920 doubled and in some items almost tripled, but that between 1920 and 1925 there was a startling decline, especially in the case of livestock. An explanation which partially accounts for this is as follows: Department of Labor Statistics show that a dollar which would buy a dollar's worth of goods in 1913 had a value of $1.24 in 1900, $0.63 in 1925 and only $0.44 in 1920. In other words, during the World War the buying power of the dollar declined over 55 per cent, and during the five-year period, 1920-25 it increased over 43 per cent again.
Taking "implements and machinery" as the easiest example, and placing all figures on the basis of the 1913 dollar (considering, from necessity, the 1910 figures as of 1913), we get the following: 1900-$195,824; 1910-$302,847; 1920-$367,399; 1925-$376,127.
If these transformations were made on all figures the same steady and substantial increases would be noted.
The value of livestock, though cattle raising is still the principal industry of Washington County, is the only item that shows a real decline. The County, however, still ranks sixth among its fellows in this respect.
Of the 3,818 farms in the County, 2,677 or over 70 per cent are operated by owners, and 2,214, or about 58 per cent, are operated by full owners. Of this number operated by owners (part and full) 451 or 16.8 per cent report mortgage debt. This ranks Washington