A Walk Through History
“…and here begins the history of the West.” L P. Summers
Walking the streets of Abingdon is a little like a visit to the Wild West. That is because at one time Abingdon was the West.
“Before the coming of the white man, the Indian trails from the north and south and east and west crossed in Abingdon.” (L. P. Summers) Almost before the ink had dried on the Articles of Confederation restless settlers began migrating across the Alleghany and Blue Ridge Mountains seeking land in “the west.” Virginia just expanded along with them. Fincastle County was created out of Botetourt and Augusta Counties in 1775 and Washington County, with Abingdon as its county seat, came into being in 1777.
Peripatetic wanderer Daniel Boone came in from a different direction, through the mountains of North Carolina by way of Damascus (which wasn’t there at the time), following a trail that roughly corresponds to the present day Creeper Trail. Some sources align the north-south Wilderness Trail along the route of modern day U.S. Route 11—the Lee Highway; others put it along the present Norfolk Southern railway line that parallels I-81. Where these lines intersect—north, south, east, and west—is about where the Creeper Trail head is now located. That is also where the predecessor to the Town of Abingdon, Black’s Fort, was believed to be located. (See: “Where, oh where, was Black’s Fort?”)
Although Indians did not inhabit the immediate area they did use it for hunting. The Wilderness Trail was an Indian trail and a large population of Cherokee Indians was situated further south along the trail near present day Kingsport. In 1776 Indians launched attacks on the growing population of settlers in Southwest Virginia, many of whom took shelter in a hastily constructed forts like Fort Chiswell and Black’s Fort, named after Captain Joseph Black. Logs from Black’s Fort were used in the construction of the first courthouse of what was to become Washington County in late 1776. In 1777 the town was laid out and by 1835 it was already beginning to take on substance as a center for trade and political importance. In contrast to the rest of the newly formed county Abingdon was generally accessible. In 1833 the Board of Trustees of the Town “enacted an ordinance approving the MacAdamizing of Main Street and requiring the sidewalks to be paved with brick and curbstones.” (Garland, p. 9)
Less than sixty years after Black’s Fort was hastily erected, Abingdon had developed into a small cosmopolitan center. “This town was the cultural, political, economical, and religious center of Southwest Virginia. During the ante-bellum period, the wholesalers in Abingdon were reporting sales to the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually. There were nine of these businesses in the town, and as a result of the prosperity, Abingdon could report a total of nine lawyers and three doctors in the community” (Pinnegar, p.4). Abingdon also developed some political clout in the 30’s beginning with Wyndham Robertson who became Acting Governor with the resignation of Littleton Tazewell in 1836. He was followed by David Campbell, also of Abingdon (1837-1840), along with John Buchanan Floyd, Jr., who was appointed Governor in 1848. His father had served as Governor in 1830.
“Originally a settlement at the junction of two Indian trails near the Cumberland Gap, Abingdon in 1835 consisted of only about 150 homes. However, opulent brick mansions were rapidly supplanting many wooden houses as the town became the trade center for the entire region.” (Pinnegar, op cit)
Unlike hard-core western towns in what we now think of as the American West, Abingdon shows little evidence of its one-time Outpost distinction. The brick sidewalks still line the streets in the Historic District—at least on Main and Valley, and with both County and Federal Courthouses located in town there are plenty of lawyers to be found. But the signs of the historic importance are largely relegated to the architecture of the houses that line Main Street and Valley Street and State Historical Markers which are evident along Main Street, including one for the Barter Theatre, the “State Theatre of Virginia”. Now with a two-mile Urban Pathway bisecting the town and a 34 mile recreational trail winding its way from Green Springs Rd.to the summit of White Top Mtn, Abingdon has become a high-profile tourist destination.
- Lewis Preston Summers, “One Hundred Years of the History of Abingdon,” Historical Society of Washington County, Va. No. 4
- Forts of the Holston Militia, Lawrence J. Fleenor and Dale Carter
- “An Economic Survey of SW Virginia During the Ante-Bellum Period,” Jack Garland. HSWCVa. Series II, No. 24
- Brand of Infamy: A Biography of John Buchanan Floyd, Charles Pinnegar, Greenwood Press