Historic Bristol

Historic Bristol is a Virginia historical marker in Bristol County, dedicated 2023.

Bristol County · dedicated 2023 · Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, just north of intersection with State Street

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Evan Shelby settled here about 1770 on a tract called Sapling Grove and established a fort and trading post. By early in the 19th century, James King and Samuel E. Goodson owned hundreds of acres of farmland in this area. Anticipating the arrival of the railroad, King’s son-in-law Joseph R. Anderson bought 100 acres from King in 1852 and laid out the town of Bristol, spanning the state line. Goodson founded an adjacent town named for himself on the Virginia side. Bristol, TN, and Goodson, VA, were each incorporated in 1856, the year the first passenger train arrived. Goodson became the City of Bristol, VA, in 1890. The community prospered as a regional center of commerce and industry.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Example

The Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania stands under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

More markers nearby

Bristol Union Railway Stationsame spot
Lee Street Baptist Churchunder 1 mi
Dr. Charles Spurgeon Johnson (1893-1956)under 1 mi
Walnut Grove Plantation4 mi

On the National Register nearby

Bristol Railroad Station330 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.