Laurel Fork is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Carroll County, Virginia Carroll County is a United States county located in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Roughly one fifth of the county lies in the Virginia Piedmont region, while the rest is part of the Appalachian Mountains. The count ...

. It is located off U.S. Route 58 and is east-southeast of Hillsville,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Laurel Fork has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

with the ZIP code 24352. Before the town was known as Laurel Fork, it was called Bolt Town, named after a Doctor Bolt and his numerous family members who originally inhabited the town. Then consisting of Sam Bolt's store, a post office, and a few farms, Bolt Town was nicknamed "Little Cincinnati" because of the perceived superior attitude of its residents. Eventually, the community took its name from the Laurel Fork Creek that winds through the hills nearby, which in turn was named after the native

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

. Early English settlers, not knowing the Rhododendron's name, called it "laurel" after the shrubs they knew from England. Late nineteenth-century census records show that 60 percent of the Laurel Fork population could read and write. Around 1903 - 1904, the Laurel Fork Male and Female Academy was built, later becoming a high school. Businesses including a printing shop, a short-lived motor company, the Laurel Fork Bank, Midway Hotel and Restaurant, Laurel Fork Mercantile, Puckett's Grocery and Garage, as well as the Laurel Fork Telephone Company were also established. Laurel Fork reportedly had the first airport in the county. Among Laurel Fork's surviving historical landmarks is the Laurel Fork Primitive Baptist Church, founded in 1846, making it the oldest church in Laurel Fork and one of the oldest in Carroll County. The church was a daughter church of New Hope Primitive Baptist. The church, as well as a school next to it, were burned down and then rebuilt in 1876 on land given by Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Nester. In 1970, the church was encased in brick and now stands along Laurel Fork Road. Located next to the church is the former Point Pleasant School. Constructed in 1911, this one-room schoolhouse is commonly believed to be the descendant of the first school in Laurel Fork, which had previously burned down. Point Pleasant School closed its doors in 1948. In September 2007, the school was placed on the Virginia Landmarks Register. In October 2007, Point Pleasant School was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

References

Unincorporated communities in Carroll County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia {{CarrollCountyVA-geo-stub