Wilson Creek, VA, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (1)

Mouth of Wilson 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 ...

, in Grayson County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

, just north of the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

state line. The community lies in the Blue Ridge Highlands section of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are part of what is considered the 'Middle

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

' on the western banks of the New River, where the Big Wilson Creek empties its waters. The main road through the area is U.S. Route 58; other major roads include

Virginia Route 16 State Route 16 is a primary state highway in the southwest part of the U.S. state of Virginia. It runs from the North Carolina border at North Carolina Highway 16 north to the West Virginia border at West Virginia Route 16, passing through the tow ...

and

Virginia Route 93 The following is a list of primary state highways in Virginia shorter than one mile (1.6 km) in length. For a list of such highways serving Virginia state institutions, see State highways serving Virginia state institutions. __NOTOC__ SR 34 ...

(County Line Road).

History

The name Mouth of Wilson originates from a young surveyor named Wilson, who died and was buried in a creek while surveying the line between Virginia and

in 1749. The creek was henceforth known as the Wilson Creek, the mouth of which empties into the New River where the town was established. The first European settler in the region was Robert Parsons, a veteran of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

who was awarded a grant of from the North Carolina line to Wilson Creek. One of Parsons' nine sons, Johnny Parsons, built the first mill on the creek. The mill was built to grind corn, with a sawmill as an extension. Johnny Parsons served one term as the overseer of the South Fork and New River Turnpike in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

. Another mill was constructed in 1884 by Colonel Fields J. McMillan. The community built a power dam in 1930, introducing electricity to Mouth of Wilson.Fields, Bettye-Lou. Grayson County: A History in Words and Pictures. 2nd. Winston-Salem, N.C.: Hunter Publishing Company, 1976.

Oak Hill Academy

Oak Hill Academy, a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

-affiliated secondary school, is located in Mouth of Wilson. Oak Hill was built in 1878. Rev. W.A. Hash became principal in 1923 and oversaw the accreditation of the school and construction of dormitories, a water system, and electric lines. In recent history, the school has earned eight national basketball championships since 1993, becoming widely recognized for its athletic programs.Lawlor, Christopher.
Super 25: Virginia
" ''USA Today'' 27 April 2007. Accessed 13 November 2007. Most students are boarders, causing the population of Mouth of Wilson to increase substantially during the school year.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Grayson County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia