Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

(Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University). Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and the city of Radford are the three principal jurisdictions of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

, which encompasses those jurisdictions and all of Montgomery, Pulaski, and Giles counties for statistical purposes. The MSA has an estimated population of 181,863 and is currently one of the faster-growing MSAs in Virginia. Blacksburg High School, which in 2013 opened a new building, is often ranked among the top schools of the nation for its academics. Its soccer, track, and cross-country teams are also among the top in the state . Blacksburg was the scene of the

Virginia Tech shooting The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting that occurred on April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho, an u ...

s on April 16, 2007, when 32 people were killed and 17 wounded by a lone gunman. At the time, it was the deadliest shooting carried out by a single gunman in U.S. history, and generated considerable media coverage and discussion.

History

European colonization, founding (1671–1771)

In the mid-1600s, English colonists were still uncertain of what lay beyond the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

, whose topography and possession by native inhabitants, Tutelo-speaking tribes, were a barrier to expanded settlement by the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (histor ...

Abraham Wood Abraham Wood (1610–1682), sometimes referred to as "General" or "Colonel" Wood, was an English fur trader, militia officer, politician and explorer of 17th century colonial Virginia. Wood helped build and maintained Fort Henry at the falls of ...

, who commanded Fort Henry on the frontier (now the site of

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Econ ...

), and operated an Indian trading post nearby, organized several expeditions to explore farther west. A passage over the ridge was finally found in 1671 when explorers Batts and Fallam, sent by Wood, reached the present-day location of Blacksburg, Virginia. Their expedition followed

Stroubles Creek Stroubles Creek is an approximately stream that runs through the town of Blacksburg, the Virginia Tech campus, and Montgomery County, Virginia until it empties into the New River. Most of the sections of Stroubles Creek that flow through Black ...

, through the current locations of the town and campus of

, to what they named Wood's River. They reported the area as inhabited by the Monacan and Moneton,

Siouan Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who call the ent ...

-speaking groups, but the Virginia colonial legislature had authorized Wood to claim it. Accordingly, on September 17, 1671, the Batts and Fallam party claimed all of the lands comprising the river's

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

for King Charles II. However, the region was not yet open to English

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

. In 1700, Seneca warriors of the

Iroquois Confederacy The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

based in New York and Pennsylvania, overran the entire area, driving out the other bands. As early as 1718, the Seneca had agreed to sell the parts they had conquered east of the Blue Ridge to the Virginia Colony. However, following another cession at the 1744 Treaty of Lancaster, there was a dispute between the tribe and colonists over whether the new boundary was the Alleghenies or the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

. The site of Blacksburg lay just within this disputed zone. By the 1740s, the Wood's River Land Company, represented by Colonel James Patton, gained a large tract of land within present-day southwest Virginia. Part of the tract became Montgomery County and Pulaski County and was sold to Virginian, Irish, Scots-Irish, and English settlers as a reward for their services during the Spanish-Indian Wars and other wars. The Draper and Ingles families were among those who built their homes at Draper's Meadow by 1748; this area was between the present location of the campus and the subdivision of Hethwood. Because of its strategic location between powerful Indian nations, who alternately allied with the French or British as it suited them, plus its location through gaps into the Alleghenies further west, the area's development was viewed with increasing apprehension by the French and their Indian allies. In July 1755, during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...

, hostile

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

Indians equipped and armed by France attacked the frontier outpost at Draper's Meadow, which then had around twenty pioneer settlers. About four settlers were killed in the attacks, and five were taken captive to Kentucky by the Shawnee, among them Mary Draper Ingles, who later escaped. The memorial to

Draper's Meadow massacre In July 1755, the Draper's Meadow settlement in southwest Virginia, at the site of present day Blacksburg, was raided by a group of Shawnee warriors, who killed at least four people including an infant, and captured five more. The Indians brou ...

was dedicated on a bridge located near Duck Pond. By the end of the war, Draper's Meadow was deserted.Historic Smithfield: History and Research Resources
By the Treaty of Easton (1758), and again by the

Royal Proclamation of 1763 The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III on 7 October 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain. The Procla ...

, the British Crown made the Allegheny ridge separating the Mississippi and Chesapeake watersheds the official boundary between their Virginia colony and native peoples. It remained so until 1768, when native claims to the land including Blacksburg were cleared by the

Treaty of Hard Labour In an effort to resolve concerns of settlers and land speculators following the western boundary established by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 by George III of the United Kingdom, King George III, it was desired to move the boundary farther west to ...

with the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

, and the

Treaty of Fort Stanwix The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotiated between Sir William ...

with the Six Nations (Iroquois Confederacy). The Shawnee finally abandoned their claim to this territory in 1774 following Dunmore's War.

The Black family (1772–1797)

Samuel Black, whose family settled in

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities are separate jurisdictions from the counties that surround them, so the government off ...

, bought of land in the Draper's Meadow area for his sons John and William in 1772. Smithfield Plantation, built in approximately 1774 by Colonel William Preston, was developed on the original Draper's Meadow site, near the current location of the Duck Pond on the

campus. When Samuel Black died in 1792, the land was evenly divided into two sections by his sons. The road now known as Draper Road is the dividing line between the sections. John Black's property was later developed as the majority of the central campus of Virginia Tech. In 1797, William Black laid out a small grid of streets and lots comprising 16 blocks on a portion of his land. The original town was limited to the area bounded by present-day Draper Road, Jackson Street, Wharton Street, and Clay Street. The town logo contains 16 small squares that create a larger square, representing the original 16 square blocks that were a part of Black's design.

Blacksburg's establishment (1798–1870)

After Black petitioned the state legislature to establish a town at the site, the official establishment and founding of Blacksburg was January 13, 1798 on the tract that he laid out. The following August 4, he signed over the deed to the town

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

s. The town was named after him in his honor. In 1808, a log cabin was built just east of Smithfield Plantation. Robert Preston, a future colonel of the 28th Virginia Infantry, lived here, as did two Virginia governors. The cabin was later added to in the mid 19th century to create a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

farmhouse now known as

Solitude Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think, or rest without distu ...

, which is the oldest building on the Virginia Tech campus. In 1872, the 250 acre Solitude farm became the central campus of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the house, after the death of its owner in the following decade, served as a college infirmary from 1882 to 1886. It was later used for faculty housing. According to records of the Post Office Department of the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

, the post office was established as "BLACKSBURGH" on April 8, 1827. The name was changed to the current spelling (without the "h") in 1893. The

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

s had built two cabins to worship in since the town's founding, but they did not build a more permanent structure until 1830, when they constructed a brick church. The

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

s were the next Christian denomination to build a church within Blacksburg's limits. In 1848 they built their first brick buildingBlacksburg Presbyterian: BPC History.
at 117 South Main Street. Though still standing, this building has not been used as a church for many years. It was once South Main Café, but is currently used as a restaurant called Cabo Fish Taco. It is also the oldest building on Main Street. The

Baptists 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 com ...

founded the third oldest church in the town in 1852. In 1832, Westview Cemetery was established from a few acres of land that were deeded to trustees. One of the first educational establishments started here was the Blacksburg Female Academy in 1840. The Olin and Preston Institute (re-charted as Preston and Olin Institute in 1869) was a Methodist-sponsored academy established in 1851. The first bank in Montgomery County, Blacksburg Savings Institution, was established in 1849. The first newspaper published in Blacksburg was the ''Montgomery Messenger''. Its first issue was printed in 1869.

Incorporation, modernization (1871–1951)

Coal Breaker near Blacksburg, Virginia (1904)

In 1871, the village that became known as Blacksburg was incorporated and Thomas W. Jones became the first mayor. One year later, the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College opened on October 2, 1872 with a faculty of three members. The college grew and became known as Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, which shortly afterward became informally referred to as Virginia Tech. It is a Virginia land-grant

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. A

fire-fighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...

unit was organized within the university in 1899. The town bought its first fire truck 43 years later. The Blacksburg First Aid and Life Saving Crew was founded in 1951 and renamed Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad in another addition to the growing amount of emergency services. The first automobile came through the town in 1901. Three years later the train entered Blacksburg from Christiansburg using the Virginia Anthracite & Coal Railroad, which later became known as the "Huckleberry." Traffic in Blacksburg increased sufficiently enough that by January 1913 the town voted against allowing cows to continue to roam in town. The first

filling station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Ga ...

was opened in 1919 and at the time was the only one between Roanoke, Virginia and Bluefield, West Virginia. The town's first landing strip was built in 1929 and was 1,800 feet (548.64 m) in length. The grass landing strip was given airport status in 1931 and later became Virginia Tech Airport. Local buses began to make their rounds for the first time in 1947. The town's first theater was built in 1909. It was a precursor to the Lyric Theatre on College Avenue. In the spring of 1935, Main Street was strung with ten street lights from Roanoke Street northward to the top of the hill, where it now intersects the Alumni Mall. By October the town's second stoplight was installed on Main Street at Roanoke Street and was synchronized with the original one at Main and College. The establishment of official law enforcement began in 1937 when Officer Dave "Highpockets" Sumner became the first Blacksburg police officer. The first police car was purchased nine years later.

Compulsory education and commercialization (1952–1992)

Blacksburg experienced a boost of

compulsory education Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at other places. Compulsory school attendance or compulsory schooling ...

during the second half of the 20th century. Even though there had been a place for

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

somewhere in town since 1906, it was not until 1952 when the first facility for Blacksburg High School was built on South Main and Eheart Streets. Later it moved to new quarters and was adapted as Blacksburg Middle School. That same year, all high schools in Montgomery County began operating on a twelve-grade basis which is still county policy to this day. The Margaret J. Beeks Elementary School and the Gilbert F. Linkous Elementary School were both completed in 1963 and Harding Avenue Elementary School was built in 1972. Two years later, in 1974, Blacksburg High School moved its location to Patrick Henry Drive after 20 years of issues with overcrowding in its previous location. Jack Goodwin was appointed the first chief of police by the Blacksburg Town Council in 1954. Jan Olinger was made the first female police officer in 1976. 1958 marked the beginning of the end for the railroad that came to be known as the "Huckleberry." In the 1960s, however, railroads underwent restructuring. Passenger service came to an end on July 25. On June 30, 1966 the last freight train arrived at the Blacksburg depot. Within 24 hours, the depot was closed, the empty cars were picked up, and the tracks were immediately removed. After years of effort by the citizens of the town a trail was constructed on the former railroad right-of-way and, after years of construction, funding and planning issues the Huckleberry Trail was opened to the public on December 1, 1998. 190 years after its original construction, the newly renovated Smithfield Plantation house was re-opened in 1964. The amount of

commercialization Commercialization or commercialisation is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into ...

in the area began to increase in the mid-1960s. The Corning Glass Works (now called

Corning Incorporated Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company that specializes in specialty glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The c ...

), based in upper New York State, opened a manufacturing facility in 1964 that is located south of Blacksburg. The Blacksburg Municipal Building on South Main Street was constructed in 1969. Terrace View apartments, the first large student complex, was built in 1970. The Blacksburg Branch of the Montgomery County Library was opened the same year. Ten years later, it was moved into the facility that used to house the Blacksburg Lumber Company on Draper Road. In 1971, Blacksburg ratified a new charter and LewisGale Hospital Montgomery was built. The University Mall shopping center opened that year as well. In the mid 1970s the Foxridge apartments, an even larger student apartment complex, was built as part of the Hethwood development. During 1981, the Blacksburg Community Center opened. It cost the town $1.2 million to build. By 1988, the New River Valley Mall, located in the neighboring town of Christiansburg, was opened and the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center had its first ground-breaking ceremony. After construction of Virginia's portion of Interstate 81 began in 1957, nine years passed before the Christiansburg-area segment was opened. About half that amount of time passed before the U.S. Route 460 bypass opened in 1969. In the 1970s, Virginia Tech was annexed into the town and the town acquired other land. Together with the effect of the annexations, the population grew from 9,000 people to 30,000 during this decade. Replacing the old public bus system, Blacksburg Transit began running in 1983.

Information age (1993–present)

Blacksburg is the site of the

Blacksburg Electronic Village The Blacksburg Electronic Village or BEV was conceived as a project of Virginia Tech in 1991 and officially born in 1993. The goal of the project was to develop an online community linking the entire town. Extensive outside research had been done ...

or BEV, conceived as a computer networking project of

in 1991 and officially born in 1993 as a way to link the town together using the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

. This project quickly ushered the town into what is being called the

Information Age The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during ...

. In 1994, Montgomery County Public Schools completed construction of Kipps Elementary School at 2801 Prices Fork Road. By this time, Blacksburg had five elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. A newly renovated Blacksburg branch library was opened in 1996. In the aftermath of railroad restructuring, many rail lines were abandoned. After 24 years of abandonment and six years of planning and construction, the first phase of the Huckleberry Trail built on the old Huckleberry railbed opened in 1996. The second phase of construction was completed in 1998. In 2019, the Blacksburg Rotary Mountain Bike Skills Park opened with funding from Blacksburg Parks and Recreation and donations. On July 8, 1997, ground was broken for the experimental " Smart Road" project. The second phase of construction was completed in 2002. The road is currently closed to the public and used as a research test bed for the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. A National Weather Service office is located in Blacksburg and serves most of southwestern Virginia, southeast West Virginia, and northwest North Carolina. In 2003, the new building for Blacksburg Middle School students opened on Prices Fork Road adjacent to the property housing Kipps Elementary School. On April 16, 2007,

Seung-Hui Cho Seung-Hui Cho (, properly Cho Seung-hui; January 18, 1984 – April 16, 2007) was a Korean-born mass murderer responsible for the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007. Cho killed 32 people and wounded 17 others with two semi-automatic pistols on Apr ...

shot 32 people dead and injured an additional 17 in the

before committing suicide. The massacre is the deadliest mass shooting on a college campus since the

University of Texas tower shooting On August 1, 1966, after stabbing his mother and his wife to death the previous night, Charles Whitman, a Marine veteran, took rifles and other weapons to the observation deck atop the Main Building tower at the University of Texas at Austin, ...

in 1966. On February 13, 2010, following a snowstorm that dropped two feet of snow on the area, the gymnasium roof on the previously occupied Blacksburg High School suffered a catastrophic structural failure and collapsed, causing structural damage to other areas of the school. The school building was condemned and students attended night school on a split schedule with the Blacksburg Middle School students at their school for the remainder of the year. It was determined that repair costs would exceed $18 million and would not be feasible given the age of the school; it was decided not to repair the building. Before the school year of 2013-14 Blacksburg High School was operating on a normal schedule out of the Blacksburg Middle School building on 3109 Prices Fork Road, and the middle schoolers were going to school in the old Christiansburg Middle School. The original Blacksburg High School building was vacant until it was demolished in the Summer of 2011. The newly constructed school building of Blacksburg High School which opened for the 2013 fall semester is located at 3401 Bruin Lane, behind the current Blacksburg Middle School and Bill Brown Football Stadium.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the town has a total area of of which is land and , or 0.10%, is water. At 2,080 feet (634 m) above sea level, Blacksburg is located in the New River Valley and also sits astride the

Eastern Continental Divide The Eastern Continental Divide, Eastern Divide or Appalachian Divide is a hydrographic divide in eastern North America that separates the easterly Atlantic Seaboard watershed from the westerly Gulf of Mexico watershed. The divide nearly spans ...

. It is the 15th largest

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

and the largest

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

in the commonwealth of Virginia. The Eastern Continental Divide traverses the Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport. The tallest building in Blacksburg is Slusher Tower, a twelve-story residence hall on the

campus. The building with the highest elevation is actually Hoge Hall (formerly Lee Hall), another residence hall, which until May 17, 2009 was home to the transmitter of campus radio station

WUVT WUVT-FM (90.7 FM) is a freeform broadcast radio station located in Blacksburg, Virginia, serving Blacksburg and Montgomery County, Virginia. WUVT-FM is licensed to Virginia Tech and is operated by The Educational Media Company at Virginia Te ...

. The tower for

now sits atop Price Mountain.

Climate

Due to its elevation, the climate of Blacksburg is a hot-summer humid continental climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

: Dfa), being cooled down from the lowland areas, all of which possess a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

: Cfa). Summers are humid with warm to hot temperatures, although the area sees significantly cooler temperatures than places of lower elevation at the same latitude, with only 5 days of + highs annually. Winters are generally cool to cold, with occasional intervening warm periods and an average of 0.9 nights of sub- lows. Monthly mean temperatures range from in January to in July. Snowfall averages per season and generally occurs from December to March, although significant snowfall has been recorded outside of those months.

Transportation

Roads

Blacksburg is served primarily by US 460, a four-lane highway that connects I-81 at Christiansburg, 10 miles to the south, and to

I-77 Interstate 77 (I-77) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the ...

at Princeton, West Virginia. Driving from Blacksburg to its larger metro neighbor, Roanoke, via US 460 and I-81, usually requires less than an hour.

Public transportation

Blacksburg Transit (BT) provides bus transportation primarily to and from the campus of

. Students and faculty ride the BT fare free with a flat payment included in the cost of tuition. Virginia Tech subsidizes BT for this service. Transportation is available to anyone for a fee, and during special events the service is often free. Blacksburg Transit also offers shuttle service to non-students on

Football game days for $5 to be transported from outlying parking areas to the stadium. The Smart Way Bus, a regional commuter bus service operated by

Valley Metro (Roanoke) Valley Metro, the operational name for the Greater Roanoke Transit Company, is a local government-owned urban-suburban bus line based in Roanoke, Virginia with First Transit providing the general and assistant general managers. The staff is emp ...

, provides connecting service between

, downtown Blacksburg,

Christiansburg, Virginia Christiansburg (formerly Hans Meadows) is a town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. The population was 21,041 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County. Christiansburg, Blacksburg and the city of Radford are t ...

, Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport, and Roanoke, Virginia, where riders can transfer to an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

train. Fare is $4.00 one way.

Air

At nearby Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport, there are scheduled commercial flights to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

Chicago–O'Hare Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop busines ...

, New York–LaGuardia, Orlando/Sanford,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, St. Petersburg/Clearwater, and

Washington–Dulles Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and Fai ...

, and there are seasonal charter flights to

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

. Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport, located in the Town of Blacksburg, has

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

, and military flights.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2020, there were 44,826 people residing in the town. As of the

of 2000, there were 39,573 people, 13,162 households, and 4,777 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 2,044.2 people per square mile (789.2/km²). There were 13,732 housing units at an average density of 709.4 per square mile (273.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 84.39%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 4.39%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.11% Native American, 7.80% Asian, 0.06%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.90% from other races, and 2.36% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 2.32% of the population. There were 13,162 households, out of which 16.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 63.7% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.79. In the town, the population was spread out, with 9.7% under the age of 18, 57.4% from 18 to 24, 18.9% from 25 to 44, 9.2% from 45 to 64, and 4.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 127.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 129.7 males. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways o ...

for a household in the town was $22,513, and the median income for a family was $51,810. Males had a median income of $37,129 versus $24,321 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $13,946. About 15.9% of families and 43.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.7% of those under the age of 18 and 6.1% ages 65 or older. The

(MSA), which includes the town of Christiansburg, the independent city of Radford, and all of Montgomery, Pulaski, and Giles counties has an estimated population of 181,863 and is currently one of the faster-growing MSAs in Virginia. About 87% of the town's residents have in-home Internet access with 65% using a

broadband In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

connection.Campus & Town Guide: Virginia Tech and the Town of Blacksburg. Eighty-five percent of the community has a college education, seventy percent of which were graduates of Virginia Tech.

Economy

The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center is home to several companies of varying sizes including

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

, and the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...

which maintains its Southwestern Virginia headquarters there. The town is also home to MOOG, a major supplier for the defense department and the health care industry and Rackspace, who acquired locally based Mailtrust/Webmail.us in 2007. The town and county continue to recruit major industry to the area. Due to its close proximity to

and

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs incl ...

, Blacksburg is an ideal location for developing high tech industry.

Top employers

According to Blacksburg's 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the town are:

Government

Blacksburg is governed by a Town Council of six members and a mayor. Elections take place in odd-numbered years, in November. Council members are elected for four-year terms. The town’s mayor is an elected office. Leslie Hager-Smith was first elected mayor in 2017 and was re-elected in 2021.

Notable people

Frank Beamer Franklin Mitchell Beamer (born October 18, 1946) is a retired American college football coach, most notably for the Virginia Tech Hokies, and former college football player. He is the father of current South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane ...

, former Head Football Coach at

Virginia Allen Crockford Virginia Allen Crockford (1917 – March 24, 2001) was an American educationalist. She was a member of the Richmond School Board from 1962 to 1972, and served as board chair from 1968 to 1972. Personal history Born in 1917 in Blacksburg, Virgi ...

, school board educationalist * Marc Edwards, civil engineering/environmental engineer and professor *

John B. Floyd John Buchanan Floyd (June 1, 1806 – August 26, 1863) was the 31st Governor of Virginia, U.S. Secretary of War, and the Confederate general in the American Civil War who lost the crucial Battle of Fort Donelson. Early family life John Buc ...

, Governor of Virginia, U.S. Secretary of War, and Confederate general in the American Civil War *

Patri Friedman Patri Friedman (born July 29, 1976) is an American libertarian, neoreactionary, anarcho-capitalist, and theorist of political economy. He founded The Seasteading Institute, a non-profit that explores the creation of sovereign ocean colonies. ...

, activist and theorist of political economy * Nikki Giovanni, poet * Marjorie Glicksman Grene, philosopher *

Lanto Griffin Lanto Griffin (born June 15, 1988) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour. Early life Griffin was born in Mount Shasta, California and moved with his family at a young age to Blacksburg, Virginia. He played college golf at Virginia ...

, PGA Tour Golfer * Josh Kaufman, Season 6 winner of NBC's vocal competition show '' The Voice'' *

Henry Lee Lucas Henry Lee Lucas (August 23, 1936 – March 12, 2001) was an American convicted serial killer. Lucas was convicted of murdering his mother in 1960 and two others in 1983. He rose to infamy while incarcerated for these crimes when he falsely c ...

, serial killer * Thomas M. Price, American architect *

Bob Roop Robert Michael Roop (born July 22, 1942) is an American retired amateur wrestler and professional wrestler whose career spanned high school, college, the United States Army, amateur and professional wrestling. He was an American heavyweight Grec ...

, American heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler *

Eric Schmidt Eric Emerson Schmidt (born April 27, 1955) is an American businessman and software engineer known for being the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, executive chairman of Google from 2011 to 2015, executive chairman of Alphabet Inc. from 2015 to 2 ...

, former

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

CEO *

Brandon Stokley Brandon Ray Stokley (born June 23, 1976) is a former American football wide receiver and current radio personality. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at University of Lo ...

, NFL wide receiver for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

* Wild Nothing, indie dream pop act * Kevin Jones, football player, highest recruit in Virginia Tech history *

James I. Robertson Jr. James Irvin "Bud" Robertson Jr. (July 18, 1930 – November 2, 2019) was an American historian on the American Civil War and professor at Virginia Tech. Early life and academic career Robertson was born on July 18, 1930, and raised in Danville, ...

, historian and Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech *

William Morva William Charles Morva (February 9, 1982 – July 6, 2017) was an American-Hungarian criminal convicted of the 2006 shooting deaths of Sheriff's Deputy Corporal Eric Sutphin, 40, and hospital security guard Derrick McFarland, 32, in the town of B ...

, murderer * James Patton Preston, Governor of Virginia * Col. William Preston, Burgess, Revolutionary War Colonel *

Thomas Nelson Conrad Thomas Nelson Conrad (August 1, 1837 – January 5, 1905) was the third president of Virginia Tech (then Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College) and served in the Confederate Secret Service during the Civil War. Early life Thomas Nelson Co ...

, Confederate spy * James Conrad, professional disc golfer, 2021

PDGA The Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the promotion and sustainable growth of disc golf. The PDGA is the global governing body of disc golf. The organization promotes the ...

World Champion

Points of interest

* 16 Squares * Alexander Black House * Armory Art Gallery * Blacksburg Farmers Market * Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine * Hahn Horticulture Garden * Huckleberry Trail *Lyric Theatre *Moss Arts Center *Municipal (Caboose) Park * Smithfield Plantation *

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six regi ...

(Virginia Tech)

Annual town events

* The International Street Fair held in downtown Blacksburg and on the Virginia Tech campus takes place in spring. Over 110 countries are represented by the student body of

and individuals from the community during the

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

. There are food trucks, country booths, and the stage features an eclectic mix of melodies and musical performances from around the world. * Steppin' Out, the town's first annual street festival, has taken place on the first Friday and Saturday of every August since 1976 when it was known as the Deadwood Days Summer Festival. Because of a murder associated with the final Deadwood Days in August, 1979, the festival's name was changed in 1980 and Steppin' Out began in 1981. Steppin' Out features over 150 artists and crafts people from around the United States selling unique handcrafted items, local merchants holding final clearance sidewalk sales, local restaurants selling food through outdoor vending, multiple stages for live performances, and fun for the entire family. The area from North Main Street and Alumni Mall (sometimes even more to the north) to South Main Street and Roanoke Street and Draper Road and Lee Street is designated for the festival. The Draper Mile Run, which was started in 1982, is a one-mile (1.6 km) road race for runners of all ages that is held annually during the first evening of the festival. * Summer Solstice Fest takes place on the Saturday afternoon/evening closest to the solstice. Downtown Blacksburg Inc. organizes the event, which includes live music, vendors, a dog parade and 5k race. *Sustainability Week is held in mid-September and is a collaboration between Sustainable Blacksburg, the Town of Blacksburg, and Virginia Tech's Office of Energy & Sustainability. First held in 2007, the tagline, "Celebrate. Educate. Motivate." The events emphasize how to become a more sustainable community. *The Winter Lights Festival is held the first Friday in December. College Avenue is closed for caroling, vendors, Santa at the Lyric, and the tree lighting on Virginia Tech's Henderson Lawn. The evening ends with the annual Holiday Parade which goes from Virginia Tech's campus to Eheart Street.

Sister City

Blacksburg's sister city is

San José de Bocay San José de Bocay is a town and a municipality in the Jinotega department, Nicaragua. With an area of 3,990.40 km2, the municipality of San José de Bocay was officially created on March 13, 2002, as a result of the division of the El Cu ...

, in the mountains of northern Nicaragua.

References

External links

Town of Blacksburg

A Guide to Researching Blacksburg, Virginia, History, Virginia Tech Special Collections

Blacksburg's Bicentennial, 1798–1998, Virginia Tech Special Collections
{{authority control Blacksburg–Christiansburg metropolitan area Populated places established in 1798 Southwest Virginia Towns in Montgomery County, Virginia Towns in Virginia