Bonsack is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in eastern
Roanoke County
Roanoke County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, its population was 96,929. Its county seat is Salem, but the county administrative offices are located in the census-designated place of ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, United States. The community is located near the junction of
US 460
U.S. Route 460 (US 460) is an auxiliary route of U.S. Route 60. It currently runs for 655 miles (1,054 km) from Norfolk, Virginia, at its parent route U.S. Route 60 at Ocean View to Frankfort, Kentucky, intersecting its parent rou ...
and
US 220 Alternate.
History
Bonsack was located along an early road called the "
Trader's Path," from
Augusta County, Virginia
Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and ...
, now part of Highway 460. Established in 1740, the Trader's Path and led from
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...
to
Big Lick, Virginia
Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanoke is about north of the Virginia–North Carolina bord ...
, and was used to bring settlers and traders from central Virginia into the Roanoke Valley. A large number of German Baptists, also called "
Church of the Brethren
The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition ( "Schwarzenau New Baptists") that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germany during the Radical Pietist revival. ...
," settled here after the Revolutionary War, and the community had several different names, including "Glade Creek" and "Stoner's Store". It was named "Bonsack" after the family donated land for a depot and track for the
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad
The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was an historic gauge railroad in the Southern United States, much of which is incorporated into the modern Norfolk Southern Railway. It played a strategic role in supplying the Confederacy during the American ...
, which was constructed in 1852.
"Two blanket factories were located in Bonsack during the Civil War. Legend has it that one blanket factory was burned to the ground by the Yankees. However, the second was spared because its owner, with fingers crossed, promised not to sell blankets to the nearby Confederate merchants down the road in Roanoke City." The blanket factories were owned by Jacob Bonsack (1819–1889). By 1860, the woolen mills employed 18 men and had a value of $21,000.00.
During the Civil War, Bonsack was raided by troops from Union General
David Hunter
David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order (immediately rescinded) emancipating slaves ...
in June 1864. The troops burned the woolen mill and the train depot. They also confiscated food and destroyed personal property. "A number of the railroad-related resources that do survive have been heavily altered, so additional historical research would be needed to document their connection to the railroad. For example, at Bonsack, a turn-of-the-century house survives that was once the stationmaster's house, but this connection would not be obvious merely from an examination of the building. While some railroad resources, such as depots, were often built specifically for that purpose, in other cases, older buildings were reused as the community's needs changed."
The name came, during the 1850s, from the Bonsack family, who donated land for the railroad depot and track through the village.
There was a short mining boom in the 1880s, when deposits of zinc were found on David Plaine's property, near the Bonsack railroad depot. In 1888, about 11,878 tons of zinc ore were shipped out, but mining stopped by 1895.
The Bonsack area was also known for their orchards during the 1920s, and in the large groves they grew apples and peaches. The Roanoke area was ranked eighth in peach production, and ninth in apple production in Virginia, between 1925 and 1939. They also grew pears, grapes, raspberries, plums and strawberries.
The local cemetery in Bonsack has some interesting but also a somewhat haphazard history. "The older part of this cemetery was initially surveyed in 1936 by the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
of Virginia and recorded as the “Bonsack Cemetery ” in Document #8 of the Historical Inventory of Roanoke County, Virginia. The WPA file listed inscriptions from the mid to late 19th-century grave markers for Sarah Bonsack, Susannah Hershberger Bonsack, John Bonsack, and John H. Berry. Although none of the observed grave markers exhibited 18th century dates, the cemetery was thought to date back to 1790.
Today Bonsack has about 20 buildings, and is threatened with development that will change the historic value of the community.
Education
The community is served by
Roanoke County Public Schools. Public school students residing in Bonsack are zoned to attend Bonsack Elementary School, William Byrd Middle School, and
William Byrd High School.
Higher education institutions are located in
Hollins and Roanoke.
Infrastructure
Public safety
Law enforcement is provided by the Roanoke County Police Department.
Fire protection and
emergency medical services
Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services, pre-hospital care or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to d ...
are provided by the Roanoke County Fire & Rescue Department, which opened the Bonsack fire station in 2025. Previously, the Read Mountain Fire and Rescue Department, located in nearby Botetourt County, provided fire protection and emergency medical services to the community. The volunteer agency dissolved in 2024 due to lack of membership.
Transportation
Air
The
Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport is the closest airport with commercial service to the community.
Roads
*
U.S. Route 220A (Challenger Avenue and Cloverdale Road)
*
U.S. Route 221
U.S. Route 221 (US 221) is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It travels from Perry, Florida, at US 19/ US 98/ US 27 Alternate to Lynchburg, Virginia, at US 29 Business ( Lynchburg Expressway). It travels through the sta ...
(Challenger Avenue)
*
U.S. Route 460 (Challenger Avenue)
Rail
The
Norfolk Southern
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...
operated Blue Ridge District runs through the community. The closest passenger rail service is located in
Roanoke.
References
Bibliography
* Blair, Gertrude. Social Customs of the Early Settlers in the Roanoke Valley and Colorful Reminiscences. Roanoke, Va: Works Progress Administration, 1940. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/796002450
* Hotchkiss, Jedediah. Map of Central Virginia Showing Proposed Southern Extension of the Shenandoah Valley R.R. from Waynesboro to Bonsack's. 1880. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63212672
* Kagey, Deedie Dent. 1989. "Roanoke County Communities Started between the Mountains". Journal of the Roanoke Valley Historical Society. 13, no. 1: 7-26. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/812172701
* Moore, Robert Glenn. Preparation for Marriage A Church Training Program for Young People at Bonsack Baptist Church. 1983. Publication (Historical Commission, Southern Baptist Convention), no. 5568. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22366933
External links
"Virginia is for Lovers'"
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Unincorporated communities in Roanoke County, Virginia
Unincorporated communities in Virginia