Buchanan County () is a United States county in far western

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 ...

, the only county in the state to border both

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. The county is part of the Southwest Virginia region and lies in the rugged Appalachian Plateau portion of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Grundy. Buchanan County was established in 1858 from parts of Russell and Tazewell counties, and it was named in honor of then-President James Buchanan. Local pronunciation differs from that of the 15th president's surname; here the county is pronounced as "Búh-can-nin". In 1880, part of Buchanan County was taken to form Dickenson County. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 20,355. Its population has decreased by double digits in each census over the last forty years. As of 2012, Buchanan was the fifth-poorest county in Virginia, when ranked by median household income; it has consistently been in the bottom 5% over the past decade.

History

George Peter Alexander Healy - James Buchanan - Google Art Project

The county was formed in 1858 from parts of Russell and Tazewell counties. It was named for James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States. In 1876, Grundy was chosen and designated by the legislature as the county seat of Buchanan County, it was named in honor of Felix Grundy, a United States Senator from Tennessee. In 1880, the southwestern part of Buchanan County was combined with parts of Russell and Wise counties to become Dickenson County. Helen Timmons Henderson (1877–1925) participated in the work of the Buchanan Mission School at Council, Virginia. She and Sarah Lee Fain (1888–1962) of Norfolk were the first two women to be elected to the Virginia General Assembly. They were both Democrats in the House of Delegates. When Henderson was in office, delegates approved construction of of improved road to be built from Russell County, across Big "A" Mountain, to Council. What is now Route 80 is also known as "Helen Henderson Highway".

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. Outdoor recreation is provided by Poplar Gap Park near Grundy and William P. Harris Park located in Council.

Districts

The county is divided into seven supervisor districts: Garden, Hurricane, Knox, North Grundy, Prater, Rock Lick, and South Grundy.

Adjacent counties

* Mingo County, West Virginia – north * McDowell County, West Virginia – east * Tazewell County – southeast * Russell County – south * Dickenson County – southwest *

Pike County, Kentucky Pike County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 58,669. Its county seat is Pikeville, Kentucky, Pikeville. The county was founded in 1821. It is ...

– northwest

Major highways

* * *

Demographics

2020 census

2000 Census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 26,978 people, 10,464 households, and 7,900 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 11,887 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.75%

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

, 2.62%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.06% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.10% from other races, 0.33% from two or more races, and 0.47% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 10,464 households, out of which 30.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.90% were married couples living together, 10.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.50% were non-families. Of all households, 22.50% were made up of individuals, and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.87. In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.40% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 31.20% from 25 to 44, 27.50% from 45 to 64, and 11.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 102.90 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 102.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $22,213, and the median income for a family was $27,328. Males had a median income of $29,540 versus $17,766 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $12,788. About 19.80% of families and 23.20% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 30.20% of those under age 18 and 16.90% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Board of Supervisors

* Garden District: Jeff Cooper * Hurricane District: Tim Hess * Knox District: Trey Adkins (D) * North Grundy District: James Carroll Branham (D) * Prater District: Drew Keene (chairman) * Rock Lick District: Craig Stiltner (R) * South Grundy District: Gary Roger Rife (R)

Constitutional officers

* Clerk of the Circuit Court: Beverly S. Tiller (D) * Commissioner of the Revenue: A. Ruth Horn (R) * Commonwealth's Attorney: M. Nikki Stiltner (R) * Sheriff: Allen Boyd (D) * Treasurer: Keith Boyd (R) Buchanan County is represented by Republican Travis Hackworth in the Virginia Senate, Republican James W. "Will" Morefield in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, and Republican Morgan Griffith in the U.S. House of Representatives. Buchanan County, a classically ancestral Democratic county, has become a Republican stronghold at the presidential level, in common with much of Appalachia.

Education

Colleges

* Appalachian School of Law, Grundy * Appalachian College of Pharmacy, Oakwood

Private schools

* Mountain Mission School, Grundy * Keen Mountain Christian Academy, Oakwood

Public high schools

All public schools in Buchanan County are operated by Buchanan County Public Schools system. * Grundy Senior High School, Grundy * Twin Valley High School, Pilgrims Knob * Council High School,

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

* Hurley High School, Hurley

Public elementary and middle schools

* Twin Valley Elem/Middle School * Council Elementary School * Riverview Elementary Middle School * Hurley Elementary/Middle School

Former schools

* Harman Elementary (Demolished: 2009; site is now a baseball field.) * Vansant Elementary (Demolished: 2007) * Big Rock Elementary (Demolished: 2009) * Grundy Jr. High School (Now the Appalachian School of Law) * Garden Elementary (Demolished) * Garden Middle School * Garden High School (Now the Appalachian College of Pharmacy) * Jewell Valley Elementary School (Demolished: ?) * J.M. Bevins Elementary School (Closed: 2018) * Whitewood Elementary School (Demolished) * Whitewood High School (Demolished: 2010) * D.A. Justus (Demolished) * P.V. Dennis (Now the ASL Library) * Russell Prater Elementary (Closed: 2014)

Communities

Towns

* Grundy

Census-designated place

* Vansant

Other unincorporated communities

* Big Rock *

* Davenport * Harman * Harman Junction * Hurley * Keen Mountain * Mavisdale * Maxie * Oakwood * Pilgrims Knob * Prater * Shortt Gap * Stacy * Royal City * Rowe * Whitewood