Prater 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 ...

located in

Buchanan County, Virginia Buchanan County () is a United States county in far western Virginia, the only county in the state to border both West Virginia and Kentucky. The county is part of the Southwest Virginia region and lies in the rugged Appalachian Plateau por ...

, United States. It is near the intersection of Virginia State Route 83 and County Route 604 in the western portion of the county. The community was the home of Russell Prater Elementary School until 2014. A post office was established at Prater in 1877, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1965. According to tradition, Prater was named for the Prater brothers of pioneer settlers.

References

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