Skip to main content

Small Towns of Virginia Series - Clintwood


Clintwood, the county seat of Dickenson County, was established in 1882 when the Virginia General Assembly moved the Dickenson County Seat from Ervinton to what was then known as Holly Creek.  Ervinton was located near the present-day community of Nora, a few miles to the south.


Many small towns in Southwestern Virginia including Clintwood have roots in bluegrass and mountain music. Clintwood is located on Virginia's Crooked Road and is home to the Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Music Center. Stanley, considered to be the patriarch of Bluegrass music, was born in nearby Big Spraddle and was a resident of Dickenson County his whole life.  Stanley and his brother Carter formed the legendary Stanley Brothers group with the Clinch Mountain Boys as their band.  After his brother's death in 1966, Stanley would continue solo with the Clinch Mountain Boys.  Stanley was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2000.  That same year, Stanley would gain new notoriety when the hit film O Brother, Where Art Thou? was released.  Stanley would win a Grammy in 2002 for the Best Male Vocal Country Performance.  Ralph Stanley passed away at age 89 in June of 2016.


The Jettie Baker Center is the renovated home of the former Mullins Theatre.  The 350 seat theatre was built in the late 1940s and was donated to the town by Jettie Baker.  It is home to numerous performances year round including an open bluegrass jam on Friday nights.

Dickenson County Courthouse


Site Navigation:

Comments

Tena Greear said…
My Hometown! I grew up going to Mullins theatre on Saturday nights. Friday night was reserved for Clintwood Greenwave championship football!
Anonymous said…
Crime corruption and greed is all you'll find in this beautiful county if not for coal mines jails and prison they'd be no industry there's 5 dr s offices and 6 pharmacies on main street and they wonder why they have a drug problem and our justice system is so corrupt they make up their own laws as they go along

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

Within the Truckee River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada range numerous abandoned portions of US Route 40 can be found alongside modern Interstate 80.   This segment of highway was opened during 1926 as a bypass of the Dog Valley Grade which carried the early North Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway. The corridor of the Truckee River Canyon State Highway would be assigned as US Route 40 when the US Route System was commissioned during November 1926. During 1958 the segment of Interstate 80 between Boca, California and the Nevada state line was complete. When Interstate 80 opened east of Boca numerous obsolete portions of US Route 40 were abandoned. Some of these abandoned segments have been incorporated into the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.  Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon The Truckee River Canyon for centuries has been an established corridor of travel known to native tribes crossing the Sierra Nevada range.  The first documented wagon crossi...

Former US Route 50 and the South Lincoln Highway from Folsom east to Placerville

The corridor of Folsom of Sacramento County east to Placerville of El Dorado County has been a long established corridor of overland travel dating back to the California Gold Rush.  The Folsom-Placerville corridor was once part of the path of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road which became the first California State Highway and later the South Lincoln Highway.  In time the South Lincoln Highway's surface alignment was inherited by US Route 50.  The Folsom-Placerville corridor also includes the communities of; Clarksville, Shingle Springs and El Dorado. Part 1; the history of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road, South Lincoln Highway and US Route 50 through Folsom-Placerville Folsom is located on the American River/Lake Natoma of eastern Sacramento County.  That lands now occupied by the City of Folsom were part of Rancho Rio de los Americanos prior to the finding of gold at Sutter's Mill during 1848.  During the California Gold Rush the lands of Rancho Rio de los Americanos were p...

Former US Route 50 and the Pioneer Route Lincoln Highway on Johnson's Pass Road

Johnson's Pass Road is one of the oldest highway corridors in California.  Johnson's Pass was part of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road as it was completed during 1856 over the Sierra Nevada.  The pass would later be incorporated into the Pioneer Branch of the Lincoln Highway in 1913 and US Route 50 in 1926.  Johnson's Pass Road would be bypassed by a new alignment of US Route 50 over Echo Summit in 1938.  A replacement of the Meyers Grade east of Johnson's Pass would be opened to traffic in 1947.   Johnson's Pass Road remains accessible to traffic and is still signed by the Lincoln Highway Association.  Pictured as the blog cover is the view from the top of Johnson's Pass Road overlooking modern US Route 50 and Lake Tahoe.   Part 1; the history of Johnson's Pass Much of the history of what become the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road is discussed in the  September 1950 California Highways & Public Works  during its Centennial Edition.  The or...