Small Towns of Virginia Series

Small Towns of Virginia Series - Pound

Downtown Pound, Virginia

Just south of the Kentucky State Line along US 23 is the Town of Pound. This Mountain Empire town of nearly 1,000 is a sample of many of the small towns in this region - tucked away within the folds of the numerous hills and mountains of the area and not a straight road to be found.

The Pound Hardware & Furniture Company building is now home to a hodgepodge of different shops.

Pound sits along Virginia's Crooked Road - a meandering journey through Southwest Virginia highlighting and celebrating the regions connection to Americana and Bluegrass Music. Pound celebrates its piece of Bluegrass Heritage 7:00 pm every Thursday night at the Pound Town Hall Building. "Pickin' in the Pound" features local bluegrass musicians and southwest Virginia hospitality.

Until 2011, Pound was home to the Pound High School Wildcats. That year, Wise County consolidated Pound HS with Wise's J.J. Kelly High School to form Central High School in Norton. The new Central High School would open in 2013. From my visit there in 2008, Pound was very proud of their high school.

This local store displays Pound High School Wildcat Pride

Pound sits along the Pound River and is served by US 23 and Virginia Route 83. The planned Coalfields Expressway - which will run from Beckley, WV southwest to Pound - will have its southern terminus here. There is no timetable for completion for this road.

The Pixie Drive-In was for sale by owner in 2008; however, it is still there and under new ownership.

Site Navigation:

Comments

Chowchilla Mountain Road to Yosemite National Park

Chowchilla Mountain Road of Mariposa County is one of the oldest roadways servicing Yosemite National Park. As presently configured this fourteen-mile highway begins at California State Route 49 near Elliot Corner and terminates at the Wawona Road in Yosemite National Park. Chowchilla Mountain Road was constructed as a franchise toll road over Battalion Pass circa 1869-1870. The highway was built at behest of Galen Clark to connect the town of Mariposa to his property near the South Fork Merced River at what is now Wawona. In late 1874 the highway along with Clark’s Station would be purchased by the Washburn Brothers. The Washburn Brothers would continue to toll Chowchilla Mountain Road as part of their Yosemite Stage Route lines. The highway would ultimately become a Mariposa County public highway in 1917. Mariposa would later be more directly linked with Yosemite Valley in 1926 following the completion of the Yosemite All-Year Highwa...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge

At 1.3 kilometers (or about 0.84 miles) in length, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is one of two bridges crossing over the Halifax Harbour between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with the other bridge being the A. Murray Mackay Bridge . Opened in 1955 and named after former Nova Scotia Premier and Canadian Minister of Defense for Naval Services Angus L. Macdonald, the Macdonald Bridge was the first bridge that crossed Halifax Harbour that was opened to traffic. The Macdonald Bridge was also the subject of the Big Lift, which was only the second time in history that the span of a suspension bridge were replaced while the bridge was open to traffic. Planning began in 2010 for the Big Lift, while construction took place between 2015 and 2017. Similar work occurred on the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia before the project took place on the Macdonald Bridge. At this time, much of the bridge infrastructure is new, leaving only the towers, main cables and...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog