Skip to main content

Small Towns of Virginia Series - Buchanan


Situated along the banks of the James River in Botetourt County, Buchanan is considered "The Gateway to the Shenandoah Valley."  Home to roughly 1,200 residents, Buchanan is one of several small towns along US 11 throughout the valley.

The town was established in 1811 and incorporated in 1832.  It is named after Colonel John Buchanan. Across the James, another community was founded, Pattonsburg. Pattonsburg was named after one of Buchanan's contemporaries, Colonel James Patton.

Pattonsburg was settled first in 1788.  A century later, the two communities merged into the current-day town of Buchanan.

The Buchanan Swing Bridge.

Connecting the two communities over the James has always been a priority.  First connected by a toll covered bridge in 1851, Buchanan and the former Pattonsburg are now served by two bridges - a standard concrete highway bridge built in 1938 carrying US 11 and a unique pedestrian swing bridge.

The Buchanan Swing Bridge Park - featuring the Buchanan Swing Bridge and the Main Street Bridge carrying US 11.

The Buchanan Swing Bridge, which also dates to 1938, is a beloved local landmark.  The pedestrian walkway was constructed at the request of Buchanan's mayor, C.W. Blount, to maintain pedestrian access to the Pattonsburg side of the James.  

The bridge uses the piers of the 1851 covered bridge - which burned down during the Civil War -  and the footer of a former iron bridge that crossed the James from 1897 to 1938.  Today, the bridge is a popular stop with area visitors and features a small park on the south bank of the James.

Kayak launch along the James River in Buchanan.

Buchanan is home to many recreational opportunities.  The James River is popular tubing, kayaking, and fishing location.  The town's proximity to the Appalachian Trail - four miles to the east - and Blue Ridge Parkway make it a popular destination for hiking and exploring nearby waterfalls.

Buchanan boasts that visitors do not need to drive to Washington, DC every spring to see the Cherry Blossoms.  The colorful blossoms boom in the area in late March and early April.  Most of the trees are located in the center of town.

All photos taken by post author - May 2023.

Sources & Links:

How To Get There:


Site Navigation:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County.  The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte.  The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom.  Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail).  La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora.  The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

Route 75 Tunnel - Ironton, Ohio

In the Ohio River community of Ironton, Ohio, there is a former road tunnel that has a haunted legend to it. This tunnel was formerly numbered OH 75 (hence the name Route 75 Tunnel), which was renumbered as OH 93 due to I-75 being built in the state. Built in 1866, it is 165 feet long and once served as the northern entrance into Ironton, originally for horses and buggies and later for cars. As the tunnel predated the motor vehicle era, it was too narrow for cars to be traveling in both directions. But once US 52 was built in the area, OH 93 was realigned to go around the tunnel instead of through the tunnel, so the tunnel was closed to traffic in 1960. The legend of the haunted tunnel states that since there were so many accidents that took place inside the tunnel's narrow walls, the tunnel was cursed. The haunted legend states that there was an accident between a tanker truck and a school bus coming home after a high school football game on a cold, foggy Halloween night in 1