A Brief History On Blacksburg



Blacksburg, Virginia, was founded in 1798 on a thirty-eight acre tract laid out and deeded by William Black for whom the town was named. The original town was limited to a sixteen-block area bounded by present-day Draper Road, Jackson Street, Wharton Street, and Clay Street. Blacksburg's town limits were slightly northeast of an earlier frontier settlement dating from 1748 called Draper' s Meadow, near the Duck Pond on the Virginia Tech campus. Smithfield, built in 1773 by William Preston, sits on the original Draper's Meadow site.

Blacksburg and Virginia Tech have grown together. Now celebrating the town's Bicentennial (as well as the 250th anniversary of the Draper's Meadow settlement), interest in the town's history and development continues to grow. Researchers and those who simply want to know more about Blacksburg's history alike can find a wealth of information on the history of the town in the Virginia Tech libraries.