Walk Abingdon’s brick streets past buildings from 1779, then catch a show tonight

Abingdon’s Blue Ridge streets go back centuries

Abingdon sits in the Blue Ridge highlands of southwest Virginia, close to the Tennessee border, and its 20-block historic district holds buildings that go back to the late 1700s.

Brick sidewalks line Main Street past Colonial Revival facades, Queen Anne porches, Greek Revival columns and Victorian storefronts. The whole district is on the National Register of Historic Places.

You can walk it end to end in an afternoon, ducking into shops, galleries and restaurants along the way. What you find inside these old walls is where the real story starts.

Wolf Hills, frontier forts and trails heading west

Before it was Abingdon, this spot was called Wolf Hills, then Black’s Fort, a frontier stockade built in the 1770s. The town sits at the intersection of old Native American trails that later carried pioneers west.

It became the county seat of Washington County in 1778.

Two years later, patriots gathered at the nearby Muster Grounds and marched south to the Battle of Kings Mountain. Many of the pre-Civil War buildings from those early decades still stand along Main Street today.

Two-foot stone walls and the oldest mail slot in the Blue Ridge

The Tavern went up in 1779, making it the oldest standing structure in Abingdon and one of the oldest west of the Blue Ridge.

The first story is hand-cut local limestone, the second is log, and the walls run two feet thick.

Over the years the building has served as an inn, post office, bakery, general store, cabinet shop and Civil War hospital.

The first post office on the western slopes of the Blue Ridge sat in its east wing, and you can still see the original mail slot from the street.

Pay 40 cents or bring a chicken to see the show

In 1933, a young actor named Robert Porterfield came home to southwest Virginia from New York during the Great Depression.

He opened the Barter Theatre and told locals they could pay 40 cents or bring produce, livestock or dairy instead of cash. The motto said it all: “With vegetables you cannot sell, you can buy a good laugh.”

About four out of five theatergoers paid with bartered goods.

Virginia named it the State Theatre in 1946, and today it draws more than 160,000 visitors a year with plays, musicals and new Appalachian works.

A Civil War hospital that became a grand hotel

General Francis Preston built his mansion in 1832. By 1858, new owners turned it into Martha Washington College, a school for young women.

When the Civil War broke out, the college became a hospital and barracks, and many of the enrolled students stayed on as nurses. The building became a hotel in 1935 and went through a major renovation in 1984.

You can still see the original parlors, grand staircase and 1800s details. It sits right across Main Street from the Barter Theatre, and both lobbies are open to the public.

Hop on the Virginia Creeper Trail right from downtown

The Virginia Creeper Trail starts in Abingdon’s historic district and runs 34 miles to Whitetop near the North Carolina line.

It follows a former railroad bed through rolling farmland and forests, crossing dozens of trestles and bridges. The first 17 miles from Abingdon to Damascus are mostly flat, and that section is fully open.

Bike rental and shuttle services run in both towns.

The Damascus-to-Whitetop stretch remains closed for repairs after Hurricane Helene caused major damage in late 2024, with work expected to wrap up in late 2026.

Free admission at the only accredited art museum west of Roanoke

The William King Museum of Art opened in 1992 inside a former high school built in 1913.

It is the only nationally accredited art museum in Virginia west of Roanoke, and you can walk in without paying a thing. The galleries rotate frequently with a mix of regional and international work.

If you time it right, you can catch artist talks, workshops or classes for all ages. The building alone is worth a look, but the collections inside give you a real window into Appalachian and broader art.

Watch potters and painters work inside an 1870 train station

The Arts Depot sits in a restored 1870 railroad station right in the historic district. Inside, resident artists keep their studio doors open so you can watch painters, potters and fiber artists at work.

Step back outside and the surrounding blocks hold several independent galleries showing Appalachian and contemporary art. Local shops along the brick sidewalks sell handcrafted jewelry, antiques and specialty goods.

On Saturdays, the Abingdon Farmers Market sets up downtown with produce and goods from area farms.

A Heritage Music Trail celebrating bluegrass and folk art

The Southwest Virginia Cultural Center covers 29,000 square feet and pulls together a visitor center, music venue, artisan marketplace and community space.

More than 200 juried artisans from across southwest Virginia sell pottery, quilts, glasswork, jewelry and woodwork here.

The center also serves as headquarters for The Crooked Road, Virginia’s 330-mile Heritage Music Trail celebrating bluegrass, old-time and gospel traditions.

Heritage music goes live on the first Thursday of every month. Rotating exhibits fill in the story of the surrounding Appalachian region.

Grab fresh cornmeal from a water-powered mill built in the 1790s

A few miles north of downtown, White’s Mill has been grinding grain since the 1790s.

It is one of the last water-powered grist mills still running in southwest Virginia and holds spots on both the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. You can tour all four floors and watch the waterwheel turn.

When you finish, the adjoining Mercantile sells cornmeal and grits milled right on-site. The mill is open May through October, Friday through Sunday.

Where the Overmountain Men started their 330-mile march

On Sept. 24, 1780, hundreds of Virginia patriots gathered at what is now the Abingdon Muster Grounds.

These volunteers, known as the Overmountain Men, set out on a march that ended at the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina, a fight widely considered a turning point in the Southern campaign of the Revolutionary War.

Today the grounds mark the western and northernmost trailhead of the 330-mile Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. An interpretive center sits on-site, though volunteer hours are limited.

Historical plaques and markers fill in the rest.

Colonial headstones and Revolutionary War graves on Russell Road

Sinking Spring Cemetery sits on Russell Road near downtown, and it holds some of Abingdon’s earliest citizens.

You walk past graves of Colonial-era settlers and Revolutionary War soldiers, some marked with simple stone slabs, others with tall Victorian monuments.

The cemetery is a contributing site within the Abingdon Historic District.

Guided walking tours run during community events and the annual Virginia Highlands Festival, but you can visit on your own anytime and read the inscriptions that trace the town back to its first families.

Walk Abingdon’s historic downtown in southwest Virginia

You can find Abingdon in Washington County in southwest Virginia, just off Interstate 81 and about 15 miles northeast of Bristol near the Tennessee border. Downtown is compact enough to cover on foot.

Main Street and the surrounding blocks put most of the shops, galleries, restaurants and historic sites within a short walk of each other.

The Virginia Creeper Trail trailhead sits right in the historic district if you want to stretch the visit into a longer ride or walk.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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