page_title: Blacksburg, Virginia
section_title: Incorporation, modernization (1871–1951)
hierarchical_section_title: Blacksburg, Virginia / History / Incorporation, modernization (1871–1951)
caption_attribution_description: English: Coal Breaker of Virginia Anthracite Coal Company at Merrimac Mines, near Blacksburg, Virginia. Identifier: cassiersmagazi2719041newy Title: Cassier's magazine Year: 1891 (1890s) Authors: Subjects: Engineering Publisher: New York Cassier Magazine Co. Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: on againshows back of Winchester, Va., in High-land County, in Roanoke County westof Salem, and in Montgomery Countyin the vicinity of Blacksburg, the forma-tion running on up through Pulaski,extending from there a short distanceinto Wythe county, and showing againin North Carolina. All of the payingcoal of these deposits lies in Montgomeryand Pulaski Counties. Outside of thesetwo counties the coal is either pinchedout or so broken or crushed as to bevalueless commercially, except for somespecial metallurgical purposes. Unfortunately, the deposits above de-scribed, except in Montgomery andPulaski Counties, are along the seat ofviolent geological disturbances, which,occurring after the coal was formed andhardened, caused it to crush, and inmany cases become powdered. It isfor this reason that the paying deposits ofcoal have occurred in Montgomery andPulaski Counties only, and even inPulaski County the crushing and dis-torting have occurred to such an extent VIRGINIA ANTHRACITE COAL 329 Text Appearing After Image: THE COAL BREAKER OF THE VIRGINIA ANTHRACITE COAL COMPANY AT THE MERRIMAC MINESNEAR BLACKSBURG that the coals are in many cases worth-less. So far, the only paying mining hasbeen done in the Blacksburg region andin the Pulaski region on the Norfolk &amp;Western Railroad, where the outcropcrosses the New River. The old BellHampton mine was opened and operatedten or fifteen years ago, and a numberof miles of narrow gauge railroad werebuilt to carry the coal to the Norfolk &amp;Western Railroad. After having beenoperated for a few years the propertywas abandoned and the rails were takenup from the railroad. The mines at Dry Branch, or Kim-ball, on the Norfolk &amp; Western, and onthe banks of the New River, have beenmined extensively, but apparently notat any great profit. This seam carriesa belt of bituminous dust 3 feet thick,which it is practically impossible to burnunder any ordinary boiler, but which is 4-5 used successfully in the smelting of zinc,and possibly could be used very suc Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 42,620 at the 2010 census. Blacksburg, as well as the surrounding county, is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of Virginia Tech.
  Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and the city of Radford are the three principal jurisdictions of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses those jurisdictions and all of Montgomery, Pulaski, and Giles counties for statistical purposes. The MSA has an estimated population of 181,863 and is currently one of the faster-growing MSAs in Virginia.
  In 2011, BusinessWeek named Blacksburg as the "Best Place in the U.S. to Raise Kids". Also in 2011, readers of Southern Living named Blacksburg the "Best College Town in the South". Its public transportation system, Blacksburg Transit, which also connects to the neighboring town of Christiansburg, has repeatedly been recognized for the quality of its service. Blacksburg High School, which in 2013 opened a new building, is often ranked among the top schools of the nation for its academics.
context_section_description: In 1871, the village that became known as Blacksburg was incorporated and Thomas W. Jones became the first mayor.
  One year later, the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College opened its doors on October 2, 1872 with a faculty of three members. The college grew and became known as Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, which shortly afterward became informally referred to as Virginia Tech. It is a Virginia land-grant university.
  A fire-fighting unit was organized within the university in 1899. The town bought its first fire truck 43 years later. The Blacksburg First Aid and Life Saving Crew was founded in 1951 and renamed Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad in another addition to the growing amount of emergency services.
  The first automobile came through the town in 1901. Three years later the train entered Blacksburg from Christiansburg using the Virginia Anthracite & Coal Railroad, which later became known as the "Huckleberry." Traffic in Blacksburg increased sufficiently enough that by January 1913 the town voted against allowing cows to continue to roam in town. The first filling station was opened in 1919 and at the time was the only one between Roanoke, Virginia and Bluefield, West Virginia. The town's first landing strip was built in 1929 and was 1,800 feet (548.64 m) in length. The grass landing strip was given airport status in 1931 and later became Virginia Tech Airport. Local buses began to make their rounds for the first time in 1947.
  The town's first theater was built in 1909. It was a precursor to the Lyric Theatre on College Avenue.
  In the spring of 1935, Main Street was strung with ten street lights from Roanoke Street northward to the top of the hill, where it now intersects the Alumni Mall. By October the town's second stoplight was installed on Main Street at Roanoke Street and was synchronized with the original one at Main and College. The establishment of official law enforcement began in 1937 when Officer Dave "Highpockets" Sumner became the first Blacksburg police officer. The first police car was purchased nine years later.
caption: Coal Breaker of the Virginia Anthracite Coal Company at Merrimac Mines near Blacksburg, 1904
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