Every town has a history, some just seem to have more than others...

Just west of the Blue Ridge Mountains lies a land that was once revered by Indians and jealously sought after by the white men. Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians and secured in the valley formed by the Holston River is Abingdon, a town rich in history and tradition.

When the area was a rugged wilderness, the Cherokee nation lived to the South, while the Shawnee made their home to the North along the Ohio River. However, neither made the Abingdon area their home. Legend has it that the Great Spirit forbade them to come to this lush area because the living would be too easy and the inhabitants would become corrupt.

During the years 1748-1750, Doctor Thomas Walker surveyed for himself 6870 acres of this prime land west of the Blue Ridge. In 1760 Colonel William Byrd and his regiment of men cut the Great Road through what is now Abingdon and on to present-day Kingsport, Tennessee. During that same year, Daniel Boone came and camped in Abingdon. Along with his companion, Nathaniel Gist, he was on his way through the area on a hunting trip. While they camped here, wolves emerged from a cave before them and attacked their dogs. Boone then gave Abingdon its first name, "Wolf Hills." Today, the Cave House Craft Shop sits on the site of the wolves' den.

Abingdon carried the name of "Wolf Hills" until 1774 when Joseph Black erected a fort in the area, and gave it the name "Blacks Fort." After fierce Indian invasions, the fort was enlarged to hold up to 600 men, women, and children. Here, the townspeople remained during the raiding season from early spring to late fall.

In December of 1776, the General Assembly of Virginia established the present-day Washington County. It was the first region in the world named after the great general and Father of our Country. Black's Fort was designated the county seat of Washington County, and remained so until the incorporation of the town of Abingdon in 1778. It is said that the town's name was derived from the name of Martha Washington's family home in Alexandria, Virginia. This loyalty to the Washington family, especially Martha, was to continue throughout Abingdon's history.

On October 7, 1780, the turning-point of the Revolutionary War took place in the Battle of King's Mountain, and Abingdon was not to be left out. Abingdon was located far enough west to escape the major effects of the War; however, when men were needed to fight the British Major Ferguson at King's Mountain, the people of Abingdon responded. Two hundred volunteers assembled in Abingdon, and marched out under the command of General William Campbell. The volunteers aided in defeating Ferguson, a defeat that resulted in a three month delay for the British Commander Cornwallis. This time proved invaluable for the troops of Virginia in their preparations for the final campaign of 1781.

By 1800, Abingdon was a well-established population center of Southwest Virginia, and this was the Abingdon that attracted Francis Preston in 1830. It was in this year that he began building on his mansion-like home, now known as the Martha Washington Inn. In 1858 the Preston home was purchased by the Martha Washington College for Women. The first session of classes held there ran from March to July 1860. The College struggled throughout and after the Civil War and closed permanently in 1931, due to the effects of the Depression on the region. The Inn, as it appears today, was restored in 1984 after a long career housing Barter Theatre actors and functioning as an inn. It is surrounded by stories and legends, such as the horse who lost its Union rider to a Rebel bullet, and still roams the grounds on moon-lit nights; a beautiful student whose sweet violin melodies played for a dying soldier can still be heard; and the reappearing stain made by blood shed by a Confederate soldier.

Abingdon was not left untouched by the Civil War. After Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, 1861, Colonel James F. Preston became leader of the Washington Mounted Riflemen. He led his troops from Abingdon to Saltville to become a part of Southwest Virginia's most important task: protecting the valuable salt mines. The Union had quickly realized the South's need for salt to preserve the soldiers' meat, and began to press toward Saltville to blockade the railroad; thus, the desperate need for protection. Several Confederate troops moved through Abingdon, en route to Northern Virginia to fight such battles as the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Manassas, also known as Bull Run.

In December of 1864, as the War was nearing its end, Union General Stephen Burbridge invaded Tennessee and moved North to conquer Abingdon. The local Confederate troops, led by General Basil Duke, realized their early defeat and fled into the houses. Burbridge moved on after his success; however, one Union soldier, Captain James Wyatt, remained in Abingdon to seek revenge for a wrong done him before the War. He went to the Court House and set it on fire, then continued up Main Street, burning the buildings on the South side. He stopped at the intersection with Court Street, turned his horse around, unholstered his rifle, and prepared to relax and watch the defeated little town go up in flames. Two Confederate soldiers, clad in Union uniforms for protection, witnessed this disastrous event and succeeded in shooting Wyatt and leaving town on his horse. Soon, the Civil War ended, and Abingdon was left to rebuild, along with the rest of the South.

Abingdon bounced back quickly after the War Between the States, and by 1875, prosperity had returned. By the early part of the 20th Century, Abingdon followed the trend that had swept the Appalachian Mountains: lumbering. In 1903 the Hassinger family came to Abingdon from Pennsylvania to appraise the timber country surrounding Whitetop Mountain. William Hassinger built his home here in 1906. This Victorian house now contains the Abingdon Convention & Visitors Bureau. A great flood in 1916, and the onset of the Depression, led to the demise of the lumber business in the Abingdon area.

The Depression, while causing the downfall of lumbering and the Martha Washington College, brought to Abingdon one of its greatest treasures: the Barter Theatre. In 1933, Robert Porterfield gathered 22 fellow actors and headed to Abingdon, a town located near his hometown of Glade Spring, Virginia. Here, he established the idea of "ham for Hamlet," bartering foodstuffs in exchange for a ticket to the theatre. Playwrights, including Noel Coward, Tennessee Williams, and Thornton Wilder, agreed to accept ham as royalties. One exception was George Bernard Shaw, a vegetarian, who bartered the rights to his plays for spinach. Barter Theatre became the State Theatre of Virginia in 1946, with help from Eleanor Roosevelt; and in 1965 Lady Bird Johnson bartered a potted plant for a ticket. Barter's heritage is rich and colorful and includes many famous thespians: Ernest Borgnine, Hume Cronyn, Gregory Peck, and Ned Beatty, just to name a few!

Today, Abingdon is proud of its history and rich heritage. As you stroll down the shaded brick sidewalks, it's as if you have stepped back in time. It's easy to imagine the frightful night spent by Daniel Boone, the girlish laughter echoing from the Martha Washington Inn, and the applause of an audience of poor farmers at the Barter Theatre. Abingdon is indeed a history-filled town and an entertaining trip through time.