Buchanan County, Virginia

Buchanan County Education, Geography, and History

Buchanan County is a county located on the western border near the far western end of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is part of the Southwest Virginia region and lies in the Ridge-and-Valley portion of the Appalachian Mountains. Its county seat is Grundy.

Buchanan County was established in 1858 from parts of Russell and Tazewell counties, and it was named in honor of former President James Buchanan. In 1880, part of Buchanan County was taken to form Dickenson County.

Based on the 2010 census, the county population was 24,098

Etymology - Origin of Buchanan County Name

Buchanan is named for US president James Buchanan

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Buchanan County History

Buchanan County, Virginia formed from Russell and Tazewell Counties. [Virginia Counties: Those Resulting from Virginia Legislation, by Morgan Poitiaux Robinson, originally published as Bulletin of the Virginia State Library, Volume 9, January, April, July 1916, reprinted 1992 by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD.]

Buchanan County was named for the United States president James Buchanan and was formed from Tazewell and Russell Counties in 1858. Its area is 508 square miles, and the county seat is Grundy. The population is 26,978 according to the 2000 census. Buchanan is one of the Commonwealth's Burned Records Counties. County court records were destroyed by fire in 1885; records created after that date suffered extreme damage in a flood in 1977. A few re-recorded deeds exist.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 503.8 square miles (1,304.8 km²), of which 502.7 square miles (1,302.0 km²) is land and 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²) (0.2%) is water.It is home to Poplar Gap Park.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Mingo County, West Virginia - north-northeast
• McDowell County, West Virginia - east
• Tazewell County, Virginia - southeast
• Russell County, Virginia - south
• Dickenson County, Virginia - southwest
• Pike County, Kentucky - northwest

Education

Colleges

Appalachian School of Law, Grundy
Appalachian College of Pharmacy, Oakwood

Private schools

Mountain Mission School, Grundy
Keen Mountain Christian Academy, Oakwood

Public high schools

All public schools in Buchanan County are operated by Buchanan County Public Schools system.

Grundy Senior High School, Grundy
Twin Valley High School, Pilgrims Knob
Council High School, Council
Hurley High School, Hurley

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