Bristol, VA news and local guide

By the mid-19th century, when surveyors planned a junction of two railroads at the Virginia-Tennessee line, the Rev. James King gave much of his land to his son-in-law, Joseph R. Anderson, who laid out the original town of Bristol across the state line, and building began in 1853. Samuel Goodson, who owned the land just north across Beaver Creek, started a development called Goodsonville. Anderson could not incorporate one town across two states, and in 1856 Goodsonville and the Virginia part of Bristol merged as the town of Goodson, Virginia. Bristol, Tennessee, and Goodson were both incorporated that year, and the railroads reached them in late summer 1856. With two railroad companies, the twin towns had two depots, but the one in Goodson was still called Bristol, Virginia. In 1890 Goodson took back the name Bristol when it became an independent city. The Grove, Solar Hill Historic District and Walnut Grove are on the National Register of Historic Places. Sources Wikipedia: Bristol, Virginia