User:Pmcginty/Sandbox

1800-1899

• Solitude built, oldest building on the Virginia Tech campus (1801)
• "BLACKSBURGH" (1827)
• first permanent Methodist church built (1830)
• land deeded for first cemetery (1832)
• Blacksburg Female Academy incorporated (1840)
• First Presbyterian church built (now South Main Cafe) (1847)
• Blacksburg Savings Institution established (first bank in Montgomery County) (1849)
• Olin and Preston Institute (1851)
• first Baptist church built (1852)
• Preston and Olin Institute, Montgomery Messenger published its first issue (1869)
• Town incorporation, Thomas W. Jones becomes first mayor (1871)
• Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (1872)
• first Episcopalian church built (1879)
• first Lutheran church built (1883)
• first fire-fighting unit organized (1899)

1900-1949

• first automobile seen in Blacksburg (1901)
• first train ran into Blacksburg (1904)
• first theater (the original Lyric Theater)(1909)
• first filling station (1919)
• first landing strip (1929), given airport status (1931)
• Town installs lights on Main Street and street signs (1935)
• Officer Dave "Highpockets" Sumner, first Blacksburg police officer (1937)
• Town buys first fire truck (1942)
• Town buys first police car (1946)
• First town buses begin runs (1947)

1950-1979

• Blacksburg First Aid and Life Saving Crew founded (1951)
• Blacksburg High School built on South Main and Eheart Streets (1952)
• Blacksburg High School moves to new South Main Street building, now site of Blacksburg Middle School; Jack Goodwin, first chief of police (1954)
• Last run of the Huckleberry rail passenger service (1958)
• Margaret J. Beeks Elementary School, Gilbert F. Linkous School completed (1963)
• Renovated Smithfield Plantation house opens, Corning Glass Works opens south of Blacksburg (1964)
• First Montgomery County Interstate 81 stretch opens (1965)
• Last Huckleberry freight train leaves (1966)
• Blacksburg Municipal Building on South Main Street constructed, U. S. 460 bypass opens (1969)
• Blacksburg Branch of the Montgomery County Library opened, Terrace View apartments, first large student complex built (1970)
• Town has new charter, Montgomery Regional Hospital built (1971)
• Harding Avenue Elementary School (1972)
• New Blacksburg High School on Patrick Henry Drive opens, Main Street facilities were converted to Blacksburg Middle School, University Mall shopping center opens (1974)
• Jan Olinger, first woman police officer (1975)
• Deadwood Days summer festival begins (later renamed Steppin' Out) (1976)

1980-2007

• Blacksburg Branch of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library moves into facility that used to house Blacksburg Lumber Company on Draper Road (1980)
• Blacksburg Community Center (built at cost of $1.2 million) opens (1981)
• Blacksburg Transit began running (1983)
• New River Valley Mall opened, Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center first ground-breaking (1988)
• Blacksburg Electronic Village begun (1993)
• Kipps Elementary School opens (1994)
• New Blacksburg branch library opens, first phase of the Huckleberry Trail opens (1996)
• Ground broken for experimental "Smart Road" (1997)
• second phase of Huckleberry Trail complete (1998)
• second phase of "Smart Road" completed (2002)
• William Morva manhunt (2006)
• Virginia Tech massacre (2007)

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Blacksburg's establishment (1798-1870)

After Black petitioned the state legislature to establish a town at the site, the official establishment and founding of Blacksburg, Virginia was January 13, 1798 on the thirty-eight and three-quarter acre tract that he laid out. The following August 4, he signed over the deed to the town trustees. The town was named after him in his honor.

In 1801, a humble log cabin was built, one that was not distinguishable from any other at the time. It went on to be the home of the future colonel of the 28th Virginia Infantry Robert Preston and two Virginia governors. The cabin, now known as "Solitude," is the oldest building on the Virginia Tech campus.

According to records of the Post Office Department of the National Archives and Records Administration, the post office at Blacksburg, Montgomery County was established as "BLACKSBURGH" on April 8, 1827. The name was changed to the current spelling (without the "h") in 1893.

Even though the Methodists had built two cabins to worship in since the town's founding, they did not build a more permanent structure until 1830, when a brick church was constructed. The Presbyterians were the next Christian denomination to build a church within Blacksburg's limits. In 1848 they built their first brick building at 117 South Main Street. Though still standing, this building has not been used as a church for many years. It was once South Main Café, but is currently Cabo Fish Taco. It is also the oldest building on Main Street. The Baptists founded the third oldest church in the town in 1852.

In 1832, Westview Cemetery was established from a few acres of land that were deeded to trustees.

One of the first educational establishments started in Blacksburg was the Blacksburg Female Academy in 1840. The Olin and Preston Institute (re-charted as Preston and Olin Institute in 1869) was a Methodist-sponsored academy established in 1851.

The first bank in Montgomery County, Blacksburg Savings Institution, was established in 1849.

The first newspaper published in Blacksburg was the Montgomery Messenger. Its first issue was released in 1869.

Incorporation and modernization (1871-1951)

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. Through the influence of presidential policies over the next century, the college grew and became known as Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, which shortly afterward became informally referred to as Virginia Tech.

In an effort to increase one of the town's emergency services, 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 as another addition to the growing amount of emergency services.

Very shortly after the beginning of the 20th century, Blacksburg began to experience a techological boost. The first automobile came through the town in 1901 and it was a spectacle for the community. Three years later another mode of transportation, 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 meters) in length. The grass landing strip was given airport status in 1931 and later became Virginia Tech Airport. The community also got an extra mode of transportation as 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 Theater which stands on College Avenue today.

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.

Compulsory education and commercialization (1952-1992)

Blacksburg experienced a boost of compulsory education during the second half of the 20th century. Even though there had been a place for secondary education somewhere in town since 1906, it was not until 1952 when the first official location for Blacksburg High School was built on South Main and Eheart Streets. That same year, all high schools in Montgomery County began operating on a twelve-grade basis which is still county policy to this day. Two years later, Blacksburg High School was relocated to a building on South Main Street which eventually became the site of Blacksburg Middle School. The Margaret J. Beeks Elementary School and the Gilbert F. Linkous School were both completed in 1963 and Harding Avenue Elementary School was built in 1972. Two years later, Blacksburg High School's current spot in town on Patrick Henry Drive was opened in 1974 after 20 years of issues with overcrowding in its previous location.

Jack Goodwin was appointed the first chief of police by the Blacksburg Town Council in 1954. Jan Olinger was made the first female police officer in 1976.

1958 was the year that marked the beginning of the end for the railroad that came to be known as the "Huckleberry." Passenger service came to an end on July 25. It would not be until June 30, 1966 when the last freight train arrived at the Blacksburg depot. Within 24 hours, the depot was closed, the empty cars were picked up, and the tracks were immediately removed.

190 years after its original construction, the newly renovated Smithfield Plantation house was re-opened in 1964.

The amount of commercialization in the area began to increase in the mid-1960s. An important opening that occurred was the Corning Glass Works (now called Corning Incorporated) facility in 1964 which is located south of Blacksburg. The Blacksburg Municipal Building on South Main Street was constructed in 1969. Terrace View apartments, the first large student complex, was built in 1970. The Blacksburg Branch of the Montgomery County Library was opened the same year. Ten years later, it was moved into the facility that used to house the Blacksburg Lumber Company on Draper Road. In 1971, Blacksburg ratified a new charter and Montgomery Regional Hospital was built. The University Mall shopping center opened that year as well. During 1981, the Blacksburg Community Center opened. It cost the town $1.2 million to build. By 1988, the New River Valley Mall was opened and the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center had its first ground-breaking ceremony.

After construction of Virginia's portion of Interstate 81 began in 1957, it took about nine years until the segment that ran alongside the town was opened in November 1965. About half that amount of time passed before the U.S. Route 460 bypass opened in 1969.

In the 1970s, Blacksburg's population more than tripled as Virginia Tech was annexed into the town and other land area was also brought in. The population grew from 9,000 people to 30,000 during this decade.

Replacing the old public bus system, Blacksburg Transit began running in 1983.

Into the Information Age (1993-2005)

Blacksburg is the site of the Blacksburg Electronic Village or BEV, conceived as a computer networking project of Virginia Tech in 1991 and officially born in 1993 as a way to link the town together using the Internet. This project quickly ushered the town into what is being called the Information Age.

In 1994, Kipps Elementary School was opened. By this time, Blacksburg could boast five elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school as part of the public education of its children.

A new Blacksburg branch library was opened in 1996.

After 24 years of abandonment and six years of planning and construction, the first phase of the Huckleberry Trail opened in 1996. The second phase of construction was completed in 1998.

On July 8, 1997, ground was broken for the experimental "Smart Road" project. The second phase of construction was completed in 2002, resulting in the creation of the first road connecting Blacksburg to Interstate 81.

Recent tragedies (2006-2007)

Unfortunately, Blacksburg's recent history has been marred by tragedy. On August 20, 2006, William Morva, a 24-year-old resident who became a prisoner awaiting trial for attempted armed robbery, exacerbated his criminal record when he brutally assaulted a deputy, fatally wounded a hospital security guard at Montgomery Regional Hospital, and murdered a Montgomery County sheriff's officer on the Huckleberry Trail by next morning. His subsequent escape and manhunt caused so much panic on Virginia Tech's campus during its first day of the fall semester that all classes were canceled and the campus was closed. Morva was brought into custody that afternoon.

Less than a year after that, the campus would once again witness chaos. On April 16, 2007, a school shooting comprising two separate attacks about two hours apart in Ambler Johnston Hall and Norris Hall occurred. The horrible events of that day are known as the Virginia Tech massacre. The perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old South Korean english major at Virginia Tech, killed 32 people and wounded 25 others before committing suicide, making it the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.