Bland County, Virginia

Bland County Education, Geography, and History

Bland County is a county located in the southwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Like most of Southwestern Virginia, it is part of the Appalachian region. The county seat is the unincorporated village of Bland.

Bland County was created in 1861 from parts of Wythe, Tazewell, and Giles counties in Virginia. The new county was named in honor of Richard Bland, a Virginia statesman who served in the House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress.

Based on the 2010 census, the county population was 6,824

Etymology - Origin of Bland County Name

Bland is named for Virginia statesman and Founding Father Richard Bland.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Bland County History

Bland County, Virginia formed from Giles, Tazewell, and Wythe Counties. Giles County contributed another small portion in 1899-1900. [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.]

Bland County was formed in 1861 from portions of Giles, Wythe and Tazewell Counties. The people of the area had become dissatisfied with the distance to the various county seats. The rough mountain trails did not lend themselves to the quick and pleasant conduct of necessary legal affairs. There was also great dissatisfaction with taxes paid for the benefit of those far removed from the rugged mountains and valleys of Bland. Thus an act to establish the County of Bland passed the General Assembly of the State of Virginia on March 30, 1861. The county was named after Richard Bland, a leader of Colonial Virginia whose arguments laid the intellectual foundation for freedom and independence from the mother country. County seat is Bland . All but a few record books and some chancery papers were destroyed by fire in 1888.

Geography: Land and Water

Bland County lies within the Appalachian Regional Commission's definition of the Appalachian region. The County is mountainous with small river valleys running through the county.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Giles County, VA to the northeast
• Mercer County, WV to the north
• Pulaski County, VA to the east
• Smyth County, VA to the southwest
• Tazewell County, VA to the west
• Wythe County, VA to the south

Education

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