Blacksburg, VA
| Blacksburg, Virginia | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
| Town of Blacksburg | |
A view of downtown Blacksburg
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 Blacksburg's location within Virginia |
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 Virginia's location within the United States |
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| Coordinates: 37°13′48″N 80°25′4″W / 37.23000°N 80.41778°WCoordinates: 37°13′48″N 80°25′4″W / 37.23000°N 80.41778°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Montgomery |
| Founded | 1798 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Ron Rordam |
| Area | |
| • Town | 19.89 sq mi (50.2 km2) |
| • Land | 19.89 sq mi (50.1 km2) |
| • Water | 0.04 sq mi (0.0 km2) 0.10% |
| Elevation | 2,080 ft (633 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Town | 42,620 |
| • Density | 2,142.5/sq mi (849.0/km2) |
| • Metro | 159,587 |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 24060–24063 |
| Area code(s) | 540 |
| FIPS code | 51-07784 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1498405 |
| Website | http://www.blacksburg.gov/ |
Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 42,620 at the 2010 census. Blacksburg is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University).
Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford are the three principal jurisdictions of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses those jurisdictions and all of Montgomery, Pulaski, and Giles counties for statistical purposes. The MSA has an estimated population of 159,587 and is currently one of the faster-growing MSAs in Virginia.
The town and Virginia Tech campus have a long tradition of safety and living satisfaction, despite the Virginia Tech shootings that occurred on April 16, 2007. In 2011, BusinessWeek named Blacksburg the "Best Place in the U.S. to Raise Kids". Also in 2011, readers of Southern Living named Blacksburg the "Best College Town in the South". Its public transportation system, Blacksburg Transit, which also connects to the neighboring town of Christiansburg, has repeatedly received recognition for the quality of its service.Blacksburg High School, which in 2013 unveiled its new state-of-the-art building, is often ranked among the top schools of the nation for its academics and its Soccer, Track, and Cross Country teams are also among the top in the state.
In the mid-1600s, English colonists were still uncertain of what lay beyond the Allegheny Mountains, whose topography and possession by native inhabitants, Tutelo-speaking tribes, were a barrier to expanded settlement by the Colony of Virginia. Abraham Wood, who commanded Fort Henry on the frontier (now the site of Petersburg, Virginia), and operated an Indian trading post nearby, organized several expeditions to explore farther west. A passage over the ridge was finally found in 1671 when explorers Batts and Fallam, sent by Wood, reached the present-day location of Blacksburg, Virginia. Their expedition followed Stroubles Creek, through the current locations of the town and campus of Virginia Tech to what they named Wood's River.
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