Bristol, Virginia | |||
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Independent city | |||
A sign welcomes visitors to the twin cities of Bristol, Virginia, and Bristol, Tennessee.
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Nickname(s): The Birthplace of Country Music | |||
Motto: A Good Place to Live | |||
Coordinates: 36°36′N 82°11′W / 36.600°N 82.183°W | |||
Country | United States | ||
State | Virginia | ||
County | None (Independent city) | ||
Government | |||
• Type | Council-manager | ||
• Mayor | Bill Hartley | ||
• Vice Mayor | Archie Hubbard, III | ||
• City Manager | Tabitha Crowder | ||
Area | |||
• Independent city | 13.2 sq mi (34.1 km2) | ||
• Land | 13.0 sq mi (33.7 km2) | ||
• Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.4 km2) | ||
Elevation | 1,680 ft (512 m) | ||
Population (2015) | |||
• Independent city | 17,141 | ||
• Density | 1,371/sq mi (529.2/km2) | ||
• Metro | 500,901 | ||
Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) | ||
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
ZIP code | 24201, 24202 | ||
Area code(s) | 276 | ||
FIPS code | 51-09816 | ||
GNIS feature ID | 1492633 | ||
Website | www |
Bristol Police Department | |
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Abbreviation | BPD |
Agency overview | |
Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction* | City of Bristol in the state of Virginia, United States |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Sworn members | 53 |
Unsworn members | 21 |
Agency executive | John S. Austin, Chief |
Website | |
[website] | |
Footnotes | |
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. |
Bristol is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,835. It is the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee, just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State Street. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Bristol, Virginia, with neighboring Washington County, Virginia, for statistical purposes. Bristol is a principal city of the Kingsport–Bristol–Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.
Evan Shelby first appeared in what is now the Bristol area around 1765. In 1766, Shelby, moved his family and settled at a place called Big Camp Meet (now Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia). It is said that Cherokee Indians once inhabited the area and the Indian village was named, according to legend, because numerous deer and buffalo met here to feast in the canebrakes. Shelby renamed the site Sapling Grove (which would later be changed to Bristol). In 1774, Shelby erected a fort on a hill overlooking what is now downtown Bristol. It was an important stopping-off place for notables such as Daniel Boone and George Rogers Clark, as well as hundreds of pioneers’ en route to the interior of the developing nation. This fort, known as Shelby’s Station was actually a combination trading post, way station, and stockade.
By the mid-nineteenth century, when surveyors projected a junction of two railroad lines at the Virginia-Tennessee state line, Reverend James King conveyed much of his acreage to his son-in-law, Joseph R. Anderson. Anderson laid out the original town of Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia and building began in 1853.