Cedar Bluff, VA

Cedar Bluff grew at the falls of the Clinch River, where waterpower and the Old Kentucky Turnpike made a nineteenth-century mill town. The turnpike was chartered in 1848 as the road between the Tazewell courthouse and Richlands, and its course still runs through the historic center. The Old Kentucky Turnpike Historic District includes the Clinch Valley Roller Mills, the McGuire-Peery House, and the 1874 Cedar Bluff High School, which stands above the town. Milling, trade, coal, timber, and agriculture all left marks on the river valley.

The river remains the town’s strongest geographic reference point. Cedar Bluff Overlook Park and its trail sit above the Clinch, while the historic streets hold houses and commercial buildings from the town’s working years. Residents are connected to the Bluefield micropolitan area for larger employment, shopping, and health services, but local government, schools, churches, and small businesses keep the town’s daily life close to the river. Cedar Bluff is a place where the old road, the mill falls, and the overlook still line up: each points to a different part of the same Appalachian town story.