Coeburn, VA

Coeburn is a Wise County town along the Guest River, with U.S. 58 Alternate running between Norton and St. Paul and Virginia Route 72 passing through downtown. The river shapes more than a boundary line: below town it enters a six-mile gorge with forested cliffs, and the Guest River Gorge Trail follows the old Interstate Railroad grade through Jefferson National Forest. Coeburn’s three schools—Coeburn Primary, Coeburn Middle, and Eastside High—keep the present-day map grounded in local institutions. That route still matters.

The town began as Guest Station, a name tied to explorer and surveyor Christopher Gist, and changed to Coeburn after the railroad’s W. W. Coe and Judge W. E. Burns. Coal shaped the town’s working history, while the rail corridor now carries walkers and bicyclists instead of trains. The Swede Tunnel, river crossings, and waterfalls make the gorge trail the memorable local route. Picture Coeburn as an Appalachian transportation town whose old industrial line now leads into the Guest River’s canyon.