East Stone Gap, VA

East Stone Gap is an unincorporated community and census-designated place on the east side of Big Stone Gap in Wise County, Virginia. U.S. Route 23 separates the two settlements, and the 2020 census counted 537 residents. The community's post office uses ZIP code 24246, while the larger Big Stone Gap supplies the nearby town center. The area sits in the lower Powell Valley, a mountain corridor shaped by coal, railroads, and the commercial growth of Big Stone Gap.

That shared geography shows up in everyday institutions. Union Primary, Union Middle, and Union High are in Big Stone Gap, as is Mountain Empire Community College. Big Stone Gap's museums, historic sites, parks, and the outdoor drama The Trail of the Lonesome Pine give the surrounding area its cultural map, while Wise County's roads and school system connect East Stone Gap to the wider valley. The local scoop is the arrangement: a community with its own name and postal identity, set beside a larger Appalachian town whose schools, stories, and services define the immediate orbit.