Independence, VA

Independence became Grayson County's seat in 1850 after a dispute between Old Town and the Elk Creek area. Three commissioners chose a grove where five streams met below Point Lookout Mountain, and the name honored the local independents who backed that site. The county seat remains the town's organizing fact. The red-brick 1908 Grayson County Courthouse now houses the Grayson Crossroads Museum, arts and cultural programs, performances, and a gift shop. Independence also sits on Virginia's Crooked Road, the heritage route that follows Southwest Virginia's music traditions.

U.S. 21 and Virginia Route 58 meet at the courthouse, where Town Park occupies the opposite side of Main Street. The park's timber-frame pavilion hosts the Independence Farmers Market on Fridays from May through October, with online ordering continuing through the year. July 4 celebrations and the autumn Mountain Foliage Festival bring the county-seat crossroads into the calendar, while Grayson County roads lead toward Galax, Fries, and the North Carolina line. Independence is a mountain courthouse town with music, produce, and local history folded into the same few blocks.