Pennington Gap, VA

Pennington Gap is a Lee County town at the junction of U.S. Route 58A and U.S. Route 421 in southwest Virginia. The 2020 census counted 1,624 residents. The town sits in the Powell River Valley, where roads lead toward Kentucky, Tennessee, and the rest of Lee County. Lee County Community Hospital, Lee County Public Schools, volunteer rescue services, and a commercial core along the railroad give Pennington Gap a regional role beyond its town limits.

The Pennington Gap Land Improvement Company platted the town in the early 1890s, and the Cumberland Valley Branch of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad became its organizing force. Coal and timber from the surrounding mountains moved through the valley, while the commercial district supplied nearby rural residents and coal camps. The post office opened in 1891, and the town’s commercial district is now listed on the Virginia and National Registers of Historic Places. The county hospital closed in 2013 and reopened as Lee County Community Hospital in 2021. Pennington Gap remains a railroad-and-valley town whose stores, schools, and medical services serve a wide rural map.