Editing Bristol, Virginia (section)

==History==
[[File:Bristol.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bristol Virginia–Tennessee slogan sign]]]]
[[Evan Shelby]] first appeared in what is now the Bristol area around 1765. In 1766, Shelby moved his family and settled at a place called Big Camp Meet (now Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia). It is said that [[Cherokee Indians]] once inhabited the area and the Indian village was named, according to legend, because numerous deer and buffalo met here to feast in the [[canebrake]]s. Shelby renamed the site Sapling Grove (which would later be changed to Bristol). In 1774, Shelby erected a fort on a hill overlooking what is now downtown Bristol. It was an important stopping-off place for notables such as Daniel Boone and George Rogers Clark, as well as hundreds of pioneers en route to the interior of the developing nation. This fort, known as Shelby's Station was actually a combination trading post, way station, and stockade.<ref name=discover>{{cite web|url=http://discoverbristol.org/history-of-bristol/|title=The History of Bristol|work=Discover Bristol|access-date=14 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220123649/http://discoverbristol.org/history-of-bristol/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

By the mid-nineteenth century, when surveyors projected a junction of two railroad lines at the Virginia-Tennessee state line, Reverend James King conveyed much of his acreage to his son-in-law, Joseph R. Anderson. Anderson laid out the original town of Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia and building began in 1853.<ref name=discover/>

Samuel Goodson, who owned land that adjoined the original town of Bristol TN/VA at its northern boundary (Beaver Creek was the dividing line), started a development known as Goodsonville. Anderson was unable to incorporate Bristol across the state lines of Tennessee and Virginia. In 1856, Goodsonville and the original Bristol, Virginia were merged to form the composite town of Goodson, Virginia.<ref name=discover/>

Incorporation for Bristol, Tennessee and Goodson, Virginia occurred in 1856. The Virginia and Tennessee Railroads reached the cities in the late summer of 1856. Due to having two different railroads companies, two depots served the cities; one in Bristol, Tenn. and the other in Goodson, Va. However, the depot located in Goodson continued to be referred to as Bristol, Virginia. In 1890, Goodson, Virginia once again took the name Bristol.<ref name=discover/>

[[The Grove (Bristol, Virginia)|The Grove]], [[Solar Hill Historic District]], and [[Walnut Grove (Bristol, Virginia)|Walnut Grove]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>