Editing South Boston, Virginia (section)

== History ==
{{PresHead|place=South Boston, Virginia|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|website=Uselectionatlas.org|access-date=February 28, 2019}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|1,435|1,051|271|Virginia}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|1,694|936|15|Virginia}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|1,899|974|20|Virginia}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|1,615|971|63|Virginia}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|1,389|1,001|48|Virginia}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|1,865|709|31|Virginia}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|1,298|620|669|Virginia}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|1,206|636|1|Virginia}}
{{PresFoot|1960|Republican|807|477|3|Virginia}}

On December 8, 1796, the [[Virginia General Assembly]] authorized eight commissioners to establish at Boyd's Ferry on the south side of the [[Dan River (Virginia)|Dan River]] the town of South Boston, named for [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]]. Because this site proved vulnerable to flooding, it was eventually abandoned in favor of a new settlement on the north side. By the 1850s the [[Richmond and Danville Railroad]] passed through South Boston, which eventually developed into an important market for brightleaf tobacco. In 1884 it was incorporated as a town; in 1960 it became an [[independent city]]; and in 1995 it made history by being the first city in Virginia to revert to town status and rejoined Halifax County.

Within the town limits [[Berry Hill Plantation]], [[E. L. Evans House]], [[Reedy Creek Site]], [[South Boston Historic District]], are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> [[Fourqurean House]], [[Glennmary]], [[Glenwood (South Boston, Virginia)|Glenwood]], [[Tarover]], and [[Seaton (South Boston, Virginia)|Seaton]] are nearby.

South Boston was home to the National Tobacco Festival (a typically three day annual festival held every fall) from its inception in 1935 to 1941, when it was suspended during [[World War II]]. In 1948, the festival was moved to [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] when it outgrew the town. It was held in Richmond until 1984, when it was canceled due to rising production costs and decreased interest.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Heatwole|first=Anne-Ryan|date=July 21, 2010|title=New Looks for the Old Belt|url=http://www.virginialiving.com/articles/new-looks-for-the-old-belt/|access-date=January 9, 2021|website=VirginiaLiving.com|language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Tobacco Festival Unfiltered|url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/726b285c003b45bfb92bb94174ef4ac5|access-date=January 9, 2021|website=ArcGIS StoryMaps|date=May 6, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> South Boston was the second largest producer of tobacco in the United States until the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]].