Editing Blacksburg, Virginia (section)

===Blacksburg's establishment (1798–1870)===
[[File:Blacksburg Virginia old town hall.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Blacksburg's old town hall]]
[[File:Post Office Blacksburg Virginia.JPG|thumb|right|200px|The downtown Post Office in Blacksburg]]

After Black petitioned the state legislature to establish a town at the site, the official establishment and founding of Blacksburg was January 13, 1798, on the {{convert|38.75|acre|adj=on}} tract that he laid out.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/histbook/chapter2.htm|title=Chapter 2, Early Blacksburg, 1740s-1840s|last1=Wallenstein|first1=Peter|editor-last=Cox|editor-first=Clara B.|website=A Special Place for 200 Years: A History of Blacksburg, Virginia|publisher=Town of Blacksburg, Virginia, and Virginia Tech Special Collections|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20180521195504/https://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/histbook/chapter2.htm|archive-date=May 21, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=January 13, 2016|ref=earlybb}}</ref> The following August 4, he signed over the deed to the town [[trustee]]s.<ref name="early"/> The town was named after him in his honor.

In 1808, a log cabin was built just east of Smithfield Plantation. Robert Preston, a future colonel of the [[28th Virginia Infantry]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=vt/viblbv00529.xml|title=A Guide to the Robert Taylor Preston Papers, 1849-1871 (Bulk 1861-1862), Ms1992-003|website=ead.lib.virginia.edu|access-date=June 21, 2019}}</ref> lived here, as did two Virginia governors. The cabin was later added to in the mid 19th century to create a [[Greek Revival]] farmhouse now known as [[Solitude (Blacksburg, Virginia)|Solitude]], which is the oldest building on the Virginia Tech campus. In 1872, the 250 acre Solitude farm became the central campus of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the house, after the death of its owner in the following decade, served as a college infirmary from 1882 to 1886. It was later used for faculty housing.<ref name="solitude">{{cite web|url=http://spec.lib.vt.edu/archives/solitude|title=Solitude|date=April 1, 2009|publisher=Virginia Tech Special Collections|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20180521194951/http://spec.lib.vt.edu/archives/solitude/|archive-date=May 21, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=January 2, 2013}}</ref>

According to records of the Post Office Department of the [[National Archives and Records Administration]], the post office was established as "BLACKSBURGH" on April 8, 1827. The name was changed to the current spelling (without the "h") in 1893.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/altman76.htm|title=Blacksburg Was Incorporated Year Before Virginia Tech Opened Doors|last=Altman|first=Mrs. W. D.|date=July 1, 1976|work=News Messenger (Montgomery Count, VA)|access-date=January 2, 2013|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20180521212348/http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/altman76.htm|archive-date=May 21, 2018|publisher=Virginia Tech Special Collections|edition=Bicentennial|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Methodist]]s had built two cabins to worship in since the town's founding, but they did not build a more permanent structure until 1830, when they constructed a brick church.<ref name="bodell">{{cite web|url=http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/histbook/bodell.htm|title=Chapter 4, Blacksburg Social Life and Customs|last=Bodell|first=Dorothy H.|editor-last=Cox|editor-first=Clara B.|website=A Special Place for 200 Years|publisher=Town of Blacksburg, Virginia, and Virginia Tech Special Collections|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20180521212443/http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/histbook/bodell.htm|archive-date=May 21, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=January 2, 2013}}</ref> The [[Presbyterian]]s were the next Christian denomination to build a church within Blacksburg's limits. In 1848 they built their first brick building<ref name="prsbtrin">[http://blacksburgpres.org/history.shtml Blacksburg Presbyterian: BPC History.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510073553/http://blacksburgpres.org/history.shtml |date=May 10, 2010 }}</ref> at 117 South Main Street. Though still standing, this building has not been used as a church for many years.<ref name="bodell"/> It was once South Main Café,<ref name="timeline"/> but is currently used as a restaurant called Cabo Fish Taco.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrvdining.com/content/view/12/26/#mexican |title=New River Valley Dining Guide – Blacksburg Restaurants in Blacksburg Virginia |publisher=Nrvdining.com |access-date=January 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216063859/http://www.nrvdining.com/content/view/12/26/#mexican |archive-date=February 16, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is also the oldest building on Main Street.<ref name="prsbtrin"/> The [[Baptists]] founded the third oldest church in the town in 1852.<ref name="bodell"/>

In 1832, Westview Cemetery was established from a few acres of land that were deeded to trustees.<ref name="bodell"/>

One of the first educational establishments started here was the Blacksburg Female Academy in 1840.<ref name="timeline"/> The Olin and Preston Institute (re-charted as [[Preston and Olin Institute]] in 1869) was a Methodist-sponsored academy established in 1851.<ref name="chap10">{{cite web|url=http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/histbook/chapter10.htm|title=Chapter 10, Business and Industry in Blacksburg|last=Anderson|first=Joanne M.|editor-last=Cox|editor-first=Clara B.|website=A Special Place for 200 Years|publisher=The Town of Blacksburg, Virginia, and Virginia Tech Special Collections|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20180521230310/https://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/histbook/chapter10.htm|archive-date=May 21, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=January 2, 2013}}</ref>

The first bank in Montgomery County, Blacksburg Savings Institution, was established in 1849.<ref name="timeline"/> The first newspaper published in Blacksburg was the ''Montgomery Messenger''. Its first issue was printed in 1869.<ref name="chap10"/>