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==Infrastructure and attractions== Nearby [[Fort Barfoot]] (then Camp Pickett, and later Fort Pickett) was established by the U.S. Army in 1941 and was a very large training center during World War II. It was closed by the [[Base Realignment and Closure|BRAC Commission]] in the 1990s, and the facility is now the headquarters for the Virginia National Guard. In May 2014 the U.S. Department of State selected Fort Barfoot (formerly Fort Pickett) as the site of their Foreign Affairs Security Training Center, which opened in November 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bolster |first=Karina |date=November 15, 2019 |title=U.S. Department of State opens new state-of-the-art training facility in Va. |url=https://www.nbc12.com/2019/11/14/us-department-state-opens-new-state-of-the-art-training-facility-va/ |access-date=December 4, 2023 |website=nbc12.com |language=en}}</ref> After the [[Fall of Kabul (2021)|fall of Kabul]] during September 2021, the federal government temporarily housed 5,900 [[Afghan diaspora|Afghan refugees]] at the facility.<ref>Meagan Flynn. (September 25, 2021). "Thousands of Afghans arrived near a small Virginia town: exposing two different Americas". [https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Thousands-of-Afghans-arrived-near-a-small-16486872.php Greenwich Time website] Retrieved September 25, 2021.</ref> The 2-year Blackstone Female Institute / [[Blackstone College for Girls]] also operated in Blackstone for many years. The buildings and grounds were later used as the Virginia United Methodist Assembly Center (VUMAC), drawing 19,000 visitors a year before closing in 2016. The Blackstone shopping district (including a [[Wal-Mart]], an outpatient medical center, and a livestock market) attracts customers from a large three-county rural area. The town received a Main Street designation from the state, and a $1 million downtown revitalization project started in 2008. In 2009 the town opened the $4 million James Harris medical center. The Town of Blackstone also has a regional bus terminal that serves 11 counties. The oldest building in town is Schwartz Tavern, built in stages from 1790 to 1840, now used as a museum. Bevell's Hardware, a local business, no longer displays a giant 58' by 20' (17.7 by 6.1 meter) model railroad layout that had attracted thousands of visitors. The Robert Thomas Carriage Museum, containing 28 restored antique carriages, sleighs, and buggies, was opened in 2007.
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