Editing Blacksburg, Virginia (section)

===Compulsory education and commercialization (1952–1992)===
[[File:Blacksburg Virginia Main Street.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Intersection of Main Street and College Avenue]]

Blacksburg experienced a boost of [[compulsory education]] during the second half of the 20th century. Even though there had been a place for [[secondary education]] somewhere in town since 1906, it was not until 1952 when the first facility for [[Blacksburg High School]] was built on South Main and Eheart Streets. Later it moved to new quarters and was adapted as Blacksburg Middle School. That same year, all high schools in Montgomery County began operating on a twelve-grade basis which is still county policy to this day.<ref name="educate">{{cite web|url=http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/histbook/educat.htm|title=Chapter 6, Blacksburg Educates Its Children|last=Cox|first=Clara B.|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/20170908002516/http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/histbook/educat.htm|archive-date=September 8, 2017|url-status=live|access-date=January 2, 2013}}</ref>

The Margaret J. Beeks Elementary School and the Gilbert F. Linkous Elementary School were both completed in 1963 and Harding Avenue Elementary School was built in 1972.<ref name="timeline"/> Two years later, in 1974, Blacksburg High School moved its location to Patrick Henry Drive after 20 years of issues with overcrowding in its previous location.<ref name="educate"/>

Jack Goodwin was appointed the first chief of police by the Blacksburg Town Council in 1954. Jan Olinger was made the first female police officer in 1976.<ref name="timeline"/>

1958 marked the beginning of the end for the railroad that came to be known as the "Huckleberry." In the 1960s, however, railroads underwent restructuring. Passenger service came to an end on July 25. On June 30, 1966, the last freight train arrived at the Blacksburg depot. Within 24 hours, the depot was closed, the empty cars were picked up, and the tracks were immediately removed.<ref name="chap7"/> After years of effort by the citizens of the town a trail was constructed on the former railroad right-of-way and, after years of construction, funding and planning issues the [[Huckleberry Trail]] was opened to the public on December 1, 1998. 190 years after its original construction, the newly renovated Smithfield Plantation house was re-opened in 1964.<ref name="timeline"/>

The amount of [[commercialization]] in the area began to increase in the mid-1960s. The Corning Glass Works (now called [[Corning Incorporated]]), based in upper New York State, opened a manufacturing facility in 1964 that is located south of Blacksburg. The Blacksburg Municipal Building on South Main Street was constructed in 1969.<ref name="timeline"/> Terrace View apartments, the first large student complex, was built in 1970. The Blacksburg Branch of the Montgomery County Library was opened the same year. Ten years later, it was moved into the facility that used to house the Blacksburg Lumber Company on Draper Road. In 1971, Blacksburg ratified a new charter and [[LewisGale Hospital Montgomery]] was built. The University Mall shopping center opened that year as well. In the mid 1970s the Foxridge apartments, an even larger student apartment complex, was built as part of the Hethwood development. During 1981, the Blacksburg Community Center opened. It cost the town $1.2 million to build.<ref name="timeline"/> By 1988, the New River Valley Mall, located in the neighboring town of Christiansburg, was opened<ref name="chap7"/> and the [[Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center]] had its first ground-breaking ceremony.<ref name="chap10"/>

After construction of Virginia's portion of [[Interstate 81]] began in 1957, nine years passed before the Christiansburg-area segment was opened.<ref name="eightyone">{{cite web |url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/econDev/i81va.htm |title=Economic Development History of Interstate 81 in Virginia |publisher=Fhwa.dot.gov |access-date=January 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311002326/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/econDev/i81va.htm |archive-date=March 11, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> About half that amount of time passed before the [[U.S. Route 460]] bypass opened in 1969.<ref name="timeline"/>

In the 1970s, Virginia Tech was annexed into the town and the town acquired other land. Together with the effect of the annexations, the population grew from 9,000 people to 30,000 during this decade. Replacing the old public bus system, [[Blacksburg Transit]] began running in 1983.<ref name="bt">{{cite web |url=http://www.btransit.org/cms.php/general_info/history.html |title=Blacksburg Transit – BT History |publisher=Btransit.org |access-date=January 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820073255/http://www.btransit.org/cms.php/general_info/history.html |archive-date=August 20, 2010 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>