Small Towns of Virginia Series

Small Towns of Virginia Series - Floyd

Floyd is one of the smallest county seats in Virginia. At a population of just over 400 - Floyd is the county seat of the same county that shares its name. However despite its small size, Floyd has a colorful history and its downtown is the center of Bluegrass Country.

Downtown Floyd, Virginia

Floyd County was formed in 1831 and named after Virginia Governor John Floyd who was raised nearby. The county seat of Floyd was established three years later and was originally named Jacksonville after President Andrew Jackson. The town was incorporated in 1858 and would have its named changed to Floyd in 1896. The town's population has ebbed and flowed around 400 residents since then.

Floyd County Court House and Confederate Soldier Memorial

Floyd is in the heart of Bluegrass County and Virginia's Crooked Road Heritage Trail winds through town on US 221 and VA 8. The Floyd Country Store is not only a classic small town general store; it is home to the Friday Night Jamboree - a celebration of Bluegrass and Americana music - every Friday Night at 6:30. Local residents and tourists from throughout the world have taken part in this great tradition.

Stage and Dance Floor at The Floyd Country Store

Floyd is home to numerous festivals and events including the annual FloydFest which is a four day music and arts festival that is located just off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Floyd may be very small but there's a lot to do, see and enjoy in this tiny but welcoming community.

Site Navigation:

Small Towns of Virginia Series Index
2008 Memorial Day Weekend Trip #1 - Travelblog from where I visited Floyd

Comments

Paper Highways: The Unbuilt New Orleans Bypass (Proposed I-410)

There are many examples around the United States of proposed freeway corridors in urban areas that never saw the light of day for one reason or another. They all fall somewhere in between the little-known and the infamous and from the mundane to the spectacular. One of the more obscure and interesting examples of such a project is the short-lived idea to construct a southern beltway for the New Orleans metropolitan area in the 1960s and 70s. Greater New Orleans and its surrounding area grew rapidly in the years after World War II, as suburban sprawl encroached on the historically rural downriver parishes around the city. In response to the development of the region’s Westbank and the emergence of communities in St. Charles and St. John the Baptist Parishes as viable suburban communities during this period, regional planners began to consider concepts for new infrastructure projects to serve this growing population. The idea for a circular freeway around the southern perimeter of t

Hernando de Soto Bridge (Memphis, TN)

The newest of the bridges that span the lower Mississippi River at Memphis, the Hernando de Soto Bridge was completed in 1973 and carries Interstate 40 between downtown Memphis and West Memphis, AR. The bridge’s signature M-shaped superstructure makes it an instantly recognizable landmark in the city and one of the most visually unique bridges on the Mississippi River. As early as 1953, Memphis city planners recommended the construction of a second highway bridge across the Mississippi River to connect the city with West Memphis, AR. The Memphis & Arkansas Bridge had been completed only four years earlier a couple miles downriver from downtown, however it was expected that long-term growth in the metro area would warrant the construction of an additional bridge, the fourth crossing of the Mississippi River to be built at Memphis, in the not-too-distant future. Unlike the previous three Mississippi River bridges to be built the city, the location chosen for this bridge was about two

Huey P. Long Bridge (New Orleans, LA)

Located on the lower Mississippi River a few miles west of New Orleans, the Huey P. Long Bridge is an enormous steel truss bridge that carries both road and rail traffic on an old-time structure that is a fascinating example of a bridge that has evolved in recent years to meet the traffic and safety demands of modern times. While officially located in suburban Jefferson Parish near the unincorporated community of Bridge City, this bridge’s location is most often associated with New Orleans, given that it’s the largest and most recognizable incorporated population center in the nearby vicinity. For this reason, this blog article considers the bridge’s location to be in New Orleans, even though this isn’t 100% geographically correct. Completed in 1935 as the first bridge across the Mississippi River in Louisiana and the first to be built in the New Orleans area, this bridge is one of two bridges on the Mississippi named for Huey P. Long, a Louisiana politician who served as the 40th Gove

Gribblenation

Search This Blog