Buena Vista (/ˌbjuːnəˈvɪstə/ BEW-nə-VIS-tə) is an independent city located in the Blue Ridge Mountains region of Virginia in the United States.

[4] The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the independent cities of Buena Vista and Lexington, along with surrounding Rockbridge County, for statistical purposes.

[10] The city itself was founded by Benjamin C. Moomaw in the late 1800s, and originally consisted only of a simple tannery at the intersection of two railroads and a canal.

In that same year, they passed a law banning the sale of alcohol, effectively making it a dry town.

Previous to 1889 none of the 600 dwellings, churches, stores, hotels and other buildings in the town had been built "but where are streets and all that goes to make a booming city the reapers that year gathered a luxuriant crop of wheat.

"[11] In December 1888, Moomaw wrote the Buena Vista Prospectus to organize a town and began selling stock.

"[8] On February 22, 1889, a large deposit of iron ore was reportedly discovered that resulted in a boom of economic activity that lasted until March 4, 1892.

[11] Buena Vista is situated on the east side of the Maury River at the western foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Flood of '85 resulted from the convergence of three systems, including Hurricane Juan, which dumped tremendous amounts of rain on western Virginia.

U.S. Route 501 has its northern terminus in the city and leads south 38 miles (61 km) to Lynchburg, passing through the James River gorge.

[25] Buena Vista is home to Southern Virginia University, which had an enrollment of 1,106 full-time students in the fall of 2019.

Modine Memorial Library),[29] Canton Chinese Restaurant[citation needed] and Glen Maury Park,[30] particularly the two-story wooden pavilion which provides 360 degree views of the surrounding landscape.