Buford's Gap was the original crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, later the Norfolk and Western Railway, a precursor of today's Norfolk Southern Railway system.

In pre-history, the Cherokee had a seat on the Peaks of the Otter nearby.

Relics have been unearthed in the Goose Creek Valley, and tomahawk heads and stone arrowheads were found east of the village.

The turnpike was started in 1851 and completed in 1855, and the president and major stockholder was Paschal Buford.

Paschal traded in real estate, farming, donated land for several churches, operated some mills and had the contract to carry mail to Botetourt County, Virginia.