Mendota is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in Washington County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Virginia, at an elevation of approximately 1411 feet.

The beautiful and fertile river bottoms of his farm yielded good crops and he soon had expanded his cleared land to several acres and eventually brought in slaves to help him work it.

All appeared well until the morning of April 6, 1794, when the feared, Cherokee Chief Benge and his followers quietly crept upon the unsuspecting cabins in an attempt to capture enslaved people to sell to the British.

In the 1920s, a town council worked to turn Mendota into a thriving community, but the government eventually faded due to lack of organization.

More than 16 species of raptors (hawks) soar down the spine of the Clinch Mountain every autumn, heading south for the winter along the Appalachian Flyway.

The Mendota Fire Tower is a great location to view these hawks, especially at the peak of migration in mid September when up to 1,000 birds per day can be seen soaring past.