The location of Fort Mayo, now marked by a Virginia state historic marker, lies within present-day Patrick County.

A number of forts built by Virginia colonists from the Potomac River south to North Carolina, was commanded by Captain Samuel Harris in 1756.

Penn qualified as Lieutenant in the Amherst County militia in June 1768, and led a company under Col. Andrew Lewis at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774.

[3] Penn later moved with his wife Ruth (née Stovall) to present-day Henry County, Virginia, where he patented lands at the later site of Beaver Creek Plantation.

During the American Revolution, Col. Penn ordered the muster of some 300 militiamen under his command to march south to aid General Nathanael Greene at the battle of Guilford Court House.

[6][7][8] Penn was later present at Yorktown to witness the surrender of the British forces under General Cornwallis.

On October 24, 2004, a private corporate plane crashed on Bull Mountain, killing all eight passengers and two crew, including Busch Series racer Ricky Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports lead engine builder Randy Dorton.

[11] On November 6, 2023, Governor Glenn Youngkin issued a state of emergency due to wildfires, citing a fire in the Tuggles Gap community.

[13] Patrick County is one of the 423 counties served by the Appalachian Regional Commission,[14] and it is identified as part of "Greater Appalachia" by Colin Woodard in his book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.

Part of the Rocky Knob American Viticultural Area, as defined by the federal government, is located in Patrick County.

Patrick County was also a setting for the ministry of Reverend Bob Childress whose life was chronicled in the book "The Man Who Moved a Mountain".

It is also the home of Fairy Stone State Park.The county hosts the longest running beach music festival on the East coast, is home to the legendary NASCAR team the Wood Brothers, and many more attractions each year provide a wide range of activities for every group of every age.

The Bob White Covered Bridge once located in Woolwine washed away by Flood Waters in September 2015.