Southwest Virginia

Collectively, Southwest Virginia's craft, music, agritourism and outdoor recreation are referred to as the region's "creative economy.

Independent cities in Southwest Virginia include Bristol, Buena Vista, Covington, Galax, Lexington, Martinsville, Norton, Radford, Roanoke, and Salem.

This is due in large part to the geographical diversity of the state, with the Appalachian and Blue Ridge mountains dominating the region.

Southwest Virginia was among the last parts of the state to be settled by Europeans, in a flow of migrations that consisted mainly of English, German, and Scots-Irish and Irish immigrants.

Much of the area was protected by a series of forts constructed around the time of Lord Dunmore's War, some of which later became the seats of future counties.

During the American Revolution, residents from southwest Virginia were among those who participated in the Battle of King's Mountain, which occurred in South Carolina.

[2] In the Civil War, Southwest Virginia was deeply divided between sentiment for the Union and the Confederacy and was subject to guerilla warfare.

In 1864, Union General George Stoneman led a devastating raid into Southwest Virginia, destroying the saltworks in Saltville and burning all that he thought useful to the Confederates.

The coalfield region has experienced a significant loss of population over the last generation, resulting in shrinking political representation and a variety of local issues, including the need to consolidate schools.

The Appalachian Mountains have the most direct impact upon the geography of Southwest Virginia and are often credited for isolating its residents from the rest of the commonwealth.

"[5] The region has close ties with neighboring East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, Southern West Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky, which are all part of Appalachia and the Upland South.

Boucher had previously been a long term representative of the region in Congress, spending more than twenty-four years in office as a Democrat.

His predecessor was William C. Wampler, a Republican, who had served a nearly equally long term of over eighteen years prior to his political defeat by Boucher.

Professional schools—including schools of law and pharmacy—have been developed in recent years in Buchanan County, which is located in Southwest Virginia's coalfield region.