Qualla: Buchanan County, Virginia https://qualla.com/buchanan-county-virginia en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/t/s/buchanan-county-virginia-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Buchanan County, Virginia https://qualla.com/buchanan-county-virginia Buchanan County, Virginia: Introduction https://qualla.com/buchanan-county-virginia/ Photo credit Magnolia677, CC BY 4.0. Locals will tell you, gently, that you are saying it wrong. The county is named for James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States, whose surname rhymes with cannon. But in the mountain country where the Levisa Fork cuts through sandstone and the ridges run high enough to keep out broadcast radio, the same word is pronounced Buh-CAN-nin. It is the kind of small linguistic divergence that happens in places sealed off long enough for the locals to forget that anyone outside cared. Buchanan County is the only county in Virginia that borders both West Virginia and Kentucky, tucked into the rugged Appalachian Plateau in the state's far western corner. Coal is the reason it exists in its current form. Coal is also the reason it has been emptying out for the better part of half a century.

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]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/t/s/buchanan-county-virginia-wp/dnts-buchanan-county-virginia-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Buchanan County, Virginia: Carved Out of the Frontier https://qualla.com/buchanan-county-virginia/ Photo credit SheepNotGoats (Talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. The Virginia General Assembly created Buchanan County in 1858, carving it out of Russell and Tazewell counties to give the residents of these remote hollers a closer courthouse to ride to. President James Buchanan was the namesake - then in office, soon to be vilified by history ...

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]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/t/s/buchanan-county-virginia-wp/dnts-buchanan-county-virginia-carved-out-of-the-frontier.mp3 0:06 2 full Buchanan County, Virginia: The First Women in the General Assembly https://qualla.com/buchanan-county-virginia/ Photo credit SheepNotGoats (Talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. Helen Timmons Henderson, born in 1877, did her serious adult work at the Buchanan Mission School at Council, Virginia - a school the Baptist General Association of Virginia had founded to teach mountain children. In 1923, Henderson and Sarah Lee Fain of Norfolk became the first t...

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]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/t/s/buchanan-county-virginia-wp/dnts-buchanan-county-virginia-the-first-women-in-the-general-assembly.mp3 0:06 3 full Buchanan County, Virginia: Coal, Then Less Coal https://qualla.com/buchanan-county-virginia/ Photo credit SheepNotGoats (Talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. Coal pulled Buchanan County into the modern American economy and then, on its way out, pulled most of the population out behind it. In 1980 the county held around 38,000 people. By the 2020 census, that number was down to 20,355. The county has lost population by double-digit per...

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]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/t/s/buchanan-county-virginia-wp/dnts-buchanan-county-virginia-coal-then-less-coal.mp3 0:06 4 full Buchanan County, Virginia: The Bet on Education https://qualla.com/buchanan-county-virginia/ Photo credit SheepNotGoats (Talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. In the 1990s, a group of local leaders made an unusual bet. Rather than chase the next coal-related project, they would try to build professional schools in Buchanan County - institutions that could anchor the economy with steady employment and graduates who might stay. The Appal...

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]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/t/s/buchanan-county-virginia-wp/dnts-buchanan-county-virginia-the-bet-on-education.mp3 0:06 5 full Buchanan County, Virginia: What Remains https://qualla.com/buchanan-county-virginia/ Photo credit SheepNotGoats (Talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. The town of Grundy itself was largely rebuilt in the 2000s after persistent flooding finally forced a major Army Corps of Engineers project. The whole downtown was relocated to higher ground. Poplar Gap Park sits near Grundy, and William P. Harris Park is up at Council. The commu...

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]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/t/s/buchanan-county-virginia-wp/dnts-buchanan-county-virginia-what-remains.mp3 0:06 6 full