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Dickenson County was formed in 1880 from parts of Wise, Russell, and Buchanan Counties. The county was named for William J. Dickenson, a legislator from Russell County who sponsored the bill in the House of Delegates that established it as the 100th county in Virginia. Dickenson has since been referred to as Virginia's baby county. Daniel Boone may have been the first white man to see the area. In 1767, he and two others traveled northward from the Yadkin River in North Carolina and reached the headwaters of the West (later called Russell) Fork of the Big Sandy River. Dickenson has one of the largest underground stores of coal in the world, with coal and lumber providing the majority of jobs for the region. The county is home to bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, who is from Clintwood and was raised on Sandy Ridge. The county was home to "Ironman" Claude Fuller, who played baseball for the New York Yankees. The county is famous for the "Petticoat Government," an all-women town council and a mayor that received national attention. One of the most tragic mining accidents occurred in Dickenson County in 1932 when an explosion at Splashdam Mine killed 10 men.
About the author
In Images of America: Dickenson County, author Victoria L. Osborne, a historian and the president of the Southwest Virginia Historical and Preservation Society, has compiled histories and photographs that capture the rich life of Virginia's baby.
