Page Contents for Bristol, Virginia

Statistics & Facts

Location

Weather & Climate

History & History-related items

City Attractions

Government

Chamber of Commerce.

Community news

Organizations, Churches, and Sports.

Schools.

Miscellany

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Statistics & Facts

The Virginia state capital is Richmond.
The population of Bristol is approximately 17,367 (2000), 17835 (2010).
The approximate number of families is 8,174 (1990), 7879 (2010).
The amount of land area in Bristol is 30.031 sq. kilometers.
The amount of land area in Bristol is 11.53 sq. miles.
The amount of surface water is 0 sq kilometers.
The distance from Bristol to Washington DC is 332 miles.
The distance to the Virginia state capital is 273 miles. (as the crow flies)
Bristol is positioned 36.61 degrees north of the equator and 82.16 degrees west of the prime meridian.
Bristol elevation is 1,615 feet above sea level.
Bristol average annual rainfall is 41.4 inches per year
Bristol average annual precipitation is 41.4 inches peryear.
Bristol average annual snowfall is 16.2 inches per year.
Bristol average temperature is 56 degrees F.
The average low temperature is 38 degrees F.
The average high temperature is 78 degrees F.
The average winter temperature is 36 degrees F.
The average summer temperature is 75 degrees F.

Location

on the Virginia/Tennessee State Line-a twin city with Bristol, Tennessee. Bristol is an independent city, not associated with any county, though it is in the Washington County area.
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Climate

four seasons
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History & History Related Items

Bristol, located in the states of Tennessee and Virginia, is a unique city, rich in history and legend. In the early 1800s the tract of land upon which Bristol is now located was known as Sapling Grove and the plantation on which it existed was called Mountain View or King's Meadows. The area was once inhabited by Cherokee Indians. Scotch-Irish pioneers settled in the region in the 1700s, and after the Revolutionary War, Col. James King, a patriot of 1776, obtained a large bounty of land near the Sapling Grove tract. His estate became known as Holly Bend. In 1814, Col. King bought a portion of the Sapling Grove tract, lying in both Virginia and Tennessee, for his son, James King Jr. Upon this land, the young King established a flourishing plantation known as Sapling Grove or Mountain View. The remaining Virginia portion of Sapling Grove became the property of Capt. John Goodson and later passed to his son, Col. Samuel E. Goodson. With the advent of railroads in the mid 1850s, Joseph R. Anderson, a son-in-law of King Jr., saw the potential of the area for the development of a commercial trading center. He bought a large tract of land, lying in both Virginia and Tennessee and laid out the town of Bristol, named for the manufacturing city in England. At the same time, Goodson laid out Goodsonville on a portion of his land. In 1856, that portion of Anderson's development located in Virginia and all of Goodson's development were incorporated as Goodson, and Bristol Tennessee was incorporated the same year. The Virginia side of town remained Goodson until 1890. The towns grew rapidly and became an important railroad link between the North and the South during the Civil War. In 1881, the center of Main Street, now State Street, was designated as the state line by the city councils, and in 1901, Tennessee ceded to Virginia the lands needed to move the line into the middle of the street. The same year it was accepted by the Virginia General Assembly and by consent of the U.S. Congress. Presently, along State Street, metal plates following the center line mark the exact boundary between these two famous cities that straddle the border. A lighted sign, which was erected in 1910 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, spans across State Street declaring Bristol Tennessee and Bristol Virginia "A good place to live."
History reprinted from the Bristol Chamber of Commerce page.
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Attractions

Bristol attractions & events
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Bristol City Government

The official the Official Bristol website.

Bristol has a council-manager type of government.

Bristol Chamber

Bristol Chamber of Commerce
Bristol Tennessee and Bristol Virginia
20 Volunteer Parkway
Bristol, Tennessee 37620
Phone: 423-989-4850

Bristol Community News

Bristol Current Events & Info

Bristol Organizations

Bristol Chamber of Commerce
Bristol Tennessee and Bristol Virginia
20 Volunteer Parkway
Bristol, Tennessee 37620
Phone: 423-989-4850

Bristol Schools

Bristol City School System
"All Children can Learn" Bristol

Miscellany

The population of Bristol, VA was:
1980 - 19,042
1990 - 18,426
2000 - 17,367

Size for both of the twin cities - Bristol, Virginia 11.53 sq. miles, Bristol, Tennessee, 24.7 sq. miles