George C. Peery, a key Virginia political figure of the 1920s and 1930s, was born in 1873 and raised near here, the son of former Confederate surgeon Dr. James Peery. After spending his childhood working at his father's farm and store, he attended Cedar Bluff High School and Emory and Henry College, then returned to serve for two years as principal of Tazewell High School. He next attended the Washington and Lee Law School, earned a law degree in one year, and opened a law office in Wise, providing legal services to coal and land companies. In 1907 he married Nancy Bane Gillespie, daughter of a Tazewell attorney. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1922, he served for six years before joining the State Corporation Commission, then won the governorship in 1933 and served from 1934 to 1938. During his term as governor, he established the first Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and a network of state-controlled liquor stores after the repeal of Prohibition, worked to establish a state unemployment compensation commission that assisted the unemployed during the recession of 1938, and presided over the opening ceremony of the Virginia State Parks System at Hungry Mother State Park in Marion. After leaving the Governor's Mansion, he returned to his law practice in Tazewell, operated his cattle farm, and served on the Board of Trustees for Washington and Lee University and Hollins College. After an illness, Peery died in 1952 in Richlands and was buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Tazewell.