Blackstone

Blackstone was first known as Blacks and Whites, named for two rival late 18th-century taverns. One of them, Schwartz (Blacks) Tavern, still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town was renamed for the English jurist Sir William Blackstone and was incorporated in 1888. Just west of the town, the Battle of the Grove, a Civil War cavalry action, was fought on 23 June 1864. Blackstone is also the site of the United Methodist Assembly Center, formerly Blackstone College for Girls. At the turn of the 20th century, it was a prosperous manufacturing, tobacco, and educational center in Southside Virginia. Nearby Fort Pickett was built in 1942.

Blackstone, Virginia · United States