Spy Rock is a sandstone formation at 2510 feet, a landmark known for its view of the Sewell Mt. range to the southeast. Native Americans knew it as the Rock of Eyes, and Civil War soldiers dubbed it Spy Rock. In September 1861, Gen. J.D. Cox and 5,000 Union soldiers camped here to oppose Gen. Robert E. Lee at Sewell Mt. It was also the site of Col. Geo. Alderson's farm and tollgate on the James River and Kanawha Turnpike from 1834 to 1873, and the source for the name of Lookout.