Native Americans lived in this area for more than 10,000 years. James Campbell, one of the first Europeans to settle here, began acquiring land in 1742. During the Seven Years' War from 1756 to 1763, the Virginia General Assembly authorized a line of forts to protect the frontier, and Fort Lewis, named for Maj. Andrew Lewis, was built on Campbell’s property by 1757. Led by Col. William Byrd III, the Virginia Regiment used the fort as a staging ground for expeditions against the Cherokee in present-day Tennessee in 1760 and 1761. Campbell sold his land in 1760, and it became part of an estate known as Fort Lewis.