Town Has Patriotic Name, Spirit

By Joe Tennis
Features Writer / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: July 3, 2008

Independence, Va.
Of course, it’s only one county away. It’s just over the mountains in Grayson County.
But here in Independence, where I’m standing, in front of the century-old courthouse, the one that is now a museum, well, I figure I might as well be hundreds of miles from Abingdon.
It just feels that way.
Going west on U.S. 58, the sign says: Mouth of Wilson, 13; Abingdon, 65; Bristol, 79.
Going east, I see: Galax, 15; Hillsville, 29; Martinsville, 98.
Martinsville? Martinsville! Wow. That’s like WAY on the other sides of the mountains.
Looking north on U.S. 21, I see: Speedwell, 18; Wytheville, 29; Bluefield, 76.
Peering south on U.S. 21, I see: Sparta, 10; Elkin, 42; Statesville, 81.
And there?
Well, I might as well be lost. I know all that’s in North Carolina. I just cannot place those places.
There’s a funny thing about the mountains and highways.
From Bristol, I can get to Hillsville quicker – about 90 minutes – than the two hours it always takes me to make it to Independence.
I know, I know. It doesn’t make any sense.
Maybe that’s why I don’t get here much – behind all the mile-high peaks – to explore more of this tiny town so aptly named for the Fourth of July.
Certainly, celebrating the Fourth in Independence is big stuff.
You’ll find fireworks and plenty of flag-waving here at the courthouse town of Grayson County.
At the Davis-Bourne Inn near the center of town, you’ll find a Fourth of July Cookout featuring low country boil, hot dogs and local, grassfed hamburgers – all in lieu of the upscale inn’s regular dinner.
This little town – with its aerobics studio, florist, Food City and neatly-named weekly newspaper (The Declaration of Independence) – is said to take its patriotic-sounding moniker from a fight over where to move the county courthouse.
The debate happened in the mid-1800s. As it went, some wanted the courthouse at Elk Creek; others wanted it to remain where it was – at Oldtown.
Finally, this place won.
And then, as the story goes, the name “Independence” came from a quiet group that simply wanted to remain “independent” from that dispute.