The Tazewell County town of Cedar Bluff thrived commercially in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a milling center, benefiting from its location at the falls of the Clinch River on the mid-19th-century Tazewell Courthouse and Richlands Turnpike, now known as the Old Kentucky Turnpike. The Old Kentucky Turnpike Historic District consists of an interesting and varied collection of primarily vernacular houses along the course of the turnpike. Among the most significant buildings are the Clinch Valley Roller Mills and the McGuire-Peery House, birthplace and childhood home of Virginia governor George C. Peery (1872-1952). Several of the more ornate late-19th-century structures, decorated with two-level porches and sawnwork detailing, are attributed to the local builder, Thomas McChesney Cubine. A conspicuous landmark in the Old Kentucky Turnpike Historic District is the 1874 Cedar Bluff High School, situated atop a hill overlooking the core of the district.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia