Place Information
|
Grundy is a town in Buchanan County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,105 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Buchanan County. The town is noted for its educational institutions and their role in the town's economic rebirth. In the past, the town served as a stopover for Union troops on their way to the Battle of Saltville. The town is also noteworthy for its flood control project, where the mountain across the river was blasted to make way for new development.
History
The town, founded in 1858, was named for Felix Grundy (1777-1840), United States Attorney General (1838-1839) and United States Senator from Tennessee (1839-1840). It was incorporated in 1876. The present courthouse dates from 1905. On the way to SaltvilleIn October 1864, Union raiders under Brigadier General Stephen G. Burbridge passed through Grundy on their way to destroy the saltworks near Saltville in Smyth County, where they were met by Confederate troops commanded by Brigadier General Alfred E. Jackson at the Battle of Saltville. Grundy flood control projectSince 1929, Grundy has suffered nine major floods of the adjoining Levisa Fork River. After the inundation of April 4, 1977, many businesses did not reopen, and the buildings that housed them were abandoned. A project is underway to relocate most of the town to higher ground on the other side of the river. Start of a regional grocery store chainGrundy was the home of the predecessor to the Food City Stores when Jack Smith opened a Piggly Wiggly franchise in 1955. The store was Smith's first and the chain grew to 95 stores in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The chain is best known for sponsoring the Food City 500 NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Education as a new sustaining industryGrundy is home to the Appalachian School of Law, organized in 1994 and opened in 1997, as well as the University of Appalachia College of Pharmacy which opened in August of 2005. Buchanan County brought ASL to Grundy in order to revitalize a town that had been in a steady economic decline since the town's Flood of 1977. ASL has brought a positive economic impact on its home town, including spurring construction of rental homes and the opening of additional businesses in the area. ASL has become a success story for the concept of higher education as a economic development tool. The school has brought in $12 million to the local economy.ASL's success spurred the conception and implementation of the University of Appalachia College of Pharmacy from 2003 to the date the doors opened in 2005. UACP, like the Appalachian School of Law, was envisioned to be an economic redevelopment tool. In its short existence, UACP is achieving that goal for the Buchanan County community. For example, as the school opened, 80 apartments were being built down the street. The school is forecasted to bring in $20 million per year to the local economy. Appalachian School of LawIn 1993, Norton, Virginia lawyer Joe Wolfe came up with the idea to create a law school in Central Appalachia. His idea was well received by local business leaders and a steering committee was founded in 1994 and grew to eighty members. The committee gained permission of the Virginia General Assembly to start a law school in 1995 and continued to secure endorsements from local civic associations and industrial development authorities. When Wise County, Virginia could not find the resources to start the school, Buchanan County, Virginia approached the committee in 1996 and offered the grounds and buildings of the former Grundy Elementary and Intermediate Schools to which the steering committee accepted. A $1 million loan (which was later converted into a grant) financed the buildings' renovations.The school opened its doors in August 1997. University of Appalachia College of PharmacyCiting a need to address a higher than normal age adjusted mortality rate (42% higher locally as opposed to the rest of Virginia) and a national pharmacist shortage, local leaders began to explore the possibility of a new pharmacy school in the region. In 2003, the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors commissioned County Attorney and school founder Frank Kilgore to start the school. Spurred by the success of the Appalachian School of Law, the school continued to raise funds quickly and recruit its inaugural class. The school opened its doors in August 2005. Appalachian School of Law shootingOn January 16, 2002, tragedy hit the town when Appalachian School of Law Dean Anthony Sutin, Professor Thomas Blackwell, and 1L student Angela Dales were shot and killed by disgruntled student Peter Odighizuwa, 43, of Nigeria on the law school's campus. At trial, Odighizuwa was found mentally competent, plead guilty to the murders to avoid the death penalty, and was sentenced to multiple life terms in prison. Research Tips
|
