Ferrum in Franklin County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Ferrum
Photographed by Mark Parker, April 29, 2025
1. Ferrum Marker
Inscription.
Ferrum (Latin for iron) developed ca. 1892 along the new Roanoke and Southern Railway linking Roanoke, VA, and Winston-Salem, NC, known as the "Punkin Vine" line. The village became a regional shipping hub early in the 20th century. St. James Methodist Church (ca. 1896) is Ferrum's oldest brick building. The Virginia Methodist Conference, at the initiative of its Woman's Missionary Society, established Ferrum Training School in 1913 to educate mountain children. The school grew into Ferrum College and the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum. During Prohibition, a number of Ferrum residents were involved in a lucrative illegal whiskey conspiracy that ended in one of the longest trials in VA history.
Ferrum (Latin for iron) developed ca. 1892 along the new Roanoke and Southern Railway linking Roanoke, VA, and Winston-Salem, NC, known as the "Punkin Vine" line. The village became a regional shipping hub early in the 20th century. St. James Methodist Church (ca. 1896) is Ferrum's oldest brick building. The Virginia Methodist Conference, at the initiative of its Woman's Missionary Society, established Ferrum Training School in 1913 to educate mountain children. The school grew into Ferrum College and the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum. During Prohibition, a number of Ferrum residents were involved in a lucrative illegal whiskey conspiracy that ended in one of the longest trials in VA history.
Erected 2022 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number A-139.)
Location. 36° 55.277′ N, 80° 0.551′ W. Marker is in Ferrum, Virginia, in Franklin County. It is on Franklin Street (Virginia Route 40) west of Old Craft Shop Road, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 9625 Franklin St, Ferrum VA 24088, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southern Virginia. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
2. Ferrum Marker to the east of St James United Methodist Church
Photographed by Mark Parker, April 29, 2025
3. Ferrum Marker looking east on Franklin Street at Old Craft Shop Rd
Photographed by Mark Parker, April 29, 2025
4. St James United Methodist Church
Credits. This page was last revised on April 21, 2026. It was originally submitted on May 1, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 195 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on May 1, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
