On September 30, 1864, Union Gen. Stephen G. Burbridge arrived in Cedar Bluff en route from eastern Kentucky to Saltville, Virginia. Burbridge led an army of 5200 men to raid the small town and capture the important saltworks located there. . . . — — Map (db m191831) HM
For most of the Civil War, only news of the conflict's chaos ever reached Cedar Bluff. But in the waning days of the war, the conflict reached over the surrounding bluffs and directly impacted the small town. In late September of 1864, Union General . . . — — Map (db m228424) HM
The steep fall of the Clinch River as it winds through Cedar Bluff made the community an ideal location for water-powered mills and shaped the economy of the town for the next century. Mills have been operating in Cedar Bluff since at least 1842, . . . — — Map (db m228425) HM
Before the railroad, it was the country roads and old turnpikes that brought people to Cedar Bluff. Thanks to hand labor and the strength of oxen, the Norfolk and Western Railway came to Cedar Bluff in 1889. Local residents made extra money by . . . — — Map (db m191837) HM
Just a short walk from here is the home where a key Virginia political figure of the 1920s and 1930s was born and raised.
George C. Peery was born in 1873, the son of former Confederate surgeon Dr. James Peery. He spent his childhood working at . . . — — Map (db m228446) HM
In 1890, the Goodwin family opened the Cedar Bluff Woolen Mills. The power of the Clinch River's waters was harnessed to operate the carding machines that brushed and cleaned the wool, the spinning machines that spun the wool into yarn, and the . . . — — Map (db m228432) HM
