Where The Names Came From   Dickenson County Dickenson County received its name from the Honorable William J. Dickenson of Russell County, who patroned the bill in the House of Delegates to establish the county in 1880.   Backbone Ridge Backbone Ridge acquired its name because the formation of the ridge is in the shape of a backbone or a spine.   Bad Ridge The early settlers on the ridge were mostly from the same family. This family was well known for their lawless exploits. Therefore the term "bad" was given to the ridge.   Banner Mountain Banner Mountain received its name from teh banner or rich seam of coal that runs through the mountain.   Bear Pen Gap When Dickenson County was still unsettled, wildlife was plentiful here. Between Caney and Big Ridges was a small gap through which the bears would pass when they were going from one side of the mountain to the other. The hunters would build bear traps out of small trees and capture the bears as they would pass through.   Big Ridge Big Ridge was given its name by the first settlers to come through this area. As the story goes, the settlers were traveling through this area and needed a way to cross over the mountains. After crossing several ridges, the settlers came to the biggest one they had yet crossed. Because the ridge was so big, long and wide, the settlers decided that crossing this ridge would be the easiest way to get through the mountains. From that time on the ridge was called Big Ridge.   Breaks The Breaks was named for the geographical feature of the area. The entire Sandy Basin area looks like a big bowl with one break on the rim which lets all the rivers flow out of the area. This area is called the Breaks in honor of this crack in the mountain rim.   Brushy Ridge Brushy Ridge was named so because it was the site of the worst brush fires in this area. People used to clear brush from the land in order to plant their gardens. They would pile the brush to the side of the garden in order to burn it. Supposedly, someone was buring brush and the fire quickly spread. The fire spread from the ridge to Dante, about eight miles.   Bucu Bucu is on Frying Pan Creek. It was named by Captain Jasper S. Colley when he suggested Buchu as a post office name. It was the name of a popular patent medicine. The name was sent in, but with the spelling of Bucu and was accepted. The post office was established Nov. 13, 1883 and operated until Nov. 16, 1957.   Buffalo Buffalo was named such because John Yates killed the last buffalo in that area and he lived there.   Carico Ridge Carico Ridge got its name from a Carico family which was the first to settle there. Soon after the first family settled, many of their relatives moved close by. The local people began calling the area Carico Ridge due to the numerous Carico families living there.   Clinchco Clinchco was first called Mouth of Mill Creek. Then in 1917 when the Clinchfield Railroad was being built, the town was called Moss in honor of a conductor who worked in the area. However, the post office was called Clinchco, which was derived by adding the first syllable of Clinchfield to the abbreviation of the company.   Clintwood Clintwood is named after Major Henry Clinton Wood of Scott County, and influential member of the Virginia Senate during the session when the county seat of Dickenson was moved from Ervinton to Holly Creek. Because of Wood's advocacy of changing the county seat, Capt. John P. Chase, the county's representative in the House of Delegates, caused the new town to be called Clintwood.   Cow Path The Cow Path is a branch off of Davis Ridge which provides a 'short cut' to the Flannagan Dam or Big Ridge. It is called this because this area used to be a pasture field and the road follows an old cow trail.   Davis Ridge Davis Ridge got its name from the first family to live on the ridge. The Davis' common ancestor was Eli Davis, who moved to that section from Grayson County, Virginia, about 1857.   Dog Branch Dog Branch received its name from all of the wild dogs that ran through the area when it was first settled.   Fremont Fremont was named for John C. Fremont, who was the first Republican candidate for the presidency. He ran in the election of 1856. Earlier in his life, Fremont was a surveyor for one of the smaller lines which later became Clinchfield. In his honor, Clinchfield named the town Fremont.   Frying Pan Some of the early settlers were hunters. One such hunter passed through the area and found an iron skillet or frying pan left by a previous traveler. Because of this, he named the place Frying Pan.   Hatchet John Yates named a stream Hatchet because he lost a new hatchet on it. It empties into McClure River above Nora and is paralleled by State Route 604. This place has become known as the mouth of Hatchet.   Haysi The name Haysi was originated by Charles M. Hayter. Hayter and his business partner, Otis Sifers, petitioned for a new post office in 1900. The post office department asked them to suggest a name. Hayter took the first syllable from his name - Hay, and the Si from his partner's name - and together it made Haysi.   Lick Creek Lick Creek was named for a salt lick located at the branch of the creek, and used by animals and early settlers alike to collect salt.   Lick Fork Lick Fork is located in a valley; through this valley runs a small stream. The stream runs over a large flat rock. Where the water ran over this rock it was shallow. The deer would come down to this place to cross the river and lick water from over top of the rock.   McClure McClure was named for a family who was captured by Indians. In a Wythe County battle, Indians killed a man named McClure. The Indians then captured McClure's family and brought them to this area. McClure's brother organized a few men and pursued them into the area now known as McClure. They caught the Indians in a laurel thicket near a river. Several Indians were killed, and the family was rescued. The men named the river McClure River in honor of this event. Some years later when a town was being built near the river, the people found a human skeleton in a cave. They believed that it was one of the Indians who was killed in the McClure battle.   Middle of the World Quoting from an interview by Judge E. J. Sutherland with Noah K. Counts on December 24, 1922: "One October, before anybody lived on Lick Creek, a party of hunters - Clabe Hicks, Joshua Counts, Jonas Rasnick and Thomas Fuller, from Russell County came out on Lick Creek to hunt. They camped at the mouth of Josh's Branch. While out hunting on the Lefthand Fork one day, Clabe Hicks got separated from the others and started back to camp. When he came to the top of the ridge where S. D. Counts now lives, it had become so foggy that he could see but a short distance. Seven times he left this gap and seven times he returned to it in bewilderment. He was completely lost. On the eighth attempt, he succeeded in reaching the camp assisted materially by the shouts of his comrades who had become alarmed at his continued absence and started to search for him. In explaining his adventure, he said he believed it was the middle of the world as every path, ridge and hollow led to it."   Mill Creek Noah Sykes, one of the first settlers in Clinchco, had a grist mill on the McClure River. This small creek ran into the McClure River just in front of the mill. Because of this, the creek was called Mill Creek.   Nashbie This was the first post office on Caney Ridge, located near the head of Alley's Creek. Itwas named by Wade P. Kennedy for Petroleum V. Nashby, a writere for the Toledo Blade newspaper. This post office operated from Nov. 30, 1894 to March 15, 1932.   Nora Nora was named for Nora Dorton who was a popular citizen in the community. Before being named Nora, the community was called Willow Fork.   Norland Norland was near the mouth of Camp Creek of Pound River. It was named by D. B. Davis and Monroe Beverly for an island near Alaska. Norland means "north land." The Norland post office opened Sept. 19, 1902 and ran until March 31, 1950.   Ramsey Ridge Ramsey Ridge got its name from an old lady named Pope Ramsey. She was a widow and a very independent woman well known to all.   Rock House Rock House got its name from the rough, rocky roads which were in the area.   Sandlick Sandlick was named for a salt lick where animals came to lick the salt running out of the mountain.   Sandy Ridge The ridge known as Sandy Ridge got its name when local families started selling their land to Clinchfield. The land consisted mainly of sandstone and sand, therefore the local people named it Sandy Ridge.   Skeetrock The place was named for a stream that is in the South of the Cumberland Mountain section of the county. The creek had a sloping, slick rock bed, on which people liked to skate (skeet). There was a Skeetrock post office but it was located several miles from the branch. The post office operated from July 1, 1901 to Dec. 31, 1958.   Smith Ridge Smith Ridge got its name from the first family to live on the ridge, which was the Noah Smith family. This family was very religious and hard working.   Squirrel Camp Squirrel Camp was named by Dick Colley and Joshua Counts, who once came to that area to camp and hunt. They had no luck killing any large game, such as bear or deer, so they had to hunt squirrels for food. They didn't like hunting such small game so they named the branch Squirrel Camp as a joke.   Stratton Stratton was named for Frank Stratton, who purchased timber from the area. The Stratton post office operated from Nov. 8, 1887 to Aug. 30, 1963.   Tarpon When the railroad was first being built, the railroad workers would collect pine tar on the small ridges above the train tracks to soak the railroad ties in. This made the wood last longer. They built a large pit or pond to hold the pine tar. This was located near the James Anderson "Banner" Newberry home. When they wanted a post office, they sent the government the name of Tar Pond. The goverment dropped the "d" and made it one name, Tarpon. The post office operated from Dec. 12, 1876 to Nov. 30, 1961. Solomon E. Wright was the first postmaster.   Trammel Trammel was named by reason of being at the mouth of Trammel Creek, a stream reputedly named for a man named Trammel, who had been captured by Indians on Clinch or Holston Rivers and taken down Trammel Creek and onward to Kentucky. Early hunters found his name engraved on a beech tree, and they named the stream for him.   Vicey Vicey is located on Prater Creek near the Dickenson-Buchanan County line. The post office was named for Vicey Clevinger (later Vicey Reece), daughter of J. W. Clevinger. The post office operated from Feb. 4, 1907 to July 31, 1960. Emery T. Fuller was the first postmaster.   Wakenva The area that we now call Wakenva was once a good source of coal, and still is today. Because there was such an ample supple, three states were interested in the coal. The states were West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. Wakenva took its name from the three states. "Wa" from West Virginia, "ken" from Kentucky and "va" from Virginia.     Back to the Main Page   This website is owned by a Dickenson County Gal. It is an unofficial, ad-free, nonprofit, privately owned website. All rights to the information, photos, and graphics contained herein are strictly reserved by the owner.   If you have comments about this website click here.   This page updated August 13, 2005.