VA-KG24 William Black

Marker text: WILLIAM BLACK

Just northeast stood the home of William Black, the founder of Blacksburg. In 1797, he laid out a 16-block grid and petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to incorporate a town here; the legislature approved his petition on 13 January 1798. On 4 August 1798, he deeded the 38 3/4-acre site to the town's trustees, who included his brother and himself. Black served as a justice of the peace before moving to Ohio. He died there in 1850 at the age of 84 and he was buried in Pike Township, Clark County.

Department of Historic Resources, 1998.