Virginia

8 places with something worth saying about them.

• American Airlines Flight 009 Searchers spotted the wreck from the air, saw no one moving, and told the families everyone had died. Five people were still alive on the mountain.
• Battle of Cove Mountain Wytheville's defenders had a cannon and powder but no ammunition, so a blacksmith chopped up horseshoes to fire instead.
• Battle of Marion Outnumbered nearly six to one at Marion, a Confederate general held his ground for thirty-six hours, then vanished in the dark.
• Claytor Lake Three Virginia towns passed the hat and bought the land for a state park, then gave it away.
• Dalton Theatre Building A small Virginia town once had the biggest stage on the whole rail line from Richmond to Tennessee.
• Emory & Henry University A small Virginia college got its nickname from Knoxville sportswriters who watched it hold off Tennessee with striped socks and a swarming defense.
• Seven Sisters (conservation area) The Interstate 77 tunnel under this mountain corner doubles as a bridge for animals walking over the top of the traffic.
• Wytheville Raid About a hundred and twenty townspeople with single-shot muskets turned Wytheville's main street into what one Union soldier called an avenue of death.