Site of Mount Airy

K-31

In 1811, Martin Staley transferred land here to his son Valentine. A year later, his son formed the town of Mount (Mt.) Airy, sometimes referred to as Staleytown. The tract was divided into about 72 lots, including Main Street, Cross Street, and a public square. Following Valentine Staley's death in 1817, his wife and children successfully petitioned the General Assembly to sell more lots. With the establishment of a nearby railroad center at what became Rural Retreat and an attack on Mount Airy by Federal troops during the Civil War, Mount Airy ceased to exist about 1875.

Department of Historic Resources, 2005

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Mary B. Kegley, Volume V: The New River of Virginia in Pioneer Days, 1745-1820 in Early Adventurers on Western Waters (Wythevillle, Va.: Kegley Books, 2004), 196-197, 373-376; Mary B. Kegley, I Like Molly Tynes Whether She Rode or Not And Twenty-Five Other Tall Tales and Cherished Myths (n.p., 2003); Mary B. Kegley, “Towns of By-Gone Days,” Wythe County Historical Review 23 (Jan. 1983): 7-13; Mary B. Kegley, Wythe County, Virginia: A Bicentennial History (Wytheville, Va.: Wythe County Board of Supervisors, 1989), 302, 304; Arthur M. Kent, “Mount Airy,” Wythe County Historical Review 1(July 1971): 11.