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.