Origins of Big Stone Gap

This was the site of the Gilley family farm, settled by John and Mary Barger Gilley about 1790. The family cemetery was located just south, at the end of Graveyard Alley. Named Imboden after Confederate Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden when it was laid out on parts of the Gilley, Horton, and Flanary farms, the town was incorporated on 7 Apr. 1882 as Mineral City. Its name was changed to Big Stone Gap on 23 Feb. 1888, when the town boundaries were enlarged. Soon, as several railroads converged here, the town grew due to the importance of the iron and coal-mining industries.

Department of Historic Resources, 1995