St. Paul

History

St. Paul, Virginia is a town located in the Appalachian Mountains along the Clinch River. It began as a French Huguenot settlement overlooking the river in 1791, during the Cherokee-American wars. Since the creation of Wise County in 1858, it has been located partially in Wise and partly in the older Russell County. It was formerly incorporated as a town in 1911. The St. Paul Historic District and Virginia City Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since the 1990s, the Nature Conservancy has worked to preserve the great biodiversity in and along the Clinch River. In 2021, Virginia governor Ralph Northam dedicated Clinch River State Park, still in development but which was designed as Virginia's first blueway state park, with multiple river multiple access points over 135 miles (217 km) of the Clinch River. Early sections include Sugar Hill (2 miles of river access and 400 acres of land including the remains of the Huguenot settlement), and the Artrip Bent Unit (232 undeveloped acres in Russell county). St. Paul has several annual historical celebrations. One is the Santa Train. The Santa Train travels from Eastern Kentucky and Southwest Virginia, ending in Kingsport, Tennessee. The Santa Train makes 14 stops along the way while Santa Claus throws out gifts to children.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km2), of which 1.0 square mile (2.5 km2) is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1 km2) (3.92%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• CASTLEWOOD HIGH
  High · Castlewood · 314 students · 10.5:1 ratio
• Castlewood Elementary
  Elementary · Castlewood · 237 students · 9.5:1 ratio
• Copper Creek Elementary
  Elementary · Castlewood · 122 students · 13.6:1 ratio