Odd Places and Curious Spaces: Bristol Virginia or Bristol Tennessee?

When most people think of Bristol, they think of Tennessee and the Bristol Motor Speedway, or at least we sure did.
However we were soon to learn that not only is Bristol in TN, but it actually shares itself with VA! This quant little town has an upbeat and energizing downtown atmosphere that makes for an awesome weekend getaway for theatre, good eats, tasty treats, breweries, and unique shopping.
We found an Amazing "Country Music" themed brick loft right in the middle of Downtown so follow us on our adventure as we explore the hidden gem that is Bristol, TN/VA
Airbnb: Mountain Music Loft- www.airbnb.com/rooms/38066974...
Country Music: A Documentary
By Ken Burns
Amazon link: amzn.to/3jLnBqL

[@LawMedLegalNurse]

You two have the best energy and you make a cute couple - thanks for the happy, informative video

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Hey thanks so much for the kind words!

[@CAMPFIREKARAOKE276]

I've lived here my whole life ! Thank you for featuring my town!!!

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

It’s an amazing place!

[@TheDon8771]

I like the new series. Thank you for sharing an awesome time. Loved the fun facts. You both are amazing.

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Hey thanks so much for watching!! Glad you enjoyed it! We are looking forward to having fun with this one

[@Curious_Hound_Overland]

Love the tone of this video. It's cool that you included interesting facts and history tidbits for the businesses and buildings you showed. Looking forward to the series. Especially enjoyed the cheesy intro skit.

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

It was horrible but we did it in one take and Kim loved how cheesy it was!

[@MeadeSkeltonMusic]

Virginia, birthplace of Country music !

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Absolutely! It’s a great town!

[@jeffmercer9655]

I think it's Bristol birthplace of country music bud I live here too just so you know

[@MeadeSkeltonMusic]

@@jeffmercer9655 Bristol , Virginia.

[@hammertime714]

My great aunt and uncle lived in Bristol TN/VA when I was a young fella. It was so cool to be able to stand in the middle of main street with the brass plaque with Tennessee on one side and Virginia on the other. Very beautiful part of the USA

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

We loved it and will be back!

[@BSR496]

That apartment was awesome! Cool footage and video..Thanks for sharing!

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

We are hoping people like just the travel video as well for those times when we can’t overland. Thanks for watching!

[@BSR496]

I enjoy these travel videos and the history you tell about these places!

[@jennifergonnello3713]

Great Video.! beautiful air bnb! We just left from visiting Bristol and if you ever go back I highly recommend staying at the Sessions Hotel. We’ve stayed twice now and it’s an amazing hotel. We also had Blackbird Bakery for the first time while there. So many choices ! It’s hard to choose :)) Thank you for sharing ! Great video !

[@Somee989]

Going there in ONE WEEK. Moving to the area!

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Nice! You'll LOVE it!

[@Heelfan21]

This was super cool to see. I’ve lived here my whole life (which isn’t too long), and it was really nice to see some love for my home. It was also really cool to see places like Uncle Sam’s antiques, and AR workshop because I’ve got friends who work there. Loved the video and hope you enjoyed your stay

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Awesome! Thank you so much for watching and it was absolutely one of our favorite little trips!

[@eljefechuck4582]

That would be a 2 million dollar apartment here in Denver. Whoa!!!!!

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

It was truly badass!! Was curious what it would go for in that market

[@toddhoffmaster6057]

That was a very cool video series that you have started. I look forward to many more. I would love to take my family there someday. It is so nice to see a clean, well preserved town.

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

It was AWESOME, and we are definitely going back!

[@ncoldmanoverland]

This is a great video, I love the idea and theme. Looking forward to seeing more of the series. A++++++

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Thanks man we’re really excited about these!

[@striperexperience]

Y'all really are fun.

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@mistervacation23]

Well, ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Lol we loved it!

[@ShannonJenkins-xu5ko]

This is a really cool video! I live less than a mile from State St in the historic district of Bristol, Tn! Welcome y’all! 😁

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Awesome! Thank you so much for checking it out!!

[@Somee989]

Really! I am moving out in one week to Bristol VA hotel stay until I find a new house. I am shifting between anxiety & excitement. I am hoping to find a two bedroom with an acre of property that is reasonable somewhere in East TN. I dont want that huge front lawn but a backyard & some wooded areas. I hope to see if I can have a cabin on the property besides a house for some family. I dont have massive money but a few bucks from selling my house here. I also hope to find something before I have to rent an Apt.

[@tirkentube]

Joseph Anderson is considered the founder of Bristol Tennessee. He basically founded "Bristol" when the virginia railroad joined up with the tennessee railroad in the 1850s. He was the son-in-law of a man named Reverand King. He bought the land from Reverand King and built a building basically right beside where the Bristol sign is today. This sight is marked with a memorial and is located on Martin Luther King Jr Blvd and State St corner. Anyway, another man last name Goodson also founded a town just north (exit 5 area) of the new Bristol TN/VA, and Bristol VA was incorporated into that town and named Goosonville before later being renamed back to Bristol Virginia, but keeping its own township. Evan Shelby who lived in this area in the late 1700s and founded a place called Big Camp Meet, and erected a fort (Shelby's Station) to protect the soldiers as they would camp the night while moving through here from the Cherokee. Evan Shelby's body now rests in East Hill Cemetery, which is just east (or up the road) of the big Bristol Sign, after having been moved from his original grave. Here's a quote from an 1887 book called "Goodspeed's History of Tennessee: Sullivan County." : "Gen. Evan SHELBY located on Beaver Creek, at what was known as the Beaver Dam Bottoms, in 1771, where he erected a fort on an eminence overlooking the site of Bristol. He was born in Wales in 1720, and before coming to Tennessee had taken an active part in the French and Indian war on the borders of Maryland and Pennsylvania. He commanded a company of militia from Sullivan County at the battle of Point Pleasant, and was the leader of the famous Chickamauga expedition. Afterward he was appointed by Virginia a general of her militia. He died in 1794, and was buried in the old family burial ground at Bristol, which was removed a few years ago. His son, Isaac, was made a lieutenant of militia in 1774, and as such participated in the battle of Point Pleasant. In 1776 he was appointed commissary, which position he held at the battle of Long Island Flats. Prior to the extension of the boundary line between North Carolina and Virginia, he served a term in the Legislature of the latter State. His last public service in Tennessee was as commander of the regiments at King's Mountain. Evan SHELBY, Jr., was a major in his brother's regiment at King's Mountain. In 1790 he went to Kentucky, where he was killed by the Indians about three years later...The BLEDSOES and BEELERS located on land adjoining the SHELBYS. The BEELERS owned the tract of land on Cedar Creek known as Sapling Grove [sic]." (13) Calloway adds: "The second mercantile establishment in the settlements was actually a combination trading post, way station, and stockade erected north of the Watauga by hard-drinking Evan SHELBY, a Marylander originally from Wales. This fort, known as Shelby's Station, covering over an acre and a half, was built on a hill above Beaver Creek (above the corner of present-day seventh and Anderson streets in Bristol, Tennessee) as a bastion against the Indians. During the French and Indian War SHELBY was a scout with BRADDOCK and commanded a company with FORBES. Afterward, he became a fur trader amont the Indians. During his travels in and out of the western wildrness, he heard about a tradesman named William BEAN and a farmer, James ROBERTSON, who had settled on the Watauga and the Sycamore Shoals, respectively... He first appeared in what is now the East Tennessee country about the close of the year 1770 and was excited by all he saw. He wrote his sons of his satisfaction with the territory, telling them that the soldiers and officers of the French and Indian War would undoubtedly receive grants of land there, and for them to purchase as many of the grants as possible. They did as he suggested. "The following year, at the age of 51, Shelby moved his family to the Holston Country and settled at a place called "Big Camp Meet" (now Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia). The place was a prehistoric Indian village named, according to legend, because numerous deer and buffalo met here to feast in the canebreaks. An Indian trail, which the early settlers would traverse, followed an old Buffalo path from what is now Bristol to present-day Blountville. Shelby renamed the site Sapling Grove (which would later be changed to King's Meadows and still later to Bristol). Here, the Shelby family engaged in merchandizsing, farming and cattle raising (Lay, 5)."

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Thanks for the information

[@AllTerrainNation]

Bristol has lot to do.. Great video yall

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

We LOVED it and really want to head back when it warms up a bit

[@carrollalveyjr2419]

This where i Live. next time you are in the area if you want to see another old town that only about a 20 min drive. check out gate city VA. Also pretty cool

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Thanks so much for the suggestion!

[@shashi.kumari]

🎉❤❤🎉❤❤❤

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Thanks for watching!

[@wrangler70jkujeep74]

Awesome..beer . Meat oh grits mmm good. Just my favorite city especially Trains in alley on wall N&W # 611 food so great there allot my railroad friends live around between Roanoke and to Chattanooga . And Jeepers all over Tennessee and Virginia I go to old depot shooting videos and photography . Oh yeah you have odd name place in your area ( AHOLE )

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Lol thanks for watching buddy!

[@wrangler70jkujeep74]

@@DownSouth_Adventures always yaw !

[@fyighfreak]

As someone who grew up in Bristol.........I'm happy you had fun while you were here but god this place is awful lol. Decent tourism so I understand why people would want to visit.

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

We absolutely loved it

[@RadicNomadic]

Equally beautiful, BUT (sorry guys and gals) the racetrack is in Tennessee. Don't know about the laws up there but Talladega (track) is the only place you can buy beer on a Sunday...

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Yes, the racetrack is on the Tennessee side but the actual town is in both states.

[@jonmiller3336]

We serve beer on Sunday

[@StoneMountainAdventures]

Well welcome to God's country lol right in my back yard

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Why thank you fine sir!

[@DukegonzoThompson]

Still out here crying

[@DownSouth_Adventures]

Why are you crying?