Bristol Commercial Historic District

Birthplace of Country Music Museum is a museum celebrating the historic 1927 Bristol Sessions, which recorded some of the earliest country music in America when the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers and several other musicians recorded for the first time before gaining prominence. The museum is located at 520 Birthplace of Country Music Way in Bristol, Virginia. A live radio station WBCM-LP broadcasts from within the museum. The original site of the Bristol recordings is marked by a plaque several blocks from the museum.

The King–Lancaster–McCoy–Mitchell-Shew House is an historic home in Bristol, Virginia. The original section was built between 1815 and 1820, with additions and alterations dating from 1881, 1892, and 1903. It is a two-story, irregular shaped, gable-roofed, brick dwelling in a Victorian Italianate-style with some Colonial Revival details.The large brick home is the most historic house in Bristol, Virginia. The handmade brick residence was built 1816-1820 by Colonel James King on the highest point of his property overlooking his meadows where he raised cattle. The settlement was once known as “King’s Meadows” before it took the name of Bristol nearly half a century later. Colonel James King and his son, the Reverend James King, were key figures in the founding and development of Bristol. They contributed to the business world through the iron business and the commerce of buying and selling. The Reverend James King gifted the land needed to create Bristol's King University and served as pastor for two early Presbyterian churches. The King family occupied the house until 1853. President Andrew Jackson was a frequent visitor to the house and was escorted to Washington for his inauguration by William King. The Sapling Grove post office operated from the house from 1839 to 1853, and the house was a stopping point for stagecoaches traveling from Abingdon to Blountville from 1839 to 1856. Mountain View High School, which became Sullins College, began in the house in 1869. In 1991, the Bristol Historical Association initiated a study concerning the oldest section of the home which is the remainder of Colonel James King's original dwelling. This fact is verified by an elaborate map of Washington County drawn by John Wood in 1820 in which the site of Bristol is marked with a small square, and the legend “Colonel James King’s brick house”. Analysis by the Department of Historic Resources in Richmond, Virginia, revealed that the original structure consisted of a two-room plan, divided by a central winding staircase leading to two bedrooms upstairs. These original rooms, enclosed within additions made over the years, make it the oldest existing structure within the city limits of Bristol. The formal entrance was originally on the north elevation. A rear wing housing the kitchen is presumed to be part of the original building or added shortly after the original structure was constructed. Changes to the house were made by subsequent owners. In 1881, John J. Lancaster, a prominent wealthy banker of New York City, remodeled it as a gift for his mother and two maiden sisters. In 1981, H.E. McCoy, the founder of Bristol's Dominion National Bank, built a major addition to the house for a new living room entrance hall and portico redirecting the formal entrance to the east elevation. The addition completed an ingenious composition by connecting an identical two-story gabled façade1820 structure with a flat roofed “hyphen” which housed the bathroom above and formal entry hall below. In 1903, Joseph D. Mitchell added a kitchen wing that is distinguished only by the ornate Carpenter Gothic wood columns. Mitchell came to Bristol in 1882, with only two dollars in his pocket and boarded at the house with Mrs. Thomas Lancaster. She put him in what is now the dining room, and later when he became wealthy, he confessed that on the first night he spent there that he vowed he would someday own the grand house on the hill overlooking the town. About 19 years later, his dream came true. The house belonged to the Mitchell family for over 100 years. Mitchell's daughter, Margaret, was born in the house in 1901 and lived there for 99 of her 102 years. Margaret willed the house and its contents to King University, and the property now belongs to Daniel and Monica Shew. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, and included in the Solar Hill Historic District in 2001. History provided by the Bristol VA Historical Association. 2007

The Bristol Virginia-Tennessee Slogan Sign is a landmark in the twin cities of Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee, United States. The sign is positioned over State Street, a roadway along the border separating the two states. Although the landmark is technically located in both Tennessee and Virginia, the National Register considers the location as Tennessee.

Bristol station (locally known as Union Station and Bristol Train Station) is a historic railroad station in Bristol, Virginia, USA, just north of the Tennessee state line. Built in 1902, the station was served by passenger trains until 1971. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Bristol Railroad Station in 1980.

The Solar Hill Historic District encompasses an architecturally significant early 20th century residential neighborhood near the center of Bristol, Virginia. The district covers an area of about 27 acres (11 ha), bounded on the north by the Norfolk and Southern Railroad and Scott Street, on the west by West Street, on the east by Johnson Street, and on the south by Cumberland Street. Solar Hill is a knob of land overlooking the downtown area, and is where the house of the King family, one the area's early settlers, is located. The Kings owned most of what is now Bristol until 1852, when the central portion of the town was laid out, but retained ownership of the Solar Hill area until after the American Civil War. The hill became known as "Solar Hill" when it was used as an official observation point of a solar eclipse in 1869.Solar Hill was sold off for development in 1871, but significant development did not begin until 1890. Between 1890 and the 1920s the area was built up with high quality Colonial Revival and American Craftsman style homes, and had a reputation as the fashionable residential area for Bristol's elite. Many of these fine larger homes have since that period been divided into apartments, or been adapted for use by businesses.The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001; it is incorrectly classified as being in Washington County.

Bristol Warehouse Historic District is a national historic district located at Bristol, Virginia. The district encompasses five contributing buildings and one contributing structure in a regional rail, shipping and industrial center area of Bristol. The district contains a former railroad station, four warehouse buildings, and one dwelling. They are the South Atlantic & Ohio Railroad passenger station and offices (c. 1887), Bristol Warehouse Company (c. 1940), Bristol Builders Supply Company (c. 1920), parsonage for the John Wesley United Methodist Church (c. 1940), Central Warehouse building (1946), a commercial building (c. 1950), and the South Atlantic & Ohio Railroad Tracks (c. 1887).It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

The First Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church at 1 Virginia Street in Bristol, Virginia. It is a rectangular 1+1⁄2-story brick structure, resembling a Greek temple of the Ionic order. Its front facade is divided by six round columns, which support an entablature and fully pedimented gable. There are three entrances sheltered by this portico. The side walls are divided into bays articulated by Doric pilasters, with sash windows topped by individual clerestory-style windows. Built in 1912, and enlarged in 1964, it is one of the most imposing examples of Classical Revival architecture in southwestern Virginia.The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

Bristol is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee, just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State Street. It is surrounded on three sides by Washington County, Virginia, which is combined with the city for statistical purposes. It is a principal city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, which had a population of 307,614 in 2020. The metro area is a component of the larger Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia, with a population of 508,260 in 2020.

The G.W. Blackley House is one of the oldest houses in Bristol, Tennessee. It was listed on the Bristol Register of Historic Places in 2010. This federal style house was constructed by noted local furniture builder George W. Blackley at 122 East State Street in 1869. Blackley was one of the early settlers of Bristol, arriving in the area from Albemarle County, Virginia, around 1855. He was a master carpenter who built homes and made fine furniture for other settlers.The house stands near historic East Hill Cemetery, where many who took up arms in a war of rebellion against the United States on behalf of the Confederacy are buried, including James Keeling.The G.W. Blackley house is one of the oldest homes in the town of Bristol and the first home built on East Hill. Historic restoration is planned beginning in 2011–2012. The remaining property consists of 0.30 acres.

Virginia Hill Historic District is a national historic district located at Bristol, Virginia. The district encompasses 134 contributing buildings in a predominantly residential area of Bristol. The neighborhood developed in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and contains primarily one- to two-story frame and brick dwellings constructed from 1868 to the 1940s. Notable buildings include the I.C. Fowler House (1868), 513 Lee Street (1882), A.W. Randolph House (c. 1890), Jean McNeil Pepper House, and Thomas Jefferson Public School (1923).It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 27,147 at the 2020 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundary between the two cities is also the state line, which runs along State Street in their common downtown district. It is a principal city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, which had a population of 307,614 in 2020. The metro area is a component of the larger Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia, with a population of 508,260 in 2020. Bristol is known for being the site of some of the earliest commercial recordings of country music, showcasing Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, and later a favorite venue of mountain musician Uncle Charlie Osborne. The U.S. Congress recognized Bristol as the "Birthplace of Country Music" in 1998, and the Birthplace of Country Music Museum is located in Bristol. It also is the birthplace of Tennessee Ernie Ford. Bristol is the site of Bristol Motor Speedway, a NASCAR short track. The world's fifth-largest coal producer, Contura Energy, is based in Bristol.

Virginia Middle School is a former high school, is a historical landmark, and is now a middle school located in Bristol, Virginia. It is a part of Bristol Virginia Public Schools.