Troutdale, Grayson’s westernmost incorporated town, encompasses a circcle within a mil of the town’s center. The town boasts an elevation of 3,300 feet, makeing it the “Highest Incorporated Town in Virginia”. The town’s location coordinates are 36° 42′ 1.79″ N and -81° 26′ 24.59″ W. The average population is just under 200 residents. The town imposes no taxes. Troutdale has a municipal water system that serves 75-80 homes. Law enforcement and garbage collection services are provided by Grayson County.
Local Points of interest:
- The famous author Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) had a home called the “Ripshin Farm” or the “Sherwood Anderson Farm” in Troutdale. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971. It is located on the north side of Route 372, about0.1 miles northeast of intersection of Route 603 and Route 732, in Troutdale.
- The Appalachian Trail Hikers often stop for a reprieve in the town, which welcomes them warmly with a bunk house and showering facility offered by the Troutdale Baptist Church. Troutdale’s Trails include Iron Mountain and Brushy Mountain, Pine Mountain and the Mount Rogers Circuit, and Little Wilson Creek Wilderness.
- Grindstone National Park is located in the Fairwood Valley just a few miles outside of town. At 3,800 feet, Grindstone is surrounded by mixed hardwoods, hemlock and rhododendrons.
- The Mount Rogers National Recreation Area spans 200,000 acres of National Forest, with four wildlife-rich wilderness areas. The area offers excellent hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and hunting. This area includes the Grayson Highlands State park and Mount Rogers (the highest peak in Virginia).
If you visited back in the 1920s or 30s, you could have ridden the old Marion & Ry Valley railway, a narrow gauge logging train that connected with the main railroad line in Marion. The railway company went out of business and pulled up its tracks in 1943. Troutdale was a lunbering “boom town” with a population of 2,800. The town had stores, a railroad depot an electric power company, a chair factory, a photograph gallery a theater, a couple of hotels, a newspaper and even a soda pop factory.
Troutdale began its decline with the chair and furniture factories lost a big order from the Cuban government in the 1920s. They went bankrupt and both burned. By 1925, the land near Troutdale was timbered out and the lumber companies were also closed. A more detailed description of the History of Troutdale can be found here: www.newrivernotes.com/va/troutdle.htm