Lee County, Virginia

Lee County is a county in Virginia, United States, at the state’s far western tip where
Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee meet at the Cumberland Gap. It had a population of 22,173 at the
2020 census, an estimated 21,642 by 2025, and covers 436 square miles (1,130 km2) centred near
36°43′N 83°08′W.

Jonesville is the county seat; its postal code is 24263. The county holds 2 incorporated towns,
6 census-designated places and several smaller unincorporated communities, and it runs on Eastern
Time.

Towns & Villages in Lee County

Lee County has 13 named places on record here: 2 incorporated towns, 6 census-designated
places (CDPs — Census Bureau statistical areas with no local government of their own) and 5
unincorporated communities with neither incorporation nor CDP status. Virginia counties have no
civil townships, so the table below omits that column.

St. Charles carries a history worth a note: it was once an incorporated town, chartered around
the coal boom, and reverted to unincorporated status decades ago — the Census Bureau still
tracks it as a CDP under the same name. Stickleyville first appeared as a separate CDP only at
the 2020 census, having previously been counted as part of the surrounding countryside near the
Scott County line.

ZIP Codes

• 24277 — Pennington Gap
• 24263 — Jonesville
• 24243 — Dryden
• 24281 — Rose Hill
• 24248 — Ewing
• 24265 — Keokee
• 24282 — St. Charles
• 24218 — Ben Hur

Stickleyville, Blackwater, Calvin, Jasper and Woodway have no ZIP code of their own; mail there
is delivered under a neighbouring town’s code.

Geography

Lee County sits in Virginia’s Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, a series of long parallel
ridges and narrow valleys running southwest to northeast. Powell Mountain and Stone Mountain wall
off much of the county’s southern edge, and the Powell River drains the valley floor through
Jonesville and Pennington Gap on its way toward the Clinch River. Cumberland Gap National
Historical Park covers part of the county’s western end, where the Kentucky–
Virginia–Tennessee tripoint sits on Cumberland Mountain.

Wise County lies to the northeast and Scott County to the east, both in Virginia. Hancock
County and Claiborne County, Tennessee, border the county to the south. Bell County and Harlan
County, Kentucky, border it to the west and northwest. Wise County, Scott County, Claiborne County and Harlan County all have their own pages
here; Hancock County, Tennessee, and Bell County, Kentucky, do not yet.

Demographics

Lee County had a population of 22,173 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 21,642 residents by 2025, a decline consistent with the rest of Virginia’s coal
counties. Pennington Gap and Jonesville are the two largest incorporated places, though most
residents live in the unincorporated valley communities between them. Virginia’s statewide
median household income was $89,931 in the 2023 ACS; Lee County’s figure runs well below
that, among the lowest of any Virginia county, reflecting decades of coal and tobacco decline. The
county’s population density works out to roughly 51 people per square mile of land, low even
for rural southwest Virginia.

Economy & Local Life

Coal mining and tobacco farming built Lee County’s economy through most of the 20th
century; both have shrunk sharply, and unemployment here runs above the Virginia average as a
result. The federal government is now among the county’s largest employers: the United
States Penitentiary, Lee, sits about 8 miles east of Jonesville and employs corrections staff
drawn from across the county. Lee County Community Hospital in Pennington Gap reopened in 2021
after the town’s previous hospital closed in 2013, restoring local emergency and inpatient
care. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park draws heritage tourism to the county’s western
end, and local boosters have leaned on that history — the Wilderness Road and Daniel Boone’s
route through the Gap — to market the area beyond coal.

History

Virginia’s General Assembly formed Lee County on 25 October 1792, carving it out of
Russell County. It was named for Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee, then governor of
Virginia and father of Robert E. Lee. The county occupies the last stretch of the Wilderness Road
before it crossed into Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap, and frontier stockades built here in
the 1780s and 1790s protected settlers moving west along that route. Coal mining arrived in force
in the early 20th century, drawing rail lines and company towns into the county’s hollows
before the industry’s long decline through the later 1900s.

Getting There

US 58 and its alternate route, US 58 Alt., run the length of the county east-west, and US 421
and US 23 also cross it; no interstate highway reaches Lee County.

• Kingsport, Tennessee — southeast via US 23
• Big Stone Gap, Virginia — northeast via US 58
• Middlesboro, Kentucky — west via US 58 through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel
• Norton, Virginia — northeast via US 23

Tri-Cities Airport, southeast in Blountville, Tennessee, is the nearest commercial airport,
serving Kingsport, Bristol and Johnson City. Amtrak does not reach far southwest Virginia; the
nearest station is well to the east, on the Cardinal line at Clifton Forge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lee County located?
It occupies Virginia’s far western tip at the Cumberland Gap, where Virginia, Kentucky and
Tennessee meet, bordered by Wise, Scott, Hancock, Claiborne, Bell and Harlan counties.

What is the population of Lee County?
22,173 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 21,642.

How big is Lee County?
436 square miles (1,130 km2) of land and water.

What is the county seat of Lee County?
Jonesville, formed around its courthouse on Main Street, is the county seat.

How many towns and villages are in Lee County?
Two incorporated towns, Pennington Gap and Jonesville, plus six census-designated places —
Dryden, Rose Hill, Ewing, Keokee, Stickleyville and St. Charles — and several smaller
unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Lee County use?
24277 for Pennington Gap, 24263 for Jonesville, 24243 for Dryden, 24281 for Rose Hill, 24248 for
Ewing, 24265 for Keokee, 24282 for St. Charles and 24218 for Ben Hur.

What is Lee County known for?
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, the Wilderness Road frontier route, and a coal-mining
history now giving way to heritage tourism.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Virginia.