{"id":8510,"date":"2023-09-29T14:01:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T14:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=8510"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:07:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:07:44","slug":"lee-county-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/lee-county-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee County, Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lee County is a county in Virginia, United States, at the state&#8217;s far western tip where<br \/>\nVirginia, Kentucky and Tennessee meet at the Cumberland Gap. It had a population of 22,173 at the<br \/>\n2020 census, an estimated 21,642 by 2025, and covers 436 square miles (1,130 km2) centred near<br \/>\n36&#176;43&#8242;N 83&#176;08&#8242;W.<\/p>\n<p>Jonesville is the county seat; its postal code is 24263. The county holds 2 incorporated towns,<br \/>\n6 census-designated places and several smaller unincorporated communities, and it runs on Eastern<br \/>\nTime.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Lee County<\/h2>\n<p>Lee County has 13 named places on record here: 2 incorporated towns, 6 census-designated<br \/>\nplaces (CDPs &#8212; Census Bureau statistical areas with no local government of their own) and 5<br \/>\nunincorporated communities with neither incorporation nor CDP status. Virginia counties have no<br \/>\ncivil townships, so the table below omits that column.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Pennington Gap<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>1,624<\/td>\n<td>24277<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jonesville<\/td>\n<td>Town &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>872<\/td>\n<td>24263<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dryden<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>986<\/td>\n<td>24243<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Rose Hill<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>729<\/td>\n<td>24281<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ewing<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>381<\/td>\n<td>24248<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Keokee<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>330<\/td>\n<td>24265<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Stickleyville<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>279<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>St. Charles<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>72<\/td>\n<td>24282<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ben Hur<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>24218<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Blackwater<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Calvin<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jasper<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Woodway<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>St. Charles carries a history worth a note: it was once an incorporated town, chartered around<br \/>\nthe coal boom, and reverted to unincorporated status decades ago &#8212; the Census Bureau still<br \/>\ntracks it as a CDP under the same name. Stickleyville first appeared as a separate CDP only at<br \/>\nthe 2020 census, having previously been counted as part of the surrounding countryside near the<br \/>\nScott County line.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>24277 &mdash; Pennington Gap<\/li>\n<li>24263 &mdash; Jonesville<\/li>\n<li>24243 &mdash; Dryden<\/li>\n<li>24281 &mdash; Rose Hill<\/li>\n<li>24248 &mdash; Ewing<\/li>\n<li>24265 &mdash; Keokee<\/li>\n<li>24282 &mdash; St. Charles<\/li>\n<li>24218 &mdash; Ben Hur<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Stickleyville, Blackwater, Calvin, Jasper and Woodway have no ZIP code of their own; mail there<br \/>\nis delivered under a neighbouring town&#8217;s code.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Lee County sits in Virginia&#8217;s Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, a series of long parallel<br \/>\nridges and narrow valleys running southwest to northeast. Powell Mountain and Stone Mountain wall<br \/>\noff much of the county&#8217;s southern edge, and the Powell River drains the valley floor through<br \/>\nJonesville and Pennington Gap on its way toward the Clinch River. Cumberland Gap National<br \/>\nHistorical Park covers part of the county&#8217;s western end, where the Kentucky&#8211;<br \/>\nVirginia&#8211;Tennessee tripoint sits on Cumberland Mountain.<\/p>\n<p>Wise County lies to the northeast and Scott County to the east, both in Virginia. Hancock<br \/>\nCounty and Claiborne County, Tennessee, border the county to the south. Bell County and Harlan<br \/>\nCounty, Kentucky, border it to the west and northwest. <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wise-county-virginia\/\">Wise County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/scott-county-virginia\/\">Scott County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/claiborne-county-tennessee\/\">Claiborne County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/harlan-county\/\">Harlan County<\/a> all have their own pages<br \/>\nhere; Hancock County, Tennessee, and Bell County, Kentucky, do not yet.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Lee County had a population of 22,173 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the<br \/>\ncounty near 21,642 residents by 2025, a decline consistent with the rest of Virginia&#8217;s coal<br \/>\ncounties. Pennington Gap and Jonesville are the two largest incorporated places, though most<br \/>\nresidents live in the unincorporated valley communities between them. Virginia&#8217;s statewide<br \/>\nmedian household income was $89,931 in the 2023 ACS; Lee County&#8217;s figure runs well below<br \/>\nthat, among the lowest of any Virginia county, reflecting decades of coal and tobacco decline. The<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s population density works out to roughly 51 people per square mile of land, low even<br \/>\nfor rural southwest Virginia.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Coal mining and tobacco farming built Lee County&#8217;s economy through most of the 20th<br \/>\ncentury; both have shrunk sharply, and unemployment here runs above the Virginia average as a<br \/>\nresult. The federal government is now among the county&#8217;s largest employers: the United<br \/>\nStates Penitentiary, Lee, sits about 8 miles east of Jonesville and employs corrections staff<br \/>\ndrawn from across the county. Lee County Community Hospital in Pennington Gap reopened in 2021<br \/>\nafter the town&#8217;s previous hospital closed in 2013, restoring local emergency and inpatient<br \/>\ncare. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park draws heritage tourism to the county&#8217;s western<br \/>\nend, and local boosters have leaned on that history &#8212; the Wilderness Road and Daniel Boone&#8217;s<br \/>\nroute through the Gap &#8212; to market the area beyond coal.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Virginia&#8217;s General Assembly formed Lee County on 25 October 1792, carving it out of<br \/>\nRussell County. It was named for Henry &#8220;Light-Horse Harry&#8221; Lee, then governor of<br \/>\nVirginia and father of Robert E. Lee. The county occupies the last stretch of the Wilderness Road<br \/>\nbefore it crossed into Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap, and frontier stockades built here in<br \/>\nthe 1780s and 1790s protected settlers moving west along that route. Coal mining arrived in force<br \/>\nin the early 20th century, drawing rail lines and company towns into the county&#8217;s hollows<br \/>\nbefore the industry&#8217;s long decline through the later 1900s.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>US 58 and its alternate route, US 58 Alt., run the length of the county east-west, and US 421<br \/>\nand US 23 also cross it; no interstate highway reaches Lee County.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kingsport, Tennessee &#8212; southeast via US 23<\/li>\n<li>Big Stone Gap, Virginia &#8212; northeast via US 58<\/li>\n<li>Middlesboro, Kentucky &#8212; west via US 58 through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel<\/li>\n<li>Norton, Virginia &#8212; northeast via US 23<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Tri-Cities Airport, southeast in Blountville, Tennessee, is the nearest commercial airport,<br \/>\nserving Kingsport, Bristol and Johnson City. Amtrak does not reach far southwest Virginia; the<br \/>\nnearest station is well to the east, on the Cardinal line at Clifton Forge.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Lee County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt occupies Virginia&#8217;s far western tip at the Cumberland Gap, where Virginia, Kentucky and<br \/>\nTennessee meet, bordered by Wise, Scott, Hancock, Claiborne, Bell and Harlan counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Lee County?<\/strong><br \/>\n22,173 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 21,642.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Lee County?<\/strong><br \/>\n436 square miles (1,130 km2) of land and water.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Lee County?<\/strong><br \/>\nJonesville, formed around its courthouse on Main Street, is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and villages are in Lee County?<\/strong><br \/>\nTwo incorporated towns, Pennington Gap and Jonesville, plus six census-designated places &#8212;<br \/>\nDryden, Rose Hill, Ewing, Keokee, Stickleyville and St. Charles &#8212; and several smaller<br \/>\nunincorporated communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Lee County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n24277 for Pennington Gap, 24263 for Jonesville, 24243 for Dryden, 24281 for Rose Hill, 24248 for<br \/>\nEwing, 24265 for Keokee, 24282 for St. Charles and 24218 for Ben Hur.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Lee County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nCumberland Gap National Historical Park, the Wilderness Road frontier route, and a coal-mining<br \/>\nhistory now giving way to heritage tourism.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/virginia\/\">Towns and villages in Virginia<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lee County is a county in Virginia, United States, at the state&#8217;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&#176;43&#8242;N 83&#176;08&#8242;W. Jonesville is the county [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Lee County, Virginia","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 13 towns, CDPs and communities in Lee County, Virginia - population, ZIP codes and the Cumberland Gap history behind each.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-8510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-virginia","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8510"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9358,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510\/revisions\/9358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}