Tazewell

Formed December 20, 1799 (75^th county)

Tazewell County (40,439), Tazewell (4,496), Richlands (5,274)

The tan brick Colonial Revival courthouse was erected in 1874 and remodeled in 1914.  The courthouse is on Main Street between Court and Central avenues.  Main Street is Virginia State Highway 16 in the community.  W. G. Bottimore provided the designs.  The building was enlarged in 2002.  The courthouse features columns with veteran memorials on the grounds.  Many of the Virginia counties have their county seat at a location named after the county followed by the words Court House.  Some counties maintain this in their official name.  The county was founded on December 20, 1799 from parts of Wythe and Russell counties as the 75^th county with Tazewell as the only county seat.  The county and county seat are named for Senator Henry Tazewell.  Tazewell County is the birthplace to 1 Virginia Governor, George C. Peery. 

The area of the county is 520 square miles.  It is 20 out of 133 in the state.  It ranks 44 out of 133 in population in the state.  It has a density of 77.8 persons per square mile making it 82 out of 133 in the state.  Tazewell County has 40.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 19 enters the county from the northeast, Bland County, and exits to the southwest, Russell County.  United States Highway 460 is joined with United States Highway 19 from Bland County, splits and continues northwest into Buchanan County.  The county is a flat bowl is the top scooped out.  The City of Tazewell is located near the center of the county.  Richlands is on the western border of the county.  Tazewell is the county seat and Richlands is the largest city.  Tazewell is 11.1% of the county population while Richlands is 13.0% of the county population. 

Tazewell County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Supervisors.  Four Circuit Court Judges and Four District Court Judges serve Tazewell, Buchanan, Dickenson, and Russell counties and Fifty-three Magistrate Court Judges serve Tazewell, Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Dickenson, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Montgomery, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Washington, Wise, and Wythe counties and Bristol, Galax, Norton, and Radford cities.  Tazewell County is on the southwest border with West Virginia.  Charleston, West Virginia is north and Knoxville, Tennessee is southwest of the county.  The county center is 3.7 miles Northwest of Tazewell nearer North Tazewell.  The county is surrounded clockwise by West Virginia and Bland, Smyth, Russell, and Buchanan counties.  This county is in the Bluefield Micropolitan Statistical Area.