Christiansburg is located on the original Wilderness Road. In one year as many as 50,000 families migrated westward along this "Great Road." It was a mustering place named by Col. George Washington and Col. William Byrd for frontiersmen to take action against threatening Indians.
The Craig family settled at the headwaters of Crab Creek in the mid 1700’s. Their plantation became known as Hans Meadows. Shortly after Craig’s son Robert was found scalped by the Indians, John Craig and his wife moved to Abingdon and his son James became the owner of Hans Meadow. James Craig and his wife donated 180 acres for the establishment of the Town of Christiansburg.
When formed in 1776, Montgomery County held court in Fort Chiswell. By the late 1780’s, it was decided that court should more centrally located and Hans Meadow was chosen as the location. Court was first held at Hans Meadow in 1789 and James Craig offered to give 180 acres of land for the establishment of a town. The Virginia legislature chartered the town in 1792 and named it Christiansburg in honor of Col. William Christian, a famed Indian fighter, brother-in-law of Patrick Henry, and Chairman of the committee that drew up the Fincastle Resolutions; who once lived near present day Claytor Lake. In 1797, five years after the town was chartered, a group of travelers reported that there were 10 houses in the village.
Christiansburg has been called the "Home of Heroes." Legend has it that Daniel Boone was an early resident of the area. After purchasing goods to equip his men, he left without paying his debt. A warrant was issued for his arrest in 1775, but he had moved on to Kentucky and was never arrested.
Davy Crockett served as an apprentice for a short time to a local newspaper printer. He then spent 18 months learning the hattery trade from John Snider. Snider’s home was located about where the present day Invision Eye Care Center and Charlie’s Chinese Restaurant are located on West Main Street.
William Clark, of the Lewis and Clark fame, married the daughter of Col. Hancock of Fotheringay in Elliston, and lived on East Main Street in what is known locally at the old Montague home. The house still stands today above the Episcopal Church.
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