Sugar Grove, Montgomery County, Virginia
Encyclopedia
Sugar Grove is an unincorporated community
in Montgomery County
, Virginia
, United States
. Sugar Grove is part of the Blacksburg
–Christiansburg
–Radford
Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Montgomery County, Virginia and the city of Radford. It is a lesser known community that predates both better known communities in Virginia and West Virginia
by the same name. Sugar Grove at one time hosted a school, a post office
, two stores, a vegetable canning facility, and a little less than one hundred families.
In modern times, the boundaries of Sugar Grove are generally agreed to be primarily the intersection of Bow Hill Road, Sugar Grove Road, and Elliots Creek Road. Craigs Mountain Road (VA 674) is the only way into Sugar Grove. From Pilot Road (VA 615) to the end of state maintenance on Bow Hill Road, it is approximately six miles, three and one half of those miles being a gravel road.
Sugar Grove is an often neglected community of Montgomery County, Virginia. It took an outpouring of the community at a Board of Supervisors meeting in 1998 and 1999 to get the Virginia Department of Transportation to pave the worst one and one-half miles of road that contained at least one-half miles of one hundred foot drop-offs with no guard rail and no room to pass.
On Bow Hill Road, residents were forced to drive through a creek
three times to the end of the state maintained road until a local news station (WSLS) profiled the road in 2000. Of course, state law prevented school buses from crossing live water so school bus service did not arrive to the end of Bow Hill Road until after the news story gave the plight wide coverage.
The current residents of Sugar Grove represent a wide range of people, those with college educations and advanced degrees to those who have no education beyond elementary school. There are college professors, nurses, construction workers, and retirees residing in Sugar Grove. There is a surprising amount of community cohesiveness considering the diversity of education, culture, lifestyle, and income level.
There are a few commercial enterprises based in Sugar Grove ranging from computer consultants to a full time taxidermist. Also, agricultural activity centers on timber harvesting and firewood suppliers.
Fortunately, for residents of Sugar Grove, development pressure is limited due to the topography
. With the headwaters of the Roanoke River
in Dry Run and Elliots Creek and steep Pilot Mountain to the south, there are very few pieces of flat land, with most land being on the slopes of the mountain and the remaining land forming flood plains of the creeks.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Montgomery County
Montgomery County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 83,629 people, 30,997 households, and 17,203 families residing in the county. The population density was 215 people per square mile . There were 32,527 housing units at an average density of 84 per square mile...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Sugar Grove is part of the Blacksburg
Blacksburg, Virginia
Blacksburg is an incorporated town located in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 42,620 at the 2010 census. Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford are the three principal jurisdictions of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Metropolitan Statistical Area which...
–Christiansburg
Christiansburg, Virginia
Christiansburg is a town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. The population was 21,041 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County...
–Radford
Radford, Virginia
Radford is a city in Virginia, United States. The population was 16,408 in 2010. For statistical purposes, the Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Radford with neighboring Montgomery County, including the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, calling the combination the...
Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Montgomery County, Virginia and the city of Radford. It is a lesser known community that predates both better known communities in Virginia and West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
by the same name. Sugar Grove at one time hosted a school, a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, two stores, a vegetable canning facility, and a little less than one hundred families.
In modern times, the boundaries of Sugar Grove are generally agreed to be primarily the intersection of Bow Hill Road, Sugar Grove Road, and Elliots Creek Road. Craigs Mountain Road (VA 674) is the only way into Sugar Grove. From Pilot Road (VA 615) to the end of state maintenance on Bow Hill Road, it is approximately six miles, three and one half of those miles being a gravel road.
Sugar Grove is an often neglected community of Montgomery County, Virginia. It took an outpouring of the community at a Board of Supervisors meeting in 1998 and 1999 to get the Virginia Department of Transportation to pave the worst one and one-half miles of road that contained at least one-half miles of one hundred foot drop-offs with no guard rail and no room to pass.
On Bow Hill Road, residents were forced to drive through a creek
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
three times to the end of the state maintained road until a local news station (WSLS) profiled the road in 2000. Of course, state law prevented school buses from crossing live water so school bus service did not arrive to the end of Bow Hill Road until after the news story gave the plight wide coverage.
The current residents of Sugar Grove represent a wide range of people, those with college educations and advanced degrees to those who have no education beyond elementary school. There are college professors, nurses, construction workers, and retirees residing in Sugar Grove. There is a surprising amount of community cohesiveness considering the diversity of education, culture, lifestyle, and income level.
There are a few commercial enterprises based in Sugar Grove ranging from computer consultants to a full time taxidermist. Also, agricultural activity centers on timber harvesting and firewood suppliers.
Fortunately, for residents of Sugar Grove, development pressure is limited due to the topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
. With the headwaters of the Roanoke River
Roanoke River
The Roanoke River is a river in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States, 410 mi long. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains southeast across the Piedmont...
in Dry Run and Elliots Creek and steep Pilot Mountain to the south, there are very few pieces of flat land, with most land being on the slopes of the mountain and the remaining land forming flood plains of the creeks.