The Big Stone Gap Downtown Historic District is nestled in the Allegheny Mountains of western Virginia, in Wise County. The “Big Stone Gap” refers to the broadening of the Powell River Valley between Stone Mountain, Little Stone Mountain, and Wallens Ridge. The district comprises the historic business core of Big Stone Gap, a boomtown that flourished from the late-19th century through the mid-20th century as the hub for emerging coal and iron-ore industries in Wise County. Unlike many towns in the region that arose unplanned, Big Stone Gap was laid out on a grid plan by the Big Stone Gap Improvement Company in the 1880s. The Stonega Coke and Coal Company, a pioneer in coal production in Southwest Virginia and the largest producer in its territory, built its headquarters in Big Stone Gap in 1908, further elevating the town’s importance. Coal extraction continued as the major local industry throughout the mid-20th century, stimulating the town’s commercial development in support of the growing industry and its employees. The Big Stone Gap’s historic district includes architecturally significant individual buildings, such as the 1912 Renaissance Revival-style Slemp Federal Building and the 1940 Moderne-style Tri-State Coach Bus Terminal, and vernacular commercial buildings constructed from 1900 to the mid-20th century, clustered mostly within a four-block area. Because a 1908 fire destroyed many buildings associated with the town’s boom period in the late 1800s, the ten-acre Big Stone Gap Downtown Historic District’s oldest building dates to around 1900.