The Saltville Historic District includes most of the surviving historic commercial and residential buildings of a town that served as an important center of the salt and plaster industry in the Little Mountain range in northwestern Smyth County. Mathieson-Alkali Works developed Saltville as a company town from 1892 to 1930. Between 1931 and 1950, the company released land for construction of privately-owned commercial buildings. The town is laid out in a narrow valley that parallels the North Fork of the Holston River. Relatively intact commercial and institutional properties occupy the principal blocks of the north portion of the district, while domestic structures line streets to the south.