Staffordsville

Staffordsville was founded in the late 1700s by Ralph Stafford of Ireland and is located on the banks of Walker’s Creek in what used to be Montgomery County.

Staffordsville has undergone great changes from that of its early days when Ralph Stafford came to America with his wife Jane (Kane) Stafford in time to serve in the Revolutionary War where he was wounded at Yorktown, which caused his death. Staffordsville is one of the few towns in Virginia with the name of the original settler. Here, Ralph Stafford built the first gristmill and sawmill.

The village struggled up the hills and over the creek bottoms until it was completely laid out. A map was placed in the County Clerk’s Office which showed seventeen lots, including a blacksmith shop, general store, grist mill, saw mill, tannery, post office, newspaper, cotton mill, and two churches – one Methodist and the other which came later the Disciples of Christ or Christian. There was also a doctor’s office, which also served as a dentist’s office when necessary. One doctor residence was located in Staffordsville from the Civil War period until 1914 and it was also the birthplace of the father of Virginia College president.

Today, thanks to development, little is left of Staffordsville; it remains a beautiful rural farming community.