“We’re definitely a unique city,” attests Mayor Anthony Farnum. It’s a stately distinction that fosters a sense of pride of place in the local community and distills the Bristolian experience in a warm welcome to those just passing through. A regionally famous marker located between the roadway’s 400 and 800 blocks has billed Bristol “A Good Place to Live” since 1921.
In 1890, Goodsonville officially renamed itself Bristol, and the twin towns continued to grow their respective downtowns along that same, central thoroughfare. The outer edges of their lands helped form the city boundaries but the distinctions quickly became blurred. Established in 1852 as a hustling trading town and railroad junction on the Tennessee side, Bristol soon acquired a neighbor in Goodsonville, the settlement on the other side of the border. Bristol, Virginia A twin city with promise and permanenceĪ Southern-friendly city straddling the Virginia/Tennessee boundary, Bristol is a quirky place blessed with interesting history influenced by both sides of its State Street borderline.
