The Crooked Road: Unique Stops and Shops

These Unique Shops & Stops Along the Crooked Road all have something to do with music and the Appalachian heritage and culture.

Franklin County

Painting at the Blue Ridge Institute and Farm Museum

Ferrum - Don't miss the Blue Ridge Institute & Farm Museum Shop for hard-to-find, traditional Appalachian crafts.

Floyd County

Mabry Mill

Floyd - The Pickin' Porch has an array of handcrafted and vintage acoustic instruments including: guitars, banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, fiddles, ukuleles and more. A good place to purchase strings and tuners and get your accoustic instrument fixed. Nextdoor is the Heritage Shop & Heritage Records.

Meadows of Dan - The Mayberry Trading Post is a great place to find recordings.

Meadows of Dan - Mabry Mill is one of the most photographed places on earth. Concerts take place here during warm months, too.

Carroll County

Old Country Store Museum

Fancy Gap - The Rand Gallery is a small fine arts and fine crafts gallery by Randy Williard, local artist.

Fancy Gap - Orchard Spring Instruments working shop where traditional musical instruments are hand-crafted from native hardwoods.

Fancy Gap - Fancy Gap Craft Shops/Outlets sells area crafts, antiques and collectibles.

Fancy Gap - Old Country Store Museum is one of the most off-beat places you'll ever visit. This 1941 country store and produce market was turned into a unique museum. Items on display are reminders of what used to be.

Galax

Galax - Barr's Fiddle Shop is owned and operated by Tommy Barr, a fiddle maker and musician. This is a place to get those banjo lessons from his son, Stevie Barr, purchase a handmade fiddle, banjo and/or dulcimer, and new strings, picks and tuners.

Galax - The Jeff Matthews Memorial Museum features two log cabins furnished with period items.

Grayson County

Independence - Mill Creek Arts features custom-made works of local artisans.

Bristol

Bristol - The Paramount Theater is a National Historic Landmark and a restored 1931 Art Deco theater. Concerts, plays, movies, dance and other entertainment take place here. Tours are available, too.

Bristol - The Birthplace of Country Music Mural in downtown Bristol. It's right outside on a big concrete wall with a performance stage in front of it. Awesome!

Scott County

Duffield - Natural Tunnel State Park's Gift Shop is open daily. They sell Papa Joe Smiddy's CDs here among other Crooked Road memorabilia.

Gate City - The Homeplace Mountain Farm & Museum is a collection of authentic structures and artifacts that have been assembled here from their original locations throughout Scott County.

Wise County

Southwest Virginia Museum

Big Stone Gap - The June Tolliver House & Folkart Center offers crafts and gifts and paintings by local artists.

Big Stone Gap - The John Fox Jr. Museum is the home of the mountain author of many novels and short stories. Most well known are "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" and "The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come."

Big Stone Gap - Southwest Virginia Museum's Gift Shop is a great place for one-of-a-kind items.

St. Paul - The Dickenson Bundy Log House is dated from 1769, the oldest found in the area.

Wise - Appalachian Showcase at the Clapboard House features handiwork of more than 50 area and regional craftsmen and artists, regional foods and other Appalachian items.

Lee County

Pennington Gap - Wild Mountain Thyme offer hand-crafted products for the body and spirit.

Pennington Gap - The Appalachian African-American Cultural Center contains African-American historical artifacts from the area.

Dickenson County

Haysi - Mountain Art Works Restaurant & Gallery features comfort food, artwork and music jams.

Haysi - Mountain Treasures has country treasures and collectables as well as local arts and crafts and country antiques.