Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Near West McDowell McDowell, VA

McDowell is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Highland County, Virginia, and it first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2020 U.S. census.

The 2020 census counted just 94 residents in McDowell, yet it is still one of the two largest population centers in Highland County, whose 2,232 residents in 2020 made it the least populous county or independent city in Virginia.

The community was named for James McDowell, who served as governor of Virginia from 1843 to 1846.

McDowell has had a post office since 1828, and the village uses ZIP code 24458.

The village sits on U.S. Route 250 — the historic Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike — about 7.2 miles southeast of Monterey, the Highland County seat.

McDowell lies in the Bullpasture Valley near the mouth of Crab Run on the Bullpasture River, at an elevation of about 2,110 feet in the Allegheny Highlands.

On May 8, 1862, the village gave its name to the Battle of McDowell, also known as the Battle of Sitlington's Hill, the first Confederate victory of Stonewall Jackson's 1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign.

In the battle, the Confederates of Stonewall Jackson and Edward "Allegheny" Johnson held the heights of Sitlington's Hill above the Bullpasture River and repulsed roughly four hours of attacks by Union troops under Generals Robert Milroy and Robert Schenck, who withdrew that night.

The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have preserved 583 acres of the McDowell battlefield, which is interpreted today by a battlefield trail with historical markers.

Three McDowell-area properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Crab Run Lane Truss Bridge, the Mansion House, and the McClung Farm Historic District.