Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Stonega, VA

Stonega is a census-designated place and historic coal town in Wise County, Virginia, and is part of the Big Stone Gap micropolitan area.

Stonega was founded on July 15, 1895, as Pioneer, a name chosen because it was the first commercial mine and coking plant in Wise County.

The community was built by the Virginia Coal and Iron Company and was renamed Stonega in 1896 for its proximity to Stone Gap, a pass through the mountains between Virginia and Kentucky.

By 1897 Stonega had about 1,200 residents and 350 coke ovens, along with a company store, a post office, a school, a church, and telegraph and telephone lines.

In 1902 the Stonega Coke and Coal Company assumed control of the operation and leased the land from the Virginia Coal and Iron Company.

Stonega was owned and operated as a company town until after World War II, and at its peak it held more than 700 single-family company dwellings.

The Stonega Historic District, preserving rows of company-built houses such as Park Place and Quality Row, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Stonega's post office closed in 2002.

Stonega first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2020 census, which counted just 93 residents, a small remnant of the once-booming coal camp.