I wanted to share this with you, but I am a hunt and peck typist so bear with me as I will have to do a little here and a little there. I will use the same subject line for each typing attempt til finished. If any of these list do not want me to continue please tell me to stop and I will. Thought most may be interested. The story of the state line which seperates Bristol,Va.and Tn. is a most interesting one. It dates back to an ancient charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1578 to Sir Humphery Gilbert. This grant was afterwards given to Sir Walter Raleigh and contained similar provisions to the first one granted. In 1607 the first colony was planted at Jamestown and became the first permanent settlement on the North American Continent. Charles the Second made a grant to the Earl of Clarendon for all of that portion of the new county south of Va. The dividing line was 36 degrees and 30 min.which line started at the north end of Currituck Inlet on the Atlantic Ocean and was to run in a true line as far as the south seas. This started a contention that lasted for more than 200 yrs. Several surveying parties were sent out which established the line for 241 miles inland in 1728. In 1749 Frye and Jefferson extended the line to Steep Rock Creek, a total of 829 miles from the coast. Later surveyors were never able to locate the point at Steep Rock Creek where Frye and Jefferson's line ended. Numerous other lines were run from that point westward by commissioners appointed by the states of North Carolina and Va. Considerable feeling existed between the various lines that were run , which created a state of confusion. In 1802 a commission met at the Cumberland Gap and decided to run a line half way between Walker's and Henderson's lines. This line and the agreements were confirmed by both the legislatures of Tn. and Va. in 1803 and became the established line between the two states. Origianally the state line ran along the north side of Main Street with the property line on the Va.side. This to caused confusion. On July 5,1881 the mayor and council of Bristol,Tn. passed a resolution conceding the middle of the Main Street to be the dividing line. The matter was not finally settled, however, until passed on by the Supreme Court of the United States. About the beginning of the century the Bristol tract was owned by Isaac Baker and the heirs of General Shelby. Colonel James King purchased the Shelby interest on 26 Nov. 1814 for the sum of $ 10,000.00. This amount, in gold and silver, was carried to Ky. on horse back and delivered to Colonel Isaac Shelby.