West Virginia Car Rental and Bluefield, WV
Bluefield is a small community along the Southern Appalachian Mountain Range in West Virginia. With its moderate summer climate, this is a great place to visit with your West Virginia car rental.
Find your way here
Bluefield is located in Mercer County along the Southern Appalachians. The total population is 11,451, making it a nice place to visit that isn’t too big and isn’t too small. The city is also conveniently located 171 miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina and 102 miles southeast of Charleston, West Virginia with your West Virginia car rental.
Blaze a new trail
Bluefield’s roots go back to the 1780s when two families settled in this remote part of the world, or at least at that time! They built a mill, a church, a one-room schoolhouse, and a fort to defend themselves from the Shawnee Indian tribe on the banks of the Bluestone River. By 1882, the two families had to sell part of their land because a new railroad was about to blaze through the area, bringing people and goods to these rugged lands. When you visit today with your West Virginia car rental, you can still see the natural beauty of this land. At this time the city was given its current name because the chicory flowers in the area made the landscape look as though it had a purple hue in the summer. Soon after the arrival of the railroad, coal was discovered in this area. These coal mines were one of the key factors in developing the Industrial Revolution in the United States and helped propel the United States to one of the wealthiest nations in the world.
Take the plunge into Bluefield’s culture
Mercer County, where Bluefield is located with your West Virginia car rental, is one of the most beautiful regions. The area has beautiful scenery, recreation, and entertainment facilities. There is also a lot of shopping and over 88 restaurants in the area for you to enjoy during your time here.
Find time to take a drive
Right in Bluefield you will find the Bluefield Area Arts Center at the Old City Hall. This is now an art gallery with a different exhibit every month. They also perform four plays every year at the Summit Theatre. Or, if you like architecture, take your West Virginia car rental on a Historic Driving Tour of Homes. Most of the homes come from the 1920s and 1930s and feature 20th century architecture, but they are an eyeful. There are 250 listings on the National Register of Historic Places in the area.
Explore underneath the earth
When you visit Bluefield with your West Virginia car rental, why not see what gave the area its biggest boost: the coal mines. You can go underground and experience what generations before did when working underneath the earth. You will learn about the tensions that divided workers, of the isolation, danger, and violence. There are many underground trails in the area for you to explore.