Founded in 1936, the Historical Society's goal is to preserve the history of Washington County and Southwest Virginia for future generations. Our research library holds almost 8,000 publications, over 200,000 digitized images, almost 30,000 digitized newspaper images and over 1,250,000 indexed records. We host interpretive tours of Sinking Spring Cemetery with over 2,000 graves dating back to 1776. We also have exhibits of our artifacts, historical programs for the public, and an annual conference on African American history in Washington County.