Appalachian Community Histories – Sun, Russell County: Sun Motor Company, Route 63, and a Community Between St. Paul and Dante
Sun is the kind of Appalachian community that can be passed without ceremony. There is no incorporated town government, courthouse square, or large welcome sign announcing its arrival. It is a small unincorporated locality in Russell County, positioned along the road between St. Paul and Dante. Yet Sun has persisted as a recognized place through maps, newspaper advertisements, school yearbooks, business records, and county documents.
The history of Sun is not preserved in a single town history. Instead, it survives in fragments. A used-car advertisement, a mobile-home lot, a scholarship notice, a high school yearbook, and the later purchase of an abandoned commercial property all help reconstruct the story of a community whose identity became closely tied to Sun Motor Company.
A Small Place Between St. Paul and Dante
The United States Geological Survey recognizes Sun as a named locality in Russell County, identified in the Geographic Names Information System as Feature ID 1500191. The community lies on the Saint Paul quadrangle at approximately 36.9418 degrees north latitude and 82.2857 degrees west longitude. Modern planning material prepared through Virginia Tech places Sun along Virginia Route 63 between Dante and St. Paul.
That position helps explain the community’s development. Sun was not a courthouse town or a large coal camp. It occupied a roadside location connecting St. Paul with communities farther into the coalfields. Dante, north of Sun, developed as a company coal town during the early twentieth century, while the route through the area carried workers, families, merchants, automobiles, and supplies between the smaller settlements of the region.
The road changed names and designations over time. A 1963 newspaper advertisement described Sun Motor Company as being about two miles east of St. Paul on Route 54. Modern records place the same general area along Route 63. This change in road numbering can make old advertisements seem confusing, but the descriptions consistently point to the corridor between St. Paul and Dante.
Before Sun Entered the Written Record
The beginnings of Sun remain uncertain. The surviving evidence does not clearly explain when the name originated, why it was chosen, or whether residents used it long before newspapers and business records began printing it. No dependable record located so far establishes a formal founding date.
Historical maps provide a starting point, but they must be used carefully. The United States Geological Survey produced maps of the broader Bristol quadrangle in the early twentieth century and later issued detailed Saint Paul quadrangle maps. The official 1958 Saint Paul map was surveyed in 1958 and printed in 1960, placing it at the beginning of the period when Sun Motor Company becomes visible in local records.
The lack of a formal founding record is not unusual for rural Appalachian communities. A place might become known through a creek, a family, a store, a mine, a school-bus stop, or a crossroads without ever receiving legal boundaries. Residents understood where one community ended and another began even when census takers, mapmakers, and county officials did not record those distinctions consistently.
Sun appears to have belonged to that tradition. It existed as a meaningful local address, but it was often described in relation to St. Paul. That overlap would become especially visible in the records of Sun Motor Company.
Sun Motor Company Becomes a Landmark
The clearest documentary history of Sun begins around 1960. The 1960 Castlewood High School yearbook, The Castletonian, carried an advertisement for Sun Motor Company. The business promoted used cars and automobile repair and gave St. Paul, Virginia, as its location. The same advertising section also included Phillips Auto Supply and Sun Warehouse Distributors, indicating a cluster of related commercial activity serving residents of the St. Paul and Castlewood area.
The yearbook advertisement is important because it provides contemporary evidence from the community itself. Local yearbooks did more than celebrate students. Their advertising pages documented stores, garages, restaurants, funeral homes, banks, coal businesses, and other establishments that supported school life. A business that purchased space in the yearbook expected students and families to recognize its name.
Sun Motor Company soon appeared in regional newspapers as well. An advertisement published in the Bristol Virginia-Tennessean on April 11, 1963, identified the Sun Motor Company trailer lot as approximately two miles east of St. Paul. The advertisement placed the business along the highway then called Route 54 and included a telephone number, making the location unusually specific for a small rural business.
Another advertisement published the following month promoted a discounted 1963 mobile home at the Sun Motor Company trailer lot. These notices show that the business was involved in more than automobile repair. It also participated in the expanding mobile-home market, which offered a practical housing option for working families throughout the coalfields and nearby industrial communities.
Twelve Years at Sun
A political announcement published in the Lebanon News on May 31, 1972, provides one of the strongest clues to the age of the business. The article stated that the candidate it profiled had been associated with Sun Motor Company at Sun, Virginia, for twelve years. Counting backward places that association around 1960, matching the appearance of the company in the Castlewood High School yearbook.
The wording is also significant because it did not merely place the company near St. Paul. It identified the business as being at “Sun, Virginia.” By 1972, Sun was therefore recognizable enough to serve as a community address in the county newspaper.
This does not prove that Sun Motor Company created the locality’s name. The community may have been known as Sun before the business opened, and the company may simply have adopted the existing place name. It is also possible that the company helped strengthen or popularize the name by putting it into advertisements, telephone directories, and everyday conversation. The surviving evidence does not yet reveal which came first.
Fred Phillips and the Businesses at Sun
The Phillips name appears repeatedly in the commercial history connected with Sun. In April 1964, the Lebanon News identified Fred Phillips as being of Sun, Virginia, and reported that he offered an annual scholarship of $200 to a Russell County senior who had participated in 4-H. At a time when $200 represented meaningful assistance for a graduating student, the scholarship connected the business community at Sun with education and youth development across the county.
The 1960 Castlewood yearbook had already advertised Phillips Auto Supply and Sun Warehouse Distributors alongside Sun Motor Company. The shared appearance of these names suggests that the Phillips enterprises became an important part of the roadside economy around Sun, although property deeds and business-registration records would be needed to establish the exact ownership and legal relationship among them.
By March 1977, the Lebanon News carried an advertisement for Phillips Auto Warehouse and gave its location simply as “Sun, Va.” The advertisement demonstrates that the locality name remained commercially useful nearly two decades after the earliest located Sun Motor Company notice.
Later yearbooks continued to connect the Phillips automobile business with the Route 63 corridor. A 1999 Haysi High School yearbook advertisement placed Phillips Auto Warehouse north on Route 63 in the St. Paul area. The wording had shifted toward the better-known town, but the business remained associated with the same road and regional market described in earlier Sun advertisements.
An Address That Meant Something
The surviving records show that Sun could be described in several ways without necessarily creating a contradiction. A yearbook might use St. Paul because it was the nearest widely recognized mailing address. A newspaper might identify the same business as being at Sun because local readers understood the smaller community. An advertisement might rely on a highway number and the distance from St. Paul because that was the most useful direction for customers.
This flexible geography was common in rural Appalachia. Community identity did not always depend on incorporation or postal independence. It depended on local knowledge. People knew the garages, stores, bridges, church roads, family farms, and turns in the highway. Sun Motor Company became one of those points of reference.
For this reason, the business advertisements are more than commercial notices. They demonstrate that Sun was part of the social geography of Russell County. A reader could see “Sun, Va.” in the Lebanon News and understand where the advertiser was located. The name carried practical meaning even when official records treated the area as part of a larger district.
From Automobile Business to an Empty Property
By the early twenty-first century, the former Sun Motors property had lost its original commercial purpose. Virginia Tech’s Community Design Assistance Center prepared a conceptual redevelopment plan for the site and described Sun as an unincorporated area along Route 63. The planning material identified the former Sun Motors property as unoccupied and located between Dante and St. Paul.
The redevelopment plan marked a new phase in Sun’s history. The property was no longer simply remembered as a former automobile and mobile-home business. It had become a planning concern involving land reuse, public access, and the future of a prominent roadside site.
This transition reflects a broader pattern in the Appalachian coalfields. Businesses that once served a busy industrial and residential corridor could decline as employment, population, transportation, and retail habits changed. Their properties remained, sometimes vacant for years, carrying both environmental challenges and historical meaning.
At Sun, the former motor-company site became the strongest surviving physical link to the community’s documented past. The same place that had sold used cars, repaired automobiles, and advertised mobile homes in the 1960s later became the focus of county action and redevelopment planning.
The Sun Disposal Site
Russell County records show that the Board of Supervisors acted on the property in 2021. On June 7, the board approved the purchase of the Sun disposal site, subject to approval of the site by the Virginia Department of Transportation and final approval by legal counsel. On July 12, the board again approved the Sun Disposal Site purchase with modifications.
The county budget later recorded substantial expenditures for the Sun Disposal Site Project. The fiscal year 2024 to 2025 budget listed actual expenditures of $102,188 for the year ending June 30, 2022, and $55,877 for the year ending June 30, 2023. These figures show that the county’s involvement extended beyond a simple naming decision and required a significant public investment.
Russell County continues to list Sun among its manned solid-waste disposal locations. The modern public use of the site has therefore preserved the community name in county administration, even as the automobile business that once defined the location has disappeared.
There is an irony in that continuity. Sun Motor Company helped make the locality visible in the twentieth-century written record. The later disposal-site project kept Sun visible in twenty-first-century public records. The use of the land changed, but the name endured.
What the Records Still Do Not Tell Us
Several important questions remain unanswered. The origin of the name Sun is still unknown. It has not been established whether the community ever had an independent post office, whether the name appeared in local use before it appeared on federal maps, or whether a family, business, natural feature, or promotional idea gave the place its name.
The ownership history of the former Sun Motors property also deserves further study. Russell County deed books, land books, personal-property tax records, and business registrations could identify earlier owners, property boundaries, structures, mortgages, and changes in business names. Beginning with the county’s 2021 acquisition and tracing the parcel backward would provide the most reliable method.
Telephone directories could establish when Sun Motor Company first appeared and when its listing disappeared. Historical aerial photographs could show when the buildings and trailer lot were constructed, expanded, or abandoned. Census schedules, school-bus routes, vital records, and local obituaries could identify the families who considered themselves residents of Sun.
Oral history may be equally important. Former employees, customers, students, and nearby residents may remember the layout of the business, the people who worked there, and the boundaries locals associated with Sun. Those memories should be compared with deeds, photographs, newspapers, and maps, but they may preserve details that were never written down.
Why Sun Matters
Sun matters because most Appalachian history did not happen only in county seats, famous coal camps, or incorporated towns. It also happened at roadside businesses, family stores, school-bus stops, garages, churches, and unnamed turns in the highway.
The history of Sun shows how a small community could exist clearly in local memory while remaining faint in official records. Its name appeared where practical life required it: in advertisements, yearbooks, business notices, political biographies, planning documents, and county budgets.
Sun Motor Company gave the locality its most visible documentary landmark. The business served drivers and families, advertised used cars and mobile homes, supported the regional economy, and helped make “Sun, Virginia” a recognizable address. Decades later, the abandoned property became a county project and a new public site.
The complete story of Sun has not yet been recovered. Its earliest years, its name, its households, and much of its everyday life remain hidden in courthouse volumes, family photographs, and memories. Still, the surviving evidence is enough to establish that Sun was more than a point on a map. It was, and remains, part of the lived geography of Russell County.
Sources & Further Reading
United States Geological Survey. “Sun, Virginia.” Geographic Names Information System, Feature ID 1500191. Accessed July 19, 2026. https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/public/search/names
United States Geological Survey. Saint Paul, Virginia. 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle. Surveyed 1958 and printed 1960. https://store.usgs.gov/product/261450
United States Geological Survey. “topoView: Historical Topographic Map Collection.” Search the coordinates 36.9418, -82.2857 for editions of the Saint Paul and Bristol quadrangles. Accessed July 19, 2026. https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/
United States Geological Survey. “EarthExplorer.” Historical aerial imagery and federal mapping collections. Accessed July 19, 2026. https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/
United States Geological Survey. “Historical Topographic Maps: Preserving the Past.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.usgs.gov/programs/national-geospatial-program/historical-topographic-maps-preserving-past
Castlewood High School. The Castletonian. Castlewood, VA: Castlewood High School, 1960. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/castletonianthe1960cast
“Sun Motor Company.” Advertisement. Bristol Virginia-Tennessean, April 11, 1963, 23. Virginia Chronicle. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=BVT19630411.1.23
“Sun Motor Company Trailer Lot.” Advertisement. Bristol Virginia-Tennessean, May 11, 1963, 9. Virginia Chronicle. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=BVT19630511.1.9
“Fred Phillips Scholarship.” Lebanon News, April 8, 1964, 5. Virginia Chronicle. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=LN19640408.1.5
“Franklin Seeks Treasurer’s Office.” Lebanon News, May 31, 1972, 1. Virginia Chronicle. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=LN19720531.1.1
“Phillips Auto Warehouse.” Advertisement. Lebanon News, March 9, 1977, 5. Virginia Chronicle. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=LN19770309.1.5
Haysi High School. The Thunderbolt. Haysi, VA: Haysi High School, 1999. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/thunderboltthe1999hays
Virginia Tech Community Design Assistance Center. “Sun, VA: Conceptual Redevelopment Plan for the Former Sun Motors Property.” In Russell County Board of Supervisors Agenda Packet, March 1, 2021. https://no-moss-3-carbo-landfill-library.online/Russell_County/Board_of_Supervisors/Meetings/Agenda_Packets/2021-03-01_18_00-Russell_BOS-Regular_Meeting-Packet.pdf
Virginia Tech Community Design Assistance Center. CDAC Journal 17. Blacksburg: Virginia Tech, Fall 2021. https://cdac.aad.vt.edu/content/dam/cdac_aad_vt_edu/CDACFall2021newsletter_211013.pdf
Virginia Tech Community Design Assistance Center. “Projects.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://cdac.aad.vt.edu/projects.html
Russell County Board of Supervisors. “Meeting Minutes, June 7, 2021.” Lebanon, VA: Russell County, 2021. https://www.russellcountyva.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_06072021-127
Russell County Board of Supervisors. “Meeting Minutes, July 12, 2021.” Lebanon, VA: Russell County, 2021. https://www.russellcountyva.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_07122021-128
Russell County, Virginia. Fiscal Year 2023-2024 County Financial Budget. Lebanon, VA: Russell County, 2023. https://www.russellcountyva.us/DocumentCenter/View/1355/FY-2023-2024-County-Financial-Budget—Final
Russell County, Virginia. Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Financial Budget. Lebanon, VA: Russell County, 2024. https://www.russellcountyva.us/DocumentCenter/View/1921/FY2024-2025-Russell-County-Financial-Budget
Russell County Board of Supervisors. “Archived Budget Agenda, June 29, 2024.” Lebanon, VA: Russell County, 2024. https://www.russellcountyva.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/ArchivedAgenda/_06292024-70
Russell County, Virginia. “Solid Waste Stations.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.russellcountyva.us/191/Solid-Waste-Stations
Russell County Circuit Court Clerk. “Online Records.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.russellcountyva.gov/270/Online-Records-SRA
Library of Virginia. “Russell County Microfilm.” County and City Records on Microfilm. Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.lva.virginia.gov/collections/ccmf/VA/VA253
Library of Virginia. “A Guide to the Russell County Records, circa 1860-1955.” Virginia Heritage. Accessed July 19, 2026. https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva%2Fvi05370.xml
Library of Virginia. “Chancery Records Index.” Virginia Memory. Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/chancery/
Library of Virginia. “Virginia Chronicle: Digital Newspaper Archive.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/
National Archives and Records Administration. “1950 Census Records.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1950
National Archives and Records Administration. “1950 Census Enumeration District Maps.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1950/ed-maps
Library of Congress. “United States City and Telephone Directories.” Research Guides. Accessed July 19, 2026. https://guides.loc.gov/united-states-city-telephone-directories
Wentworth, Chester K. Geology and Coal Resources of Russell County, Virginia. Virginia Geological Survey Bulletin 22. Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 1922. https://books.google.com/books?id=aXFGAAAAYAAJ
Evans, Nick H., and King W. Troensegaard. Geology of the St. Paul and Carbo Quadrangles, Virginia. Publication 106. Charlottesville: Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, 1991. https://www.energy.virginia.gov/commerce/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=2261
André, Elizabeth M., and William H. Moore. Comprehensive Survey Report: Survey of Architectural Resources in Russell County, Virginia. Richmond: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2009. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/RU-045_AH_survey_Russell_County_2009_WMCAR_report.pdf
Tate, Leland Burdine. An Economic and Social Survey of Russell County. Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 1931. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001689992
Russell County Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Russell County, Virginia, 1786-1986. 2 vols. Waynesville, NC: Walsworth Publishing Company, 1989. https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=%22The+Heritage+of+Russell+County%2C+Virginia%22
Virginia Department of Historic Resources. “Russell County.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/location/russell-county/
Virginia Department of Historic Resources. “St. Paul Historic District.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/294-0001/
Town of St. Paul, Virginia. “Government.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.stpaulva.org/townhall/page/government
Dante Community Association. “History.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://danteva.org/history/
Appalachian Regional Commission. “Virginia.” Accessed July 19, 2026. https://www.arc.gov/appalachian-states/virginia/
Author Note: Sun’s story survives through scattered maps, advertisements, yearbooks, public records, and the memories of people who traveled Route 63. Readers with photographs, documents, or personal memories of Sun and Sun Motor Company are encouraged to help preserve this community’s history.