Best Web Design in Danville, VA (2026)

Web Design for Danville, Virginia

Danville is an independent city on the Dan River near the North Carolina line, built on bright-leaf tobacco auctions and the mills of Dan River Inc., once the largest single-unit textile mill in the world. It carries an outsized place in American history as the last capital of the Confederacy in April 1865 and as the site of the 1903 'Wreck of the Old 97,' immortalized in one of country music's first hit records. After the textile collapse, its downtown River District has been reinvented, capped by the Caesars Virginia casino that opened in 2024 and gives the 'DanVegas' nickname a literal meaning.

AppWT works with Danville, VA businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Danville

Also known as. River City. City of Churches. DanVegas. D'ville.

History. William Byrd II's 1728 boundary expedition named the Dan River. The town was established and chartered as Danville in 1793 around tobacco inspection warehouses on the Dan River, growing into a leading flue-cured 'bright leaf' tobacco market once the railroad arrived in the mid-19th century. From April 3-10, 1865, Danville served as the third and final capital of the Confederacy, with Jefferson Davis and his cabinet operating from the Sutherlin Mansion. Riverside Cotton Mills was founded in 1882 and grew into Dan River Inc., described as the largest single-unit textile mill in the world. The Danville Riot (Danville Massacre) of November 3, 1883, killed several men, most of them Black, and helped Democrats reassert political control. On September 27, 1903, the Southern Railway mail train 'Old 97' derailed off the Stillhouse Trestle, killing at least nine (widely remembered as eleven) and inspiring the ballad 'The Wreck of the Old 97.' Civil-rights protests peaked in 1963, including 'Bloody Monday' on June 10, 1963, when demonstrators were beaten and hundreds arrested. Caesars Virginia casino opened December 17, 2024, on the former Dan River Mills / Schoolfield site.

Local economy. Historic twin pillars of tobacco (the auction 'World's Best Tobacco Market') and textiles (Dan River Inc. / Dan River brand fabrics). Modern manufacturing employers include a Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant, Nestle, Japan Tobacco International and Morgan Olson. Sovah Health-Danville (hospital) and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research are major anchors. The River District revival and the new Caesars Virginia casino are now significant employers and tourism drivers. The region has drawn attention as a former tobacco economy pivoting toward solar and clean-energy projects.

Culture and community. Danville Harvest Jubilee, held since 1980, including its popular all-you-can-eat Shrimpfest; it long hosted the World Tobacco Auctioneering Championship. Rhythms at the River / Rhythms by the River concert series in the downtown River District and The Crossing at the Dan. The Danville Otterbots, a summer collegiate baseball team in the Appalachian League (powered by MLB and USA Baseball). Musical legacy in the ballad 'Wreck of the Old 97' and a Danville reference in The Band's 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.' Home of Averett University.

What makes Danville distinct. Danville is the only U.S. city that can claim to have been the last capital of the Confederacy. Nancy Langhorne, born in Danville, became Lady Astor, the first woman to sit as a member of the British House of Commons. Wendell Scott of Danville was the first Black driver to win a race in NASCAR's top Cup Series. Richard 'The Old Man' Harrison of the TV show Pawn Stars was born in Danville. Opera pioneer Camilla Williams, among the first African American singers to sign with a major U.S. opera company, was a Danville native.

Danville Landmarks and Local Life

• Sutherlin Mansion - the 'Last Capitol of the Confederacy,' now the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History
• The 1899 Southern Railway passenger station (Danville's Amtrak depot).
• Millionaires Row - a Main Street historic district of Victorian tobacco-baron mansions
• The Dan River - Riverwalk Trail and The Crossing at the Dan in the tobacco-warehouse district
• The 'Wreck of the Old 97' roadside historical marker on Riverside Drive.
• Caesars Virginia casino.