FLOYD -- Floyd County looks pretty spry for being 175 years old.

It began as mainly an agricultural county of cattle, crops and timber. Traders, trappers and hunters found it long before it was officially formed in 1831, and many American Indians had found it before that.

Many of them came along what was known as the Trader's Path, which ran from the Roanoke River over Bent Mountain and west to the Little River area, said General District Judge Gino Williams, who has helped compile a voluminous history of the county. Two companies with land grants competed in settling the area in the mid-1700s.

The General Assembly created the county on Jan. 15, 1831. And 175 years later, to the day, residents gathered at the county courthouse to celebrate that birthday.

A special postal stamp was part of the Sunday activities. The Floyd County Historical Society took on the development of that stamp, said Maurice Slusher, its president. It held a contest this past summer for county residents to submit drawings of celebratory postmarks, and Linda Wimmer turned in the winning entry.

The society is also selling envelopes with a painting of one of the county's earlier courthouses, built in the mid-19th century.

"I'm so glad I was able to do it," said Frances Millner Harman, the artist who painted it.

Other activities planned during the county's 175th year include a homecoming and harvest festival Sept. 16.

Floyd County had no major industrial base, but its people had a work ethic that made them valuable to employers elsewhere in the New River Valley and beyond, according to one professor.

"Just as the water runs out of Floyd in every direction, so did our people," said Ricky Cox, an Appalachian studies teacher at Radford University who lives in the county.

Cox is compiling maps showing where Floyd residents have migrated and where relative newcomers came from. Its scenery and laid-back charm helped make it popular with various artists who have moved here as well as retirees.

"So now we have a population that's more diverse than ever," Cox said. "We all think we're born at the center of the universe, but things like siblings, first-grade teachers and marriage teach us better."

"We're still trying to make it a good place to come from, a good place to come to and a good place to be," he said.

The most recent population figures show Floyd County growing at a faster rate than any locality in the New River Valley, relative to its size.

The number of residents has increased from 12,005 to 13,874 between 1990 and 2000, according to U.S. Census population figures released in 2005.

Art teacher Catherine Pauley said she sometimes resents outsiders coming in and buying up Floyd memorabilia to take elsewhere, but the real tragedy will be if the county lets its historic buildings deteriorate.

"We are losing some of our architectural treasures because of neglect," said Pauley. "And if we lose them, we have only ourselves to blame."

Sixth-grade 4-H Club members have been interviewing their relatives to glean some first-person historical accounts of earlier life in Floyd, said Beth Massey, who is with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service. And another group will do the same thing this year, she said.

"Take time to talk about it. It doesn't have to be a whole lot" to instill interest among young people in the county's history, Williams said. "I would urge everybody to do that."

Historical highlights

1671: Explorers dispatched by Gen. Abraham Wood arrive in what is now Floyd County. The region had previously been occupied by American Indian tribes, including the Cherokees.

1768: Cherokee Nation cedes land in what is now the southwestern part of Floyd to the British.

1790s: English, German, French, Scottish and Irish immigrants settle in Floyd.

1831: Floyd County is officially formed from part of Montgomery County and named for then-Gov. John Floyd.

1840: First census records 4,453 people.

1896: The name of the county seat is changed from Jacksonville to Floyd.

1905: Mabry Mill, which still exists today, is established. At the time, it is one of more than 100 water mills in the county.

1951: Construction starts on the county’s third courthouse and is completed the following year. The building, renovated in 2003, is the current courthouse.