A Message From Frank Malone,

Executive Director of the

South Hill Chamber of Commerce

We would like to welcome you to Southern Virginia. It

is our hope that you are enjoying your tour and that you

will decide to come back and visit us with a tour of your own in the near future.

South Hill is located on Interstate 85 and Route 58 in Mecklenburg County. We are conveniently located half way (about 75 miles) from Raleigh, NC and Richmond, VA.

We are about halfway (120 miles between) Virginia Beach and the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. South Hill is just 2 hours from Appomattox, VA the end of the Civil War and Historic Williamsburg and Jamestown – Yorktown area where our nation won its independence.

South Hill has over 500 motel rooms, over 30 restaurants and hot food choices, along with great shopping, specialty stores and just minutes away from two of the best lakes, Kerr Lake (Buggs Island Lake) and Lake Gaston, both of these wonderful lakes are created by the John H. Kerr Dam.

Our offices are located in downtown South Hill

in a 1924 historic railroad depot. We house a

lovely doll and model train museum in the depot

and have a marvelous Tobacco Farm Life Museum

just a block up the street that shows life on the

Southside Virginia farms in the 1930 & 40’s. We have

lots of things to see and do in South Hill and all over

Mecklenburg County.

Please feel free to give us a call and let us help you with plans to visit us here in Mecklenburg County and especially here in South Hill. Our town motto is that “You’ll Like the View from South Hill” and this is absolutely true. If you can only stop for a meal break or a day’s visit or if you decide to come here and stay for a lifetime, we will make you feel right at home and you’ll be glad that you put South Hill, VA on your list of places to stop and visit.

The collage of images above tells some of the South Hill story. The Depot building is where an entire village moves south of a big hill down to the railroad depot and thus a town was born and called South Hill, Virginia. The images project a model locomotive roaring past the depot building, the stars of “Gone with the Wind” Rhett and Scarlett are just 2 of more than 500 dolls on display in the Depot. The Tobacco Farm Life Museum of Virginia is just a block from the Depot in a triangular shaped 1925 brick 2-story building that captures our farm heritage and the crop that grew our region. Centennial Park is just around the corner from the Caboose that sits next to the Depot and offers so much family fun with it’s playground for the kids, shade and shelter for that perfect picnic and hosts many local events each year here in beautiful South Hill.

Enjoy some of the following images and make plans to come visit here in South Hill, the Gateway to Southern Virginia.

The big red shiny caboose is a favorite for a family photo shoot. Located beside the Depot on the last remaining track in South Hill is a sure fire landmark to let you know you are right outside from the South Hill Tourist Information Center, open every day from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm. Pick up everything you need to discover South Hill and the surrounding area.

All the little ones jus love to walk the tracks outside the Depot

Speaking of outside the Depot, you can see our South Hill Historical Marker,

I’ll bet you didn’t know South Hill was laid out in a perfect circle!

Step inside the South Hill Tourist Information Center open 7 days a week at the

Side door of the Depot at 201 S. Mecklenburg Avenue in South Hill, VA 23970.

I’ll bet you didn’t know South Hill was laid out in a perfect circle!

Step inside the South Hill Tourist Information Center open 7 days a week at the Side door of the Depot at 201 S. Mecklenburg Avenue in South Hill, VA 23970.

Just take a look at all the wonderful brochures and maps and everything you need to learn all about us here in South Hill and Mecklenburg County along with information from our surrounding areas to the entire state of Virginia.

The South Hill Tourist Information Center is open daily from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm to help you take a break from travelling and or just take a look around and see our wonderful doll, model train & wildlife museums here in the Depot.

Your first view is of the Virginia S. Evans Doll Museum with over 500 doll babies dating back to the 1800’s. I’ll bet you might have had a doll or two like some of ours.

Some of these dresses date back into the early 1920’s.

Little girls and big girls love to look at the dolls and share special moments like two sisters enjoying a day in the Depot.

The boys won’t admit it, but they like to see the dolls too! And everyone loves our

South Hill Model Train Museum in the back of the Depot.

From looking with Grandpa to checking it all out by myself, you can see it all as the trains keep coming on by in the South Hill Model Train Museum.

And the most popular word you hear the kids say is, “Look!’

Families, young and not so young can enjoy a very special view from South Hill in our wonderful replica of South Hill around 1950 with a bird’s eye view of South Hill over 50 years ago. We would love to entertain you and your family here in the Depot as you enjoy our dolls, trains and did I mention wildlife exhibit?

We have wonderful wildlife you can get up close and personal and never worry about them taking a bite! We have a little something for everybody in the museums located in the Depot, the birthplace of South Hill. The railroad moved the entire town here and just up the street you can learn about the crop that helped to build our communities.

Here you can really go back in time and see what life was really like down on the farm somewhere around 1935 – 1950 or so. South Hill was incorporated in 1901 and our very first two new businesses were tobacco warehouses to offer a local place to bring and auction Virginia’s first ever export in the 1600’s and remains our Number 1 cash crop today here in Southern Virginia. So get the kids and let’s take a look!

Learn about all the real Power Tools!

The ones that took all of your power

to operate with no electricity and no

cords or batteries.

Need to go for a ride? Well let’s hop in the family wagon and find that mule!