Humans have lived in what is now Montgomery County for 15,000 years. Permanenmt settlements began around 3,000 years ago, around the time that the Woodland Period began and farmers started to grow crops.
One of those settlements has been excavated along Stroubles Creek. The Shannon Site may have been settled around 1120 CE (Common Era), based on dating of Marginella shells. The shells are from a marine mollusc, probably brought through trading along the Roanoke River to the Atlantic Ocean shoreline.
Another occupation period was around 1230 CE. After a roughly 200-year gap when there was no concentration of houses, the site was developed again around 1450 CE. The last occupation included construction of a palisade, That protective measure may have been required because the occupants, assumed to be Siouan-speaking, were growing enough corn that others were inclined to attack.1
the Norfolk and Western Railroad built a spur line to Blacksburg that became known as the Huckleberry Branch
Source: Library of Congress, Post route map of the states of Virginia and West Virginia
Montgomery County in 1856, as the Virginia and Tennessee brought the first railroad to Southwest Virginia
Source: Library of Congress, Map & profile of the Virginia & Tennessee Rail Road (William Willis Blackford, 1856)
Virginia Tech is the center of the economy in Montgomery County
Source: Virginia Geographic Information Network (VGIN), VBMP 2011 WGS Web Mercator (VGIN)
The current seal of Montgomery County was adopted in 2013. The purpose of the design elements is described in the Montgomery County Branding Guide:2
the seal of Montgomery County includes the motto Freedom increases responsibility
Source: Montgomery County, Branding Guide