Welcome! You’ve found the home of Blacksburg’s 16 frogs! We’re so glad you could hop on by and check us out.
16 bronze frog statues are placed strategically through town and the surrounding area to call attention to the freshwater under and around the streets and buildings of downtown Blacksburg, and each of us has a story to tell as well!
Come and visit each and every one of us and get to know us all better!
Download a PDF version (1MB) of the brochure you can find at local retailers and organizations.
I’m named after Virginia Hummel, an English teacher who helped preserve the iris garden at the Price House.
I’m named after Phillip Price, one of the first African-American students to attend Blacksburg High School.
I’m named after Harriet Dorsey, the first female lawyer in Montgomery County and the first female judge in the district.
I’m named for Harvey Black, who helped found the college that became Virginia Tech. He lived next door, and the stream below me supplied his property with water.
I’m named for Mary Louise Black, the daughter of the couple who owned the Black House. When she was growing up, a spring across the street—where Tech Bookstore is now—provided water for many people in town.
I’m named after Archibald Gray Smith, II, the last person to live in the Five Chimneys house. Stroubles Creek runs in the open right below me—it’s one of the few places you can see the stream downtown.
I got my name from the building across the street, which used to be a mill. Stroubles Creek powered its millwheel. You might be able to hear the stream flowing beneath the steps next to me.
I’m named after Nick Kappas, a Greek immigrant who opened the restaurant now called the Cellar.
I’m named after Nannie Bell Snell, who owned a beauty salon next door for 14 years. From where I’m sitting, Stroubles Creek runs underground until it gets to the Duckpond.
I’m named after Lindsay West, the first woman elected to the Montgomery Board of Supervisors.
I’m named after the Keister family. The farm they owned in the 1800s was sold to make several neighborhoods east of Main Street. I sit above a branch of the creek that watered their land.
I’m named for the Crawford family, who ran a general store near here in the mid-1900s. This area was mostly farmland then. The Webb Branch of Stroubles used to flood the basement of the store!
I’m named in honor of the first black landowner in this neighborhood. Called New Town, it was home to about 20 black families starting in the late 1800s.
I’m named for John Lyle, Sr., and John Lyle, Jr. They were a father and son who owned a school on this hill in the 1800s. In 1872 that school was converted into a college—and it grew to become Virginia Tech!
I share my initials with the Eastern Divide, a curving boundary that stretches from New York to Florida. Rivers on the east side of the divide empty into the Atlantic Ocean, and rivers on the west side flow into the Gulf of Mexico. The divide runs right through Margaret Beeks Elementary!
I’m named after Bill Ellenbogen, who worked to extend the Huckleberry Trail. Stroubles Creek flows right under the trail—and me!
