Mission Of The Town Of Blacksburg The Mission of the Blacksburg Town Government is to support a dynamic community by providing effective municipal services and enhancing Blacksburgs quality of life. About Blacksburg In 1797 William Black donated thirty-eight acres of land which was divided into a grid now referred to as the Sixteen Squares. A year later the Town of Blacksburg was incorporated with little more than two dozen families. The population of Blacksburg in 1850 totaled 333 people 63 of whom were slaves. Today, Blacksburg is the largest town in Virginia with a healthy, culturally diverse population of approximately 39700 citizens living on just over 12,000 acres of land at the foot of the Washington-Jefferson National Forest. The 2000 census reported Blacksburgs population as 39,573 approximately 14.4 percent higher than reported in the 1990 census. Virginia Tech, the Town's major employer and university, has exceeded its goal of 25,000 students. With the graduate student population projected to increase, population will grow at almost two percent a year at a decreasing rate over the next ten years with growth leveling off to around one percent per year. At this rate, the population will be approximately 46,660 in the year 2010 is expected to grow to 57,800 by 2046. Approximately 40 percent of the land in Blacksburg is undeveloped.