Chase City was incorporated in 1873 and named for Salmon P. Chase, United States Chief Justice and Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury. It was settled by Northerners following the Civil War and became a colony for United Presbyterians. Always a center for commerce and culture, Chase City was historically a leader in Southside Virginia's tobacco market. Distinguished leaders in the military, law, medicine and business included Virginia Chief Justice Edward Wren Hudgins and Virginia's first Congressional Medal of Honor winner, Sgt. Earle Gregory. Chase City's Company E was on the front line at Omaha Beach at Normandy in 1944.

 

In a continuing effort to keep Chase City in the twenty-first century, the Downtown Revitalization Committee completed an aggressive program to modernize the Main Street shopping area. With a project budget of $2,072,506, the facades of many business buildings were being upgraded to coincide with the installation of stamped concrete sidewalks designed, and colored, to blend in with the atmosphere of the town. Also included in the project were new street lamps, benches and trash receptacles, along with the relocation of utility poles, lines and cables to side streets. Flowering trees were added to bring beauty and ambiance to the business district.