Town file
Radford, Virginia
Radford, Virginia is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 487, "Handsome, Charming & Deadly" (25 April 2024). Gina Renee Hall was born in 1962 and grew up in Coeurn, a tiny town of about 2,000 people in Wise County in the mountains of western Virginia, close to the Kentucky and Tennessee borders.
- Town
- Radford
- State
- Virginia
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 487
- Approximate location
- 37.120, -80.559
Episode 487 / 25 April 2024 / 169 min / full
Handsome, Charming & Deadly
"We're going to Radford, Virginia; this is in southwestern Virginia, on the line of two different counties." about 0:05:15
The case: Murder of Gina Renee Hall (June 28th to 29th, 1980). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2024
- Population
- 16,205
- Median age
- 23.6
- Median household income
- $44,360
- Median home value
- $223,800
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $880
- Cost of living
- $83 out of $100
- Religious
- 38.6%
- Property crime
- ▼ just below average
- Violent crime
- ▲ above the average
History, in brief
- The area code is 540 and the town's motto is the New River City, after the New River. about 0:06:34
- It was named for Dr John B. Radford. about 0:06:43
- It began as a small place by the river, a draw for travellers because of fresh water and food in the river. about 0:06:47
- In the 1850s the railroad was built through the town and the population spiked. about 0:06:59
- In 1913 the Radford State Normal School, a women's college, opened. about 0:07:08
- It became Radford College and then, in 1979, Radford University. about 0:07:29
- In the 1940s the military built a plant for gunpowder and ammunition, called the Arsenal, which employed people for decades. about 0:07:41
- The town sits about 50 minutes from Roanoke and about four hours from McLean, Virginia. about 0:05:57
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A third-year student and first-generation college student from a small town says Radford captured her heart, praising the seasons, Bissett Park and the people, and says she would never want to leave."about 0:08:45
2 stars
"Says the campus gets an email almost every two weeks about an attack, carries mace, needs an escort after dark and does not trust the blue emergency phones."about 0:10:50
1 star
"Lived there for several years and hates it with a passion; says the school staff and the pupils are awful, and that most places are disgusting and about to collapse."about 0:12:01
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Pearisburg, Virginia17 miles
- Princeton, West Virginia34 miles
- Vinton, Virginia38 miles
- Lashmeet, West Virginia41 miles
- Mount Airy, North Carolina42 miles
- Collinsville, Virginia45 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.