09/23/2026
Did you know that a community in Floyd County got its name from a game of checkers?
According to local history, there was once a store owned by Harvey Poff where men would gather to play checkers. Some enjoyed the game so much that they would stay all day, sometimes not even going home for lunch!
When their wives wondered where they were, the answer was often that they had gone to play checkers.
The store became known as Checkers, and when the community applied for a post office, that was the name they wanted. However, another Virginia post office already had that name, so it was shortened to Check.
And that is how, according to local history, Check, Virginia, got its name!
The photograph below is not of the original store in Check, but it gives us an idea of what those gatherings around the checkerboard might have looked like years ago.
Does anyone remember the old store in Check or have a photograph of it from years ago?
