 The initial establishment of the Gainesborough in 1835 was located to the northeast of present-day downtown.The first structures constructed in what is now downtown occurred in the period following the completion of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad line in 1852 to the south of Gainesborough.Now known as Big Lick, during the period of reconstruction following the American Civil War, the rail infrastructure was restored and the first municipal structure completed in present-day downtown was a jail.