Conclusions as to the age and correlation of the black shale in several sections measured in southwestern Virginia are presented by the writer. There are recognized in this area the Genesee shale, Portage shale, and Chemung formation, of Devonian age, and a black shale correlated with the Chattanooga shale but here called the Big Stone Gap shale, of Devonian or Mississippian age, which is overlain by beds of Cuyahoga (Mississippian) age.