Thurmond was incorporated in 1900 and was most likely named for Captain W.D. Thurmond, who settled here in 1844. He served in the Confederate Army and died in 1910 at age 90. Thurmond post office was established in 1888 and discontinued in 1995. The community remained small until Thomas McKell of Glen Jean negotiated with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad for a crossing at Dunloup Creek in 1892.

W.D. Thurmond banned alcohol from his lands, which comprised the originally incorporated portion of the town. However, the McKell family had no such scruples, and their Dun Glen Hotel on McKell land just to the east of the Thurmond land became notorious for hosting a fourteen year long card party claimed by Ripley's Believe It or Not to be the world's longest-lasting poker game. A district called "Ballyhack" or "Balahack" on the south side near the Dun Glen became notorious as Thurmond's red light district.
(from Wikipedia)