Montgomery County Reconnaissance Level Survey
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UlT 51 \Þ1. ¡ .fCO M Ol.J MERY COL-I NTY J { : I €t þ"d {x',n:, t s @ t s ('- {'. HISTORIC SITES SLJRVEY VOLLJ ME 1 JULY, 1986 Montgomery County Reconnaissance Level Survey July, 1986 INTRODUCTION Since the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan in 1983, Montgomery County has experienced increased development and population growth. In light of this growth, the Planning Commission became aware of the need for a tool to help plan growth and still preserve the County's historical and architectural resources, The need to inventory these resources was evident. In 1985, Montgomery County applied and received a matching grant from the Division of Historic Landmarks to perform a Reconnaissance Level Survey of the County's architecturally significant buildings. This survey includes the following: 1) An Overview of the County's History 2) A Comprehensive Inventory of significant structures and sites in the County--including photographs and floor plans and; 3) Maps delineating the location of said structures and sites. It is anticipated that thfs survey will be a useful resource in future planning activities such as the evaluation of rezoning requests, the revision of the Comprehensive Plan and potential amendments of the County's Zoning Ordfnance to create a Historic District Overlay. Further, it will provide citizens interested in doing historical, archaeological. and genealogical research with valuable information. The following individuals contributed to the realization of this final report. Gibson Worsham, Architect Dan Pezzoni, Surveyor Charlotte Worsham, Architectural Historian David Rotenizer, President, New River Valley Chapter, Archeological Society of Virgdnia Frank Lorino Jeanie Maslich, Planning Department Secretary Valerie McBrayer, Secretary Bill Ruska, Planning Staff Nancy Ward, Planning Staff TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume I: Introduction Table of Contents Survey Methodology .................................... 1 County Description .................................... 5 Study Unit Descriptions .............................. 12 Initial Settlement: 1745-1800 ........................ 21 Urban and Rural Development ..................... 22 Transportation .................................. 34 Industry and Crafts ............................. 40 Agriculture ..................................... 43 Commerce ........................................ 47 Religion ........................................ 49 Education and Government ........................ 56 Military ........................................ 57 Domestic ........................................ 59 Secondary Development: 1801-1830 ..................... 67 Urban and Rural Development ..................... 68 Trznsportation .................................. 73 Industry and Crafts ............................. 79 Agriculture ..................................... 83 Commerce ........................................ 86 Religion ........................................ 89 Education and Government ........................ 92 Military ........................................ 94 Domestic ......................................... 95 Antebellum: 1831-1865 ............................... 100 Urban and Rural Development .................... 101 Transportation ................................. 114 Industry and Crafts ............................ 135 Agriculture .................................... 158 Commerce ....................................... 165 Religion ....................................... 173 Education and Government ....................... 181 Military ....................................... 186 Domestic ....................................... 189 Late Nineteenth Century: 1866-1900 .................. 192 Urban and Rural Development .................... 193 Transportation ................................. 205 Industry ....................................... 212 Agriculture .................................... 224 Commerce ....................................... 228 Religion ....................................... 235 Education and Government ....................... 239 Domestic ....................................... 246 Twentieth Century: 1901-1950 ........................ 249 Urban and Rural Development .................... 250 Transportation ................................. 255 Industry ....................................... 258 Agriculture .................................... 266 Commerce ....................................... 271 Religion ....................................... 273 Education and Government ....................... 274 Domestic ....................................... 280 Bibliography ........................................ 283 Volume If: Appendix I: Archaeological Overview of Montgomery County and the City of Radfsrd. Virginia .................... i Appendix 11: Overview of Vernacular Domestic Architecture ...... sxxi Appendix 111: Study Unit Boundary Justifications. Map of Montgomery County. and Population Tables .......... xlii Appendix IV: County Resources ..................................... 1 Appendix V: Montgomery County Cleared and Forested Land Maps .. liii Appendix VI: National Register and Survey Recommendations ...... lvii Appendix VII: Alphabetical end Numerical Lists of Survey Sites .. lxv SURVEY METHODOLOGY The 1985-86 Montgomery County Reconnaisance Survey was funded under a new program of reconnaisance survey initiated by the Virginia Division - of Historic Landmarks. The research and fieldwork were performed by the firm of Gibson Worsham, Architect. Gibson Worsham, Dan Pezzoni and Charlotte Worsham made up the survey team. In order to identify patterns of settlement and cultural activity within the county and the larger region, directed research was undertaken before the fieldwork was begun as recommended in the Resource Protection Planning Process (RP3) published by the National Park Service in 1980. The RP3 program is designed to link preservation planning with an analysis of the existing resources. In a planned implementation of the process, the Division of Historic Landmarks has created a series of regions including the Southwest Study Unit which contains Montgomery County and the other counties in Southwest Virginia. Research was facilitated by division of the county into historical, temporal, and geographical units. Study Units, generally named for the principal stream or water course in an area, were devised based on political and geographical elements which influenced settlement and land use. Initial research suggests that in the relatively short period in which settlement and development have occurred these geographical boundaries have remained consistent. In general, mountain ridges or drainage divides have paralleled regions of distinct cultural activity, which were usuilly related to water sources, transportation, or the best agricultural land, all of which tend to relate to the lowlying land in the region. The geographical units, which contain varying numbers of sites depending on the density and type of settlement, consist of the Little River, Crab Creek, the Town of Christiansburg, Toms Creek, the Town of Blacksburg, Upper North Fork, Lower North Fork, and South Fork Study Units. The City of Radford was not included in the survey. Chronologically the county's history was broken into five generally meaningful units to allow and assure coverage of each theme. The periods are 1745-1800, 1801-1830, 1831-1865, 1866-1900 and 1901-1950. Finally the cultural material and research was organized into ten "themes" or categories as mandated by the Division of Historic Landmarks. These included ~esidential/~omestic,Agriculture, Government/~aw/~elfare, Education, Military, Religion, Social/Cultural, Transportation, Commerce and Industry/~anufacturing/~rafts. The themes are broken down into the various temporal periods and discussed as far as research allowed and each was involved in the development of the county's historic resources. The earliest architectural documentation undertaken in the county was by Warren H. Manning, a Cambridge, Massachusetts planner, who in 1927 made measured drawings of the John Black house and outbuildings on the VPI Campus in Blacksburg. The house was to be "retained, restored and equipped to show the domestic economy of Virginia's pioneer days". More extensive surveys have been executed by local historians, during the 1930's under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration, during the late 1950's by W. S. Hunt, Jr. of Lynchburg, using the Historic American Building Survey Forms, and by the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission in 1973, following the start of comprehensive survey on a state level. While the earlier surveys preserve important material about many vanished buildings, they document buildings sporadically and incompletely, with a bias for very early buildings or unusually large or detailed structures. The 1973 survey by Joe Yates thoroughly documented sites photographically and in sketch plans, but unfortunately did not follow any chronological or geographical pattern, and thus does not present an accurate picture of county building. Division of Historic Landmarks directives indicated that, wherever possible, intensive survey techniques were to be followed, involving room-by-room descriptions, photographs, and measured drawings. All of the county's historic resources and architectural criteria were included in the survey. Criteria for inclusion were based on local historical and architectural significance as defined by the National Park Service in the National Register Standards and