Near Middlebrook in Augusta County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Virginia Institute
Photographed by J. J. Prats, September 18, 2011
1. Virginia Institute Marker
Near this spot stood the frame dwelling of David Frederick Bittle, pastor of Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church, in which he began in the Fall of 1842, with the assistance of Christopher C. Baughman, also a Lutheran minister, a school for young men called Virginia Institute. The following summer two log buildings were erected a short distance north of this site, and the school was chartered as Virginia Collegiate Institute, January 30, 1845. Here it remained until the spring of 1847, when it was relocated at Salem, Va., and was rechartered March 14, 1853, as Roanoke College.
Erected 1943 by the Lutheran Synod of Virginia.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Religion & Religious Structures. A significant historical date for this entry is January 30, 1845.
Location. 38° 4.701′ N, 79° 11.494′ W. Marker is near Middlebrook, Virginia, in Augusta County. It is on Mt. Tabor Road (County Route 694) 0.9 miles north of Middlebrook Road (Virginia Route 252), on the left when traveling north. The marker stands on the grounds of the Mount Tabor Church. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 334 Mt Tabor Road, Middlebrook VA 24459, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Mount Tabor Lutheran Church (here, next to this marker);
this page online
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Use this link to map the distance between this marker and the marker for Roanoke College in Salem.
Also see . . . Roanoke College History and Traditions. College website entry:
Roanoke College was founded in 1842 as the Virginia Institute, a preparatory school for boys near Mt. Tabor Church, about eight miles from Staunton, Virginia. The dreamchild of two Lutheran pastors, David F. Bittle and Christopher C. Baughman, the school attracted local boys to its classes to prepare them for Gettysburg College and, hopefully, its Seminary. In 1845, the state incorporated the school as the Virginia Collegiate Institute. Bittle left the school to return to full-time ministry in Maryland. Baughman, seeking
Photographed by J. J. Prats, September 18, 2011
2. Two Markers at Mount Tabor Lutheran Church
Historic American Buildings Survey, creator [courtesy Library of Congress], circa 1933
3. Main Building, Roanoke College, 221 College Lane, Salem, VA
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2026. It was originally submitted on December 16, 2011, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 1,428 times since then and 177 times this year. Last updated on January 29, 2026, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 16, 2011, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. 3. submitted on January 25, 2026. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
