This c. 1820 slave cabin is
located on the site of
the Smithfield summer
kitchen. The cabin is
an authentic slave
cabin moved from
another Preston property
and reassembled on
the site in 1984. — — Map (db m162848) HM
April 16th, 2007
On April 16th, 2007, 32 innocent lives were lost in a senseless act of campus violence. Twenty-seven young, gifted graduate and undergraduate students died that day, two in Ambler Johnston Residence Hall, toward the south . . . — — Map (db m43722) HM
The Blacksburg Motor Company building was built by Robert and Mason Heavener, two well-respected Blacksburg businessmen. Robert Heavener was a prominent citizen serving on Town Council and the National Bank of Blacksburg Board of Directors. . . . — — Map (db m84769) HM
Professor 1903-1941
Dean, Academic Department 1915-1920
Chairman, English Department 1916-1941
Known as VPI’s godfather of extracurricular activities, Carol Montgomery Newman headed the English and Language Departments, taught English . . . — — Map (db m41460) HM
"Ha-Ha"
The fence you see surrounding the cemetery was not an original part of the cemetery in the 18th century.
Instead, the Prestons had a ditch dug out that you can still see surrounding the cemetery that was called a "ha-ha". Ha-Has . . . — — Map (db m162854) HM
Dean, Architecture and Urban Studies
1965-1979
University Distinguished Professor 1966-1979
Dean Emeritus 1979-1990
An innovative thinker, Charles H. Burchard organized Virginia Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies, creating a . . . — — Map (db m43015) HM
Department Head, Architectural
Engineering 1928-1956
The founder of VPI's Department of Architectural Engineering, forerunner of today's Architecture program, Clinton H. Gowgill guided the department's growth from 34 students and two . . . — — Map (db m43019) HM
This coal car was one of many that were hoisted in and out of the mine. These cars were pulled by a hoist system. The cars were built with a low profile so that they could fit deep in the mine to be loaded without having to move the coal to the car . . . — — Map (db m95441) HM
The coal car hoist was the force that pulled the cars out of the mine. Each hoist used a large winch-like structure that was originally powered by steam. The picture you see below is of two miners being pulled out of the mine by the hoist system. — — Map (db m95445) HM
Dean, School of Engineering 1928-1952
Director, Engineering Experiment Station
1932-1952
An engineer, educator, administrator, and author, Earl Bertram Norris worked professionally in the industrial field, taught mechanical engineering, and . . . — — Map (db m43038) HM
Main Street, near here, crosses a barely perceptible ridge line. This line divides water flowing east to the Atlantic Ocean, via the Roanoke River basin, from water flowing west to the Gulf of Mexico, via the New, Ohio, and Mississippi . . . — — Map (db m84779) HM
The Future Farmers of Virginia (FFV) was founded on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute by four members of the Agricultural Education Department in September, 1925. Developed as a statewide organization for boys enrolled in high school . . . — — Map (db m16235) HM
Student 1901-1904
Faculty Member 1904-1954
Head, Department of Physics 1923-1954
As a student at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (now Virgnia Tech), Frank Leigh Robeson helped draw plans for many campus . . . — — Map (db m43040) HM
Student, 1917-1920, 1921-1922
Six years after graduating from VPI, Fred Durham bought the C. Lee Cook Company, which merged with three other companies in 1955 to form Dover Corp., today a Fortune 500 manufacturing company. As president and . . . — — Map (db m43021) HM
Member, English Faculty 1930 - 1933
Dean, School of Applied Science and Business Administration 1950 - 1961
Dean, School of Science and General Studies 1961 - 1963
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 1963 - 1965
C. P. Miles Professor of . . . — — Map (db m64211) HM
Faculty member 1900-1945
Head, Horticulture Department 1902-1908
Dean, School of Agriculture 1908-1945
An easy-going, amiable man, Harvey Lee Price served VPI for more than four decades after earning two degrees here. He moved quickly . . . — — Map (db m41464) HM
Here was the first foundation that pulled the coal cars from the mine. This foundation held the hoist that worked in sequence with a series of hoists to move the coal. The foundations are still here to this day because of the force that was put on . . . — — Map (db m95440) HM
Professor 1903-1943
Dean of the College 1924-1943
Known for wise counsel and leadership, John Edward Williams earned wide respect during 40 years at VPI as a Mathematics professor and Dean of the College. An American Association for the . . . — — Map (db m16238) HM
Class of 1905
Master of Science 1906
A distinguished scientist, John H. Squires had a brilliant career as a chemist with E.I. DuPont de Nemours, GM Corporation, and American Cyanamid. He also taught at a college and was instrumental in . . . — — Map (db m43041) HM
President 1891-1907
Known as the “Father of VPI,” John McLaren McBryde laid the foundation for modern Virginia Tech. He increased bachelor's degree offerings, added graduate programs, created an infirmary, and christened the motto Ut Prosim. The . . . — — Map (db m43037) HM
Director, Agricultural Extension Services 1919-1945
President 1945-1947
Chancellor 1947-1956
President, VPI Foundation 1948-1962
Alumnus president John Redd Hutcheson worked tirelessly to prepare VPI for the flood of returning
World . . . — — Map (db m41461) HM
Class of 1925
Member, Board of Visitors 1963-1971
Board Chairman, Virginia Tech Foundation
1969-1973, 1986-1991
A generous benefactor of his Alma mater, John W. Hancock Jr. was an astute businessman who founded Roanoke Electric Steel . . . — — Map (db m43023) HM
The first alumnus president, Julian Ashby Burruss guided VPI through tremendous increases in faculty, student body, and degree offerings; vast growth in the physical plant; and efficient changes in administrative structure. He successfully pushed to . . . — — Map (db m16239) HM
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
1893-1918
Department Head, Mechanical Engineering
1902-1913
Dean of Engineering
1913-1918
An entertaining speaker and inspirational professor, Professor, Lingan Strother Randolph helped design and . . . — — Map (db m43039) HM
On 30 July 1755, during the French and Indian War, Shawnee Indians attacked the Draper's Meadow settlement nearby. They killed Col. James Patton, Casper Berger, Mrs. George Draper, and a Draper child, wounded James Cull, and captured Mary Draper . . . — — Map (db m16205) HM
Department Head, Industrial Engineering 1967-1970
Dean, College of Engineering 1970-1990
President, Corporate Research Center 1990-1994
President 1994-2000
A professor who became president, Paul Ernest Torgerson taught every semester during . . . — — Map (db m16240) HM
Secretary, YMCA 1918-1964
Director of Religious Affairs 1957-1964
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Paul Neyron Derring was the first blind man to complete college in Virginia. While heading the YMCA at VPI, he became a father figure to countless . . . — — Map (db m43020) HM
Cemetery Map - map by Hartwell H. Gary in 1961.
Roman numerals stand for generations beginning with Archibald Preston.
III - Col. William Preston presents the third generation.
28 Marked Graves 2 Memorials 3 Out of situ • 64 Known or Assumed . . . — — Map (db m162855) HM
Price's Fork is within the area often referred to as the German New River Settlement. Before 1745, German immigrants moved from Pennsylvania and began settling in this region within the Price's Fork-Tom's Creek area near and along the horseshoe . . . — — Map (db m42850) HM
What is wrong with Stroubles Creek?
Stroubles Creek is considered “impaired” by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality because it does not support a diverse community of aquatic insects and fish. The main pollutants are . . . — — Map (db m41473) HM
An American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, Robert James Davidson worked at VPI as a chemist for the experiment station as a chemistry professor before becoming the first dean of the Scientific Department and the Department of . . . — — Map (db m16215) HM
Professor 1905-1945
Head, Department of Geology 1907-1945
The head of VPI's Geology Department for 38 years, noted geologist Roy Jay Holden sited Virginia's first gas well, located water wells when a shortage threatened VPI, and assessed the . . . — — Map (db m43026) HM
Grandson of Col. Wm. Preston, built c. 1840 during Ballard's ownership of Smithfield. Fire destroyed the building in 1929, leaving only the foundation. — — Map (db m162852) HM
Brief History of Slavery at Smithfield Plantation
William Preston purchased eighteen enslaved Africans in 1759 from the slave ship the True Blue, a part of the African Company of Merchants. The slaves were originally West African and their . . . — — Map (db m162849) HM
Smithfield, visible to the northeast, was the last home of Col. William Preston, a noted surveyor who fostered the settlement of western lands. Preston was also a Revolutionary officer, Indian fighter, and a member of the House of Burgesses. Built . . . — — Map (db m86233) HM
Upon his death in 1783, a set
of "Smith's Tools” were
listed in Col. WM. Preston's
estate. Blacksmithing
kept the plantation's horses,
mules & oxen shod and its
numerous farming "utensils"
in good working order. — — Map (db m162851) HM
This house was built in 1772-1773 for Colonel William Preston and was the home of three governors of Virginia, James Patton Preston, John Floyd, Jr., and John Buchanan Floyd.
A gift from Mrs. Janie Preston Boulware Lamb to the Association for . . . — — Map (db m162847) HM
The earliest portion of Solitude was constructed about 1801 on land owned by Philip Barger, who sold the property in 1803 to James Patton Preston, governor of Virginia (1816-1819). Governor John Floyd (1830-1834), Preston's brother-in-law, lived at . . . — — Map (db m16213) HM
This bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) was planted around 1895 by Professor Alwood at the site of the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. One of many trees planted by Alwood, it is the only living member of a collection he documented to . . . — — Map (db m64221) HM
Built as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, the Armory is located on the former Blacksburg Public School Campus, where the local elementary and high schools originally stood. This building served as a National Guard armory and . . . — — Map (db m95446) HM
Nick Kappas emigrated from Greece in 1913 and located in Roanoke. After the VPI vs. VMI annual football game in Roanoke, VPI cadets who frequented a restaurant where Kappas worked, persuaded him to move to Blacksburg to open his own business. He . . . — — Map (db m84778) HM
The Commissary building was located here and served the community for their groceries as well as everyday household supplies. These concrete piers once supported the loading platform and post office that were in this building. The Commissary was . . . — — Map (db m95439) HM
Here remain just a few bricks and concrete that made the foundations of the hotel. This hotel was a large two-story boardinghouse for unmarried miners, new employees and visitors to the mines. The hotel also featured a single-story porch across the . . . — — Map (db m95438) HM
Learn about your watershed
A watershed or drainage basin, is the area of land where all the water that drains off it runs to a specific point on a watercourse, usually a confluence of stream or river.
The Stroubles Creek watershed is . . . — — Map (db m41466) HM
Here was the center of the entire Merrimac community: the Tipple was the largest and most prominent building here. Reaching 100 feet high, the Tipple was the loading station for the train, the Huckleberry. The Huckleberry would run directly through . . . — — Map (db m95443) HM
Head, Department of Agronomy 1914-1945
Dean, School of Agriculture 1946-1950
Thomas Barksdale Hutcheson lived in the dairy barn at
Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and
Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech), working his . . . — — Map (db m41462) HM
Head, Department of Physics 1954-1959
President 1962-1974
President Emeritus 1975-
One of the university’s greatest presidents, T. Marshall Hahn Jr. engineered Virginia Tech’s evolution from a college to a major research university. The . . . — — Map (db m43022) HM
State Demonstration Agent 1907-1917
Called the father of farm demonstration and extension work in Virginia, Thomas Oldham Sandy was a progressive farmer who promoted improved scientific education in agriculture. He became the Commonwealth’s . . . — — Map (db m41463) HM
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University was founded in 1872 as a land-grant college specializing in agriculture and mechanics. The land-grant college system marked the beginning of scientific agricultural and industrial instruction in . . . — — Map (db m42848) HM
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University was founded in 1872 as a land-grant college specializing in agriculture and mechanics. The land-grant college system marked the beginning of scientific agricultural and industrial instruction in . . . — — Map (db m16237) HM
Five miles south lies the main campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, founded in 1872 as a land-grant college specializing in agriculture and mechanical arts. The land-grant college system initiated scientific agricultural . . . — — Map (db m37520) HM
The airport was founded in 1931 as a college-owned facility. School funds and a grant from the Works Progress Administration in the early 1940s paid for paving a runway and building a hangar. Two training programs offered here made the airport . . . — — Map (db m41425) HM
(left pylons)
Brotherhood
Honor
Leadership
Sacrifice
(right pylons)
Ut Prosim
Duty
Loyalty
Service
1917 * 1918
H. T. Barger '16 • J. C. Berkeley '12 • R. L. Butler '15 • A. V. Carlson '21 • J. F. . . . — — Map (db m43044) WM
This cemetery is the final resting place for numerous Civil War veterans. It was originally the burial ground of the Black family, for whom the town is named. The cemetery later grew in size and eventually merged with the African American graveyard . . . — — Map (db m193950) HM
Craig County farm boy Add Caldwell
walked 26 miles to enroll here in 1872
as the first student. The popular cadet
majored in agriculture and worked as a
teacher, clerk, and salesman before his
death in 1910.
Donated by the Class of . . . — — Map (db m42925) HM
This is Smithfield, the birthplace of William Ballard Preston (1805-1862). On April 16, 1861, in the Virginia Convention, he reluctantly introduced the formal resolution to secede from the Union.
Preston served in the Virginia House of . . . — — Map (db m84776) HM
Just northeast stood the home of William Black, the founder of Blacksburg. In 1797, he laid out a 16-block grid and petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to incorporate a town here; the legislature approved his petition on 13 January 1798. On 4 . . . — — Map (db m41436) HM
Professor / Department Head,
Horticulture, Mycology, & Entomology
Vice Director, Virginia Agricultural
Experiment Station (1888 - 1904)
"The splendid service which you rendered this institution will ever be remembered, and it is my hope . . . — — Map (db m64217) HM
Student 1872-1873
College Physician 1891-1920
Consulting Physician 1920-1935
During more than half of his life, Dr. William F. Henderson treated thousands of cadets at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute . . . — — Map (db m43024) HM
Chair, Civil Engineering 1896-1905
Dean, Department of Engineering 1904-1905
A distinguished engineer, educator, and author, William MacFarland Patton chaired Civil Engineering at VPI and became the first dean of the Department of Engineering. . . . — — Map (db m16264) HM
The Five Chimneys House was built in 1852, but the Queen Anne porch that is so distinctive was added 30 to 50 years later. The home underwent numerous renovations in the 1930s when A.G. Smith, a professor in the Virginia Tech Horticulture . . . — — Map (db m228180) HM
Enslaved People and the Prestons – William Preston purchased land at Draper's Meadows in 1773. There, enslaved people and indentured servants built a large house that Preston named Smithfield in honor of his wife, Susanna Smith Preston. . . . — — Map (db m228224) HM
The American Revolution secured liberty and justice for some, but not all Americans.
When the U.S. Constitution became ratified in 1788, slavery was still legal, women could not vote, and indigenous peoples were being violently removed from . . . — — Map (db m229164) HM WM
Native Stewardship – Into the 1700s, the region known today as Appalachian Virginia was a hub for long-distance trade routes, a dynamic setting for shifting alliances between Native peoples of different languages and nations. For thousands of . . . — — Map (db m228237) HM
People and Place – Virginia Tech's Blacksburg campus is situated on land long the domain of Monacan-Tutelo peoples. The university's other sites across Virginia, like schools everywhere in the US, are also on land once held by Native nations.
. . . — — Map (db m228128) HM
This marker commemorates the
men and women who achieved
American independence.
These Patriots, believing in the
noble cause of liberty, fought
valiantly to found a new nation.
1775 - 1783
Presented by
Virginia Daughters of . . . — — Map (db m228221) WM
For many years, Virginia Tech students were all white, all male, and all cadets, and they were mostly Virginia residents and Protestant Christians. By the 1920s, students had come from many states and nations, white women were enrolling, and men . . . — — Map (db m228185) HM
The Early Years – Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (VAMC), today's Virginia Tech, was established in 1872 in the former home of the Preston and Olin Institute, an academy for white males that had opened in the 1850s. The institute's . . . — — Map (db m228172) HM
Women's History – Until 1921, only men could seek degrees from Virginia Tech. Yet women — Black and white – had worked at the college since its founding in 1872. Women supported professors and cadets as laundresses and cooks. Professional . . . — — Map (db m228193) HM
Christiansburg, originally known as "Hans Meadows," was established in 1792 and named for Colonel William Christian noted Colonial and Revolutionary Indian fighter. It became an important place on the route to the West. On May 10, 1864, Averell . . . — — Map (db m23905) HM
In 1866, Captain Charles S. Schaeffer, a Freedmen's Bureau agent, organized a school for blacks on the hill just to the southeast. Charles L. Marshall of Tuskeegee Institute became principal of the school in 1896. Under his guidance and with support . . . — — Map (db m41424) HM
This property has been
placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Christiansburg
Presbyterian Church
has been registered as a
Virginia
Historic . . . — — Map (db m209277) HM
The African American Memory & Storyboard Project is a partnership of Christiansburg Institute Inc., Montgomery Museum of Art & History, and the community to memorialize the sometimes challenging, often joyful history of African Americans in . . . — — Map (db m209270) HM
Christiansburg, a town in turmoil during the war, supported the Confederacy. Its strategic location in the New River Valley made it a military objective, prompting President Abraham Lincoln to order Federal troops toward the area in 1861. . . . — — Map (db m193952) HM
Recently emancipated African Americans yearned for education after the Civil War. They worked to build schools and educate themselves, often with assistance from the Freedmen's Bureau.
Freedmen's Bureau agent, Captain Charles Schaeffer, helped . . . — — Map (db m209264) HM
In this town occurred the duel between Thomas Lewis and John McHenry in May, 1808. This was the first duel with rifles known to have taken place in Virginia. It resulted in the death of both men. Dr. John Floyd, later Governor of Virginia and . . . — — Map (db m41422) HM
To the memory
of Montgomery’s sons
who fell in the
Lost Cause
and to
all the Confederate dead
who lie beneath her soil.
This monument
is erected by her daughters
1861-1865
In this county
lie the remains of
300 . . . — — Map (db m41453) HM
Dedicated to the
memory of these
citizens of Mont-
gomery County,
Virginia, who made
the supreme
sacrifice in the
service of our
country in the
world conflicts
Sponsored and erected by
the Montgomery County
American . . . — — Map (db m41445) WM
Slavery is one of the defining stories of America, impacting political, economic, and cultural life. Enslaved men and women, denied the basic right of freedom, made important contributions in Montgomery County.
Almost from its earliest days, . . . — — Map (db m209259) HM
Fotheringay was the home of George Hancock (1754-1820), a colonel in the Virginia Line during the Revolutionary War and aide-de-camp to Count Casimir Pulaski. He later served in both the Virginia House of Delegates and in the U.S. Congress, and was . . . — — Map (db m23904) HM
Montgomery County. Area 401 Square Miles. Formed in 1776 from Fincastle, and named for General Richard Montgomery, killed at Quebec, 1775. The Virginia Polytechnic Institute is here.
Roanoke County. Area 305 Square . . . — — Map (db m23827) HM
This small bridge is the oldest metal truss bridge and the sole survivor of its type in Virginia. It was built in 1877-78 over Stony Run in nearby Bedford County and was subsequently moved to a site over Roaring Run, also in Bedford County, where it . . . — — Map (db m228044) HM
This structure was built in 1878 by King Iron and Bridge Co. in Bedford County. It remained in use until 1971. It is the oldest metal bridge in Virginia. — — Map (db m3853) HM
Near here stood Montgomery White Sulphur Springs, popular resort area of 19th century America. During the Civil War the resort was converted into a military hospital staffed by Catholic nuns. Several hundred victims of smallpox including nurses and . . . — — Map (db m3851) HM
Giles County. Area 369 Square Miles. Formed in 1806 from Montgomery, Tazewell, and Monroe, and named for William B. Giles, United States Senator and Governor of Virginia 1827-30. Mountain Lake is in this county.
Montgomery . . . — — Map (db m34758) HM
As the population in the New River valley increased in the 18th century, the western branch of the Great Wagon Road from Philadelphia to the backcountry of the Carolinas and Georgia crossed the region. The branch became known as the Wilderness . . . — — Map (db m162755) HM
Floyd County. Floyd County was named for John Floyd, governor of Virginia from 1830 to 1834. The county was formed from Montgomery County in 1831, with a portion of Franklin County added later. The county seat is Floyd, formerly Jacksonville. . . . — — Map (db m104299) HM
Joseph and Jeanne de Vigné Crockett settled on this farm early in the 1760s. Three of their sons served as officers in the Revolutionary War. Col. Hugh Crockett, who lived here until his death in 1816, led militia during expeditions to North . . . — — Map (db m209254) HM
Ephraim Vause was appointed Captain of Horse in 1753 and was considered a man of considerable influence. For the protection of his family and his neighbors he built a simple palisaded fort nearby on his farm. In June 1756, during the French and . . . — — Map (db m42849) HM