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
About five miles southwest is Dunkard Bottom, where Dr. Thomas Walker found a settlement in 1750. The fort there was built about 1756 and was the first fort in Virginia west of New River. The first store and first mill were also there. — — Map (db m23909) 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 in this county.
Pulaski County. Area . . . — — Map (db m50619) 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 in this county.
Pulaski County. Area . . . — — Map (db m41416) HM
One mile to the north stood this Methodist Chapel, an early one in the New River area. It was built on land given in 1795 by Alexander Page. Bishop Francis Asbury preached in the chapel in 1802 and again in 1806. — — Map (db m23906) HM
Not “new” at all, the New River, the second oldest in the world, is more than 320 million years old. Only the Nile is older. The river received its original English name, Wood's River, perhaps from Colonel Abraham Wood who explored the . . . — — Map (db m41417) HM
This branch of the New River dividing east and west Radford was named after James Connelly, an early pioneer and surveyor. In 1749, he helped to mark the path that became known as the Wilderness Road, today Rock Road south of the Park. . . . — — Map (db m67126) HM
August 14, 1940
On this day, the New River rose to this level at this location after heavy rainfall from the Georgia-South Carolina hurricane of 1940. Over 17 inches of rain fell upstream along the Little River, a tributary of the New River. . . . — — Map (db m209453) HM
Nannie Radford Wharton was eight months pregnant, and nervous. Her eyes kept glancing at the nearby Now River Bridge. “The home guards are called out & all sorts of rumors are current regarding the coming of the Enemy, none of wh[ich] I believe. I . . . — — Map (db m209455) HM
On 13 Nov. 1869, the Rev. Capt. Charles S.
Schaeffer of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen,
and Abandoned Lands met with the people of
Lovely Mount (later Radford) and organized the
Lovely Mount Baptist Church. In 1898, the congregation purchased . . . — — Map (db m105051) HM
Built by John Heavin on the Wilderness Road in 1796, the Tavern served as an Inn. A settlement, including a general store, blacksmith shop, saloon, and homes grew up around it. William Baskerville acquired the property in 1827 and operated a post . . . — — Map (db m108119) HM
Mary's history on the frontier began with her parents' arrival in Pennsylvania in 1729 from County Donegal, Ireland. George and Eleanor Draper gave birth to Mary in 1732, and took their young family into Virginia to settle new land. They settled at . . . — — Map (db m209661) HM
Mary Draper Ingles,
born at Philadelphia, 1732,
died at Ingles Ferry, VA, 1815
The first white bride married west of the Allegheny Mountains. Captured by the Indians 1755 at Draper's Meadows now Blacksburg, Virginia, and carried . . . — — Map (db m209670) HM
A late Woodland Village dating from 1600-1635 occupied this site year around. Circular houses were arranged in two or more circular rows around a central plaza or open area. A palisade with two openings surrounded the village. The adjacent flood . . . — — Map (db m209281) HM
On May 10, 1864, the day after defeating Confederate forces in the bloody battle of Cloyd's Mountain, Union Gen. George Crook's Army of the Kanawha attacked and burned this railroad bridge over the New River. During the Civil War, the railroad was . . . — — Map (db m9514) HM
It originated as a railroad town in 1856 and was known as Central. In 1862-65 this section was in the range of Union raids; Confederates burned the bridge at Ingles Ferry to retard raiders. Incorporated in 1887 as a town, the place was incorporated . . . — — Map (db m41420) HM
(side a)
In 1746 “Frederick Stering (Staring) and two sons” were workers on a road “ordered” from the N. Fork of the Roanoke to the New River. Second son, Frederick Starn, Jr., “entered” 200a “below . . . — — Map (db m41419) HM
Throughout the 1880s and 1890s the Lovely Mount, Central Depot and newly developed Radford areas grew as more coal and iron passed through the region and more factories were built. Because of the growth brought by this development the area reached . . . — — Map (db m209654) HM
Rich in mineral and agricultural resources, Southwestern Virginia attracted the attention of those who sought to tap into these riches. On March 2, 1849, the Virginia General Assembly voted to fund construction of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad . . . — — Map (db m209458) HM
The settlement of lands west of the Blue Ridge began in the mid-18th century, spurred by both the need for more land and the desire to push the frontier westward to create a buffer protecting eastern Virginia. Whereas most settlers of the east were . . . — — Map (db m209657) HM
For thirty-six years a swimming pool provided Radford with water recreation at this location in Wildwood Park, to give a place "in which to avoid bad habits." The opening of the pool and a dance on Independence Day in 1929 attracted 10,000 people . . . — — Map (db m67123) HM
