Mrs Tucker owned the Spout Spring House, this early Blacksburg home stood above a spring that once provided water for the community and the young Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Its construction reflects early log-building traditions later concealed by weatherboarding.
“Memories – Mattie Lamb Tucker” booklet (searchable pdf) contains a wealth of local Blacksburg History. Copies can be found in the local museums and libraries.
Spout Spring
The Spout Spring House is referenced in Old Virginia Houses: The Mountain Empire by Emile Ferguson Farrar and Emilee Hines (Delmar Publishing, Charlotte, 1978), page 42. The authors note and photo following:
“The home of Mrs. Arthur Tucker on Wharton Street in Blacksburg is believed to be two hundred years old. It is constructed of logs, covered with weatherboarding on the exterior and board-and-batten on the interior. The house features a single end chimney and a one-story porch supported by four slender columns. It is named Spout Spring because a spring on the property once furnished water for the Town of Blacksburg and the newly built Virginia Polytechnic Institute.”
The Spout Spring was known as Painter Spring and Palmer Spring.
Gathering Blacksburg History 