Author Archives: Bee

Preston Grist Mill and Dam on Big Spring and Stroubles Creek

Newly examined Montgomery County court records reveal intriguing clues about James Patton Preston’s early grist mill on Stroubles Creek, including references to a mill house, neighboring landowners, and a “mansion.”

Exploring the 2000 Structural Report on Historic Smithfield – Worsham

The Smithfield (Blacksburg, Virginia) structural report offers an in-depth look at the 1775 house and the broader landscape around it. Commissioned by the APVA and authored by Gibson Worsham, it remains one of the most comprehensive studies of the property. Worsham Structural Report (2000): https://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/items/show/45342 Key sections include a thorough architectural and historical overview ofContinue reading “Exploring the 2000 Structural Report on Historic Smithfield – Worsham”

Check In to the Past: Blacksburg’s Historic Hotels and Motels (1950 to 1980s)

As the quiet town of Blacksburg grew through the mid-20th century, so did the need for modern places for visitors to stay. Early Blacksburg was a small, rural community where travelers often relied on boarding houses or small inns. But with two major changes—the rise of automobile travel and the rapid expansion of VPI (nowContinue reading “Check In to the Past: Blacksburg’s Historic Hotels and Motels (1950 to 1980s)”

VPI Chapel and Library

In 1909, Virginia Tech built its campus chapel, later repurposed as the university library in 1914. The building burned on August 31, 1953, while being dismantled to make way for the new library, later named for Carol Montgomery Newman, longtime English professor and dean of the Academic Department. Standing on the site of today’s Newman Library, the old chapel was empty at the time—its books safely relocated weeks earlier.