Timeline
Heritage
The Road
Historical Overview
Original Name: - Visitor Center
Lexington & the Rockbridge Area Tourism Travel Resources
Lexington (city) Where to Stay: All Accommodations Bed & Breakfasts / Inns Cottages & Cabins Hotels & Motels Where to Dine Area Restaurants What to Do History & Heritage Museums Outdoors & Sports More Information Rockbridge, Virginia Upcoming Events
Natural Bridge Thanksgiving Buffet Package: |
You need to upgrade your Flash Player This is replaced by the Flash
content. Place your alternate content here and users without the Flash plugin or
with Javascript turned off will see this. Content here allows you to leave out
noscript tags. Include a link to bypass
the detection if you wish.
|
||||
Featured Sites
Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University
Wade’s Mill in Raphine, Virginia
The Natural Bridge of Virginia
Lexington & Rockbridge CountyRockbridge County was created by a land grant obtained by Benjamin Borden from Governor William Gooch. The land was surveyed by John McDowell in 1737 in exchange for 1000 acres of it. Stipulations of the grant called for one hundred families to settle the area and erect a 1300 by 900 foot town in the center of the County. The required amount of families promptly came to settle in what would be called Lexington (1778) in honor of Lexington, Massachusetts and Rockbridge County after the Natural Bridge.
The academia one will find today in Lexington actually started at the very beginning of the city's history. The Arsenal, now Virginia Military Institute (1839), was established in 1739. Washington and Lee University's roots in Lexington started with Liberty Hall Academy in 782. Though a little larger now, neither institution has moved away from its original architecture. Walking today's campuses are nigh on to walking in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Pioneering west along the Wilderness Road involved skirmishes with Native Americans. In 1742 the first of such skirmishes in Rockbridge County broke out near Buena Vista at the edge of what is now the George Washington National Forest. Thirty-three Iroquois Indians and 34 settlers fought until 17 Iroquois and 8 settlers lost their lives. One slain settler was James McDowell, son of John McDowell, surveyor of the grant. The Iroquois fought for their right to the land regardless of the grant, but finally relinquished those rights under the Treaty of Lancaster in 1744.
The mostly Scot-Irish settlers of the area were self-sufficient farmers and blacksmiths who provided for themselves and their neighbors. Borden and John McDowell were among the first settlers in Rockbridge County and homesteaded in the Timber Ridge vicinity. Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church is one of the first churches established in the area (1746). The original 1756 limestone building still stands is the only colonial-era Presbyterian Church still in use today.
Other British Crown land grantees of the time included German settler John Peter Salling, who was granted 400 acres in Glasgow in 1740. A mountain bears his name and Salling House (1815), built by his son Peter, stands near the Salling Family Cemetery. Neighbor James Greenlee received 550 acres in 1737 and Stephen Arnold obtained land in 1755, giving that location its present name of Arnold's Valley.
The Wilderness Road's mark is visible everywhere in Rockbridge County. One will easily find homes, churches and mills dating from the late 1700s. There are 12 sites built during this settling period that are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Additional Sites |
|||||
