Town History

The History of the Town of Christiansburg, Virginia

as excerpted from the 1992 Bicentennial Celebration “Reflections” Publication

CHRISTIANSBURG, VIRGINIA

Christiansburgh*, named for William Christian, is located on a plateau deep in the heart of the Alleghenies. Christian, described by Lula Givens in her book Christiansburg, Montgomery County, Virginia, in the Heart of the Alleghenies, was an important person in the area when it was still Fincastle County. Governor Dunmore had appointed him one of the first justices of that county and named him chairman of the Committee of Safety to protect the settlers. He was born on Christian's Creek near Staunton, Virginia in 1742. William studied law with Patrick Henry and courted and married Patrick's sister, Ann.

Theodore Roosevelt, in The Winning of the West, said that Col. Christian was a "noted Indian fighter" and a "very gallant and honorable man." Christiansburg, the county seat of Montgomery County, Virginia incorporated November 10, 1792 was named for him; a patriot‑hero. Our cleared land, cultivated fields, neat secure homes, beautiful churches and prosperous people are constant reminders of William Christian, keeping his memory fresh and everlasting.

*Note the old spelling of Christiansburg.

Daniel Boone lived in Christiansburg for a time. Among the records in the courthouse is a warrant issued for the arrest of Boone for money owed. Daniel and his ax men cut the Wilderness Trail (Boone's Trace) beginning near Ingles Ferry. It is thought that the money Daniel owed for which the warrant was issued was borrowed to pay his men and buy supplies.

Davy Crockett lived in Christiansburg for a time and worked at John Snider's Hattery Shop which was located on Main Street. Davy and his wife, Polly, were parents of a big family. He was uneducated except for the apprenticeships and pioneer experiences. However, he was a handsome man, tall and dark, with great personal charm and the ability to tell a story well. Crockett died in Texas buying time for Sam Houston to assemble an army able to face Santa Ana. He died at the Alamo on Sunday, March 6, 1836.

Christiansburg

On March 4, 1790, the county court of Montgomery moved to James Craig's house and tavern at Hans Meadows one mile east of present downtown Christiansburg and on the county's eastern boundary. In May, 1790, the court directed that "the place for erecting the public buildings for the County of Montgomery shall be the Mile Branch on the land of James Craig." 175 acres were purchased from James Craig for $1 by Francis Gardner and the other trustees of the town. A survey was made on May 21, 1790 and Christiansburg (then unnamed) came into being.

The form of the early town is revealed by a plat drawn between 1790 and 1793. This plat was probably drawn from either Francis Gardner's survey of 1790 or another survey of December 3,1793, made by William Taylor. The major elements of the town's form were fixed at this time: a main street and a cross street intersecting at a public square.

As platted, Main Street and Cross Street (now Franklin Street) were 66 feet wide and the Public Square was 264 feet square. Around the square were four odd‑shaped blocks made up of 13 lots of quarter and half acre size. A fifth block and a portion of a sixth were strung along West Main Street separated from the others by a 22 1/2 foot side alley. Alleyways of 22 1/2 feet in width bordered the town on the northwest, northeast and southeast. The total number of lots shown on the plat was 60, although a rather haphazard numbering system yields 71.

Main Street and Cross Street were labeled on the plat according to the destinations of the four roads radiating from the edges to town. West Main was labeled "New River", East Main "Roanoke", Cross Street was labeled "Little River" to the south and "Toms Creek" to the north. Angling off southward from the southeast side of the town was another inscription "Little River" which suggests an alternate route up the Mile Branch towards Rose Hill and on southward.

The plan of Christiansburg is tilted 40 degrees from due south. The Public Square is situated on a slight rise between two creeks. One of these creeks was represented on the plat (probably the aforementioned Mile Branch). It flowed across the southwest sides of the south and west blocks. Five springs were shown flowing into it, four of them clustered at the Main Street crossing where it is said teams of horses were watered at a later date.

Lots in the unnamed town were sold at the July and September courts of 1790. A list of the original purchasers shows that only six still owned their lots at the time the plat was made. Beside the column of purchasers is a column of "securities.," John Preston, purchaser of lot 14, has listed beside him under securities, "The County." Lot 14 is the second lot on the north side of West Main; on the plat it is identified "Court House." Apparently, Preston bought the lot and had erected on it, by March 1, 1791, a temporary court house. On April 6, 1791, a prison and stocks were completed.

Sometime during the 1790's, a second and permanent courthouse was built in the center of the Public Square by "the Davis's." As portrayed by Lewis Miller in 1831, the second courthouse was a two-story brick structure with two large windows and a central six-panel door with transom and steps on the southwest front and three smaller windows on the second story. The northwest gable was blank and a chimney was situated in the east corner.

On November 10, 1792, an act was passed incorporating Christiansburg. The act reads in part:

One hundred and eighty acres of land, the property of the county of Montgomery ... are hereby established a town by the name of Christiansburg and Byrd Smith, James Barnett, Hugh Crockett, Samuel Eason, Joseph Cloyd, John Preston, Christian Snidow, James Charlton, and James Craig, gentlemen, constituted and appointed trustees thereof.

Ordinary licenses from 1793 suggest that in that year there were at least five houses standing. Louis Phillipe passed through the town on April 21, 1791, and described it as "a tiny village of about ten houses." Five homeowners applied for and received licenses to operate ordinaries in their homes. Three of the houses that received licenses were located across from the courthouse on West Main Street.

The town of Christiansburg was officially established in 1792, Blacksburg in 1798 and Lafayette in 1828. Blacksburg was incorporated in 1871 and the governing of the town passed from the town trustees to an elected town government. Radford was incorporated in 1886 and became a separate city in 1892. Cambria was incorporated as a town in 1906. As originally platted, the town of Christiansburg contained 175 acres.

The Town of Christiansburg is located on the headwaters of Crab Creek at the western end of the Crab Creek. In the late eighteenth century most of the land in the unit area was owned by the Craigs and constituted a portion of Hans Meadows. In 1790 the county court of Montgomery received from James Craig 175 acres on the Great Road as the site for the county buildings and shortly thereafter a town and public square were platted. The town was incorporated as Christiansburg in 1792 and was from an early point the location of a number of taverns.

Nineteenth century industrial complexes which did not develop into communities developed around Chrisman's Mill and the Gardner/Zink Mill west of Christiansburg.

The Old Chrisman Mill was built around 1769 on Crab Creek just west of Allegheny Christian Church on land owned by Abraham Chrisman (now St.Rt.661-Chrisman Mill Road). Grinding stones came from Belgium and England. The mill functioned by water power and consisted of a grist mill, a blacksmith shop, a cording house, a tanner pond and a store. The Chrisman family has one of the longest records of residency in Montgomery County and still owns the property on which this mill was located.

Once upon a time just about every mountain stream had a water-powered gristmill on one of its banks, used to grind grain into flour and meal for neighboring families and feedstuff for cattle roaming a thousand hills and hollows. But, like so many other artifacts traced to Appalachia's early times, the aged gristmills yielded to time's unexplained toll so that posterity will never understand completely the way of life of our forebears. This picture depicts an original snapshot provided by Evelyn Palmer whose former husband, Harry Chrisman, and his brothers owned and operated the mill until 1914 when it was demolished.

Lewis-McHenry Duel - The state historical marker on the Town Square in Christiansburg commemorates the first duel in Virginia fought with rifles. This event occurred at dawn on Monday, May 9, 1808 near Montgomery County Courthouse in the vicinity of the present Sunset Cemetery. The principals were Thomas Lewis and John McHenry. The Lewis-McHenry duel had far-reaching effects. In 1810, it influenced the passage of the Barbour Bill outlawing dueling in Virginia.

The participants were Thomas Lewis, a 22 year old lawyer, grandson of General Andrew Lewis and John McHenry, a resident of the western part of the county, a much older man than Lewis. According to an account of the duel in Lula Porterfield Givens' Christiansburg, Montgomery County, Virginia, in the Heart of the Alleghenies, the men were friends but were angered over a political argument and were urged on by a third man Thomas Bowyer, in order that he might destroy a witness (McHenry) who could prevent his obtaining coveted land. Both men died as a result, Lewis immediately and McHenry the next evening. Lewis is buried in the Madison Cemetery in Shawsville and McHenry in the Craig Cemetery in Christiansburg.

John Buchanan Floyd (1804-1863) was an infant when his father was the attending surgeon at the Lewis-McHenry duel.

Legend says John was born in a house directly across the street from the Presbyterian Church known as the Gardner house. It was torn down by Dr. R.T. Ellett and the present house was built on the site. That house was owned and occupied by Misses Sadie and Mary Ellett until their demise a few years ago. The Ellett house has been converted into offices.

John Buchanan Floyd, son of Dr. Floyd and Letitia Preston Floyd, received his education from private tutors and then at the College of South Carolina from which he graduated in 1828. For three years, he practiced in Arkansas but came back to Virginia and located in Washington County.

A Democrat, he was an ardent and impressive speaker. He was sent to the House of Delegates by Washington County. While there he was elected Governor of Virginia to succeed Governor William Smith, January 1, 1849.

Governor Floyd signed the contract with Thomas Crawford for the monument known as the "Washington Monument" which was a bronze equestrian statue of Washington rising from a granite pedestal surrounded by six bronze figures, one of which is Andrew Lewis.

On January 16, 1850, Governor Floyd broke ground starting construction of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad.

John Buchanan Floyd is buried in the family graveyard at Smithfield, adjoining the Virginia Tech Campus, along with former governor, James Patton Preston and other relatives.

In March 1834, a commission was formed "to contract for a new court house and to select a site for it". The site was in the east corner of the Public Square and the builder was James Toncray. The new courthouse was completed by March 7, 1836. The new northwestward facing brick courthouse was composed of a two-story three-bay central projecting mass with hipped roof and cupola and flanked by two two-story, two-bay (door and window) gabled wings. The central door and the window above it were surmounted by large fanlights and the octagonal cupola was provided with arched louvered vents and a bell-shaped cap with a gilt ball on top of it. Lewis Miller portrayed the new courthouse in 1856 with its "Franklin rod" probably installed in 1836. St. Paul Methodist Church building was located on the site of the present courthouse, facing East Main Street. The picture shows the building before the Sunday School addition remembered by many. The church moved to this location from the building now occupied by McNeil Real Estate on North Franklin Street. It moved there from a building located on the hill near the old Kyle Cemetery (Pepper Street) about 1856.

In the 1820's Methodist and Presbyterian congregations were formed and churches built.

The Methodist Church overlooking the town was built in 1825. In 1829 the Presbyterian Church was completed at the north corner of South Cross Street and the Long Alley. It is said to have been built by Paul T. Woodward (a brick mason) and David Page. In 1852, the new Presbyterian Church, built by Crush and Hickok, was completed. The old church was used by the Montgomery Female Academy and later by the Masons. The new Methodist Church on North Cross Street, dedicated in 1856, was pictured by Edward Beyer in 1855.

Pennsylvanian visitor Lewis Miller was fascinated with Montgomery County's scenery. He and his Christiansburg relatives would drive through the countryside in a horse drawn buggy, stopping at caves, villages and overlooks. On such a jaunt, Miller sketched and captioned "A visit to Elliott's Creek ... A wild stream foaming and dashing against the rocks." In another sketch, he portrayed himself walking along the roadbed of the unfinished Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, and wrote: "Branches of the high mountain stretch down to the road, and as huge blue masses of limestone rock, the summits of which are frequently divided by fearful clefts; Sometimes as undulating chains of hills whose side are overgrown with wood."

The 1831 sketch Lewis Miller made of the Courthouse also shows a lively Public Square. Men and women stroll, boys bounce balls off the courthouse wall, a carriage drives by, a wagon mires in the mud, figures sit at tables on which food or wares appear to be displayed, a man with a rifle leads another man. To the north of the courthouse Miller's sketch shows a pump. In 1826, William Peppers and Asiel Snow were paid $100 "for digging a public well and setting up the pumps".

MONTGOMERY MALE ACADEMY

Other important brick buildings added to Christiansburg in the mid-nineteenth century were the Montgomery Academy building (1849) on the eastern outskirts, the Montgomery Female Academy building (s) (1859) on the western outskirts, the bank and residence of Charles B. Gardner on the northeast side of the Public Square (1853), and the Temperance Hall on West Main (before 1855). Edward Beyer's painting and Lewis Miller's sketches of the 1850's indicate that residential growth was still confined to Main Street and Cross Street.

MONTGOMERY FEMALE ACADEMY

Montgomery Collegiate Institute, a school for girls, was chartered by Montgomery Presbytery in April, 1852. The Rev. Nicholas W. Chevalier was appointed principal and two of the Christiansburg elders, William Wade and Rice D. Montague, were named with him to carry out the project. The school was opened in the old church building on the comer of South Franklin and First Street. Above is the second building occupied by the Institute on grounds where the new high school now stands. Cost of the building was $12,000, largely contributed by Christiansburg people.

Young ladies and gentlemen participate in a May Day Celebration by trimming the Maypole at The Montgomery Female Academy.

Some individuals shown participating in the May Day Celebration have been identified as: Katherine Phlegar, Eleen Sheltman, Beatrice Coher, Mildred Mitchell, Happy Wach, Kathy Sprids.

One of the most famous legends in our area is that of The Black Sisters Veiled in Gloom, as Lula Porterfield Givens speaks of them in her history.

The Montgomery Female College, an institution of learning and good repute was bequeathed by Mrs. O.S. Polluck to her sister Mrs. Martha Wardlaw and to Mrs. Wardlaw's daughters, Mrs. Mary W. Snead, Mrs. Caroline Martin and Miss Virginia Wardlaw, the last named "unmarried, cultured, and beautiful."

Abraham Lincoln called "the Great Emancipator" was a symbol of freedom in our American History. Conversely, the Three Sisters were perfect examples of planned manipulation. They moved people around like figures on a chess board to fit their nefarious schemes to enslave and use persons in ways to benefit themselves.

Caroline visited Mary Snead's son, John age 28, who was married and living in Lynville, Tennessee. While there she persuaded John to leave his wife and return with her to Christiansburg to teach in the college. At first, his wife objected so strongly to his leaving that he called the police to evict his aunt from his house. Undaunted, she came a second time and this time he returned with her to teach at the Montgomery Female Academy. Fletcher, the brother of John Snead also was married and living in Tennessee. After a period of time, Fletcher divorced his wife and came to the college and married Ocey Snead, his first cousin. As time went on, the sisters owed many debts which they could not or would not pay. Lawyers had claims against them. Misfortune befell John, traveling with Mrs. Martin he had fallen off a train, accidentally he said, but the brakeman said it looked like a suicide attempt. Later, John half-drowned, had been pulled from a cistern by Sonny Correll, caretaker at the college. Weeks later he was found on fire in his nightclothes, the bed saturated with kerosene. Several hours later he died. Incidentally, his life had been sizably insured by his aunts; the beneficiary changed from his wife's name to Virginia Wardlaw. Virginia Wardlaw went among the residents of Christiansburg soliciting affidavits to the accidental death of John Snead, but met with little success for the townspeople suspected foul play.

Eventually the insurance company made a satisfactory settlement with Virginia Wardlaw.

Sinister events created fear among the townspeople. They were afraid to answer the knock on the door for often the Sisters were there, veiled, somber and austere. People were afraid to go on the streets at night. The sisters were known to visit the cemetery often. One hack driver said they frequently hired him to drive them to the cemetery. They always had him stop at the edge while they walked farther into the grounds. One night he followed them unseen to see them gather about a grave making gestures skyward and murmuring incantations which he could not understand. His whole body shook with fear so strong was his feeling that evil was near.

Prior to 1908, the Black Sisters had left Christiansburg one by one, so had Ocey and Fletcher Snead.

A year later the death of Ocey Snead was carried in the papers. In East Orange, New Jersey, the police had been called to a shabby house. A woman thickly veiled in black, who identified herself as Virginia Wardlaw, led them upstairs to a bathroom where he found the nude body of a beautiful girl, Ocey Snead, squatted in a halftub of water with her head tilted under the faucet. A suicide note in which the girl expressed despondency for the loss of loved ones was pinned to a garmet beside the tub. Miss Wardlaw's answers to the police were not satisfactory and she was held for further questioning.

A janitor said that year earlier Ocey and Fletcher had moved into a house in which they seemed happy. Several months later they said two older women dressed in black came. After that Fletcher left. Five months later Ocey had given birth to a baby boy which was put in a hospital. Ocey told the doctor that she was being starved to death and begged for help. At the same time the aunts were dining at prestigious restaurants. The doctor said the aunts would not allow the niece to talk with him, would not give her the medicines had had prescribed for her nor would they allow him to remove the stitches from an operation he had performed on her.

A will was brought forward in which Ocey had left everything to her 84 year old grandmother. The trial of the sisters began January 9, 1911 and dragged through the courts for several years in which time no satisfactory explination could be given for incriminating events brought to light.

Eventually, Mary Snead, implicated with Virginia Wardlaw, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was released in the custody of her son, Albert, who took her to Colorado to live out her days on a ranch he owned.

During the trial Fletcher Snead, husband of Ocey Snead, was investigated as a suspect. He was found under an assumed name cooking in a lumber camp in Canada. No incriminating evidence was found against him.

Caroline W. Martin was sentenced to jail and sent to the New Jersey State Prison. Her behavior was so unstable that she was transferred to the State Hospital for the Insane where she died shortly after.

Virginia G. Wardlaw starved herself to death while awaiting trial and her body was sent to Christiansburg. After a simple funeral service she was buried in Sunset Cemetery not far from the Montgomery Female College.

Christiansburg High School was built on the site of the college in 1930. At the present, it contains the Christiansburg Middle School, with a new high school built on Independence Boulevard to take care of the growing population.

LATTIMER MILLAND AND PLANTATION HOUSE

Lattimer Gristmill, Crab Creek, Christiansburg, Virginia.

While the date of building of the water-powered Lattimer gristmill is unknown, the white and yellow pine weatherboarding, hand-driven shingles of chestnut or white oak, and the log underpinning of the water-wheel and lanes point indelibly to the late '80's when such woods were abundant. The white house fenced in by palings was known as the "Plantation House" built circa 1850, and which with the establishment of the Christiansburg Industrial Institute served as a girl's dormitory.

The house stood on the approximate site of the present Christiansburg High School and the mill was between the house and the present railroad, along Crab Creek. The house was built and used by the Confederate States Army during the War Between the States.

With five grocery stores, a drug store, jewelry store, ice plant, the Phoenix Furniture Factory, Southern Dairies, two hotels, the A.M. Showalter Hospital, two hardware stores, three churches, planing mill, N & W freight station and passenger station and, stockyard, Cambria was the main shipping point for a wide area of Montgomery County. Payday Saturdays found Cambria a busy, bustling place.

THE PASSENGER STATION IN CAMBRIA

The station was built in the 1850's and was one of the few buildings along the railway not destroyed by Union troops during the Civil War.

ON THE TOWN SQUARE

This building stood on the Town Square on the site of the present day Central Fidelity Bank. Constructed in 1853 by Charles B. Gardner and operated by him as a private banking house, the building was owned by him until sold to the Bank of Christiansburg in the 1880's with the provision that Mr. Gardner's daughters could have a lifetime home in the building.

The building on the left is the Mosby-Johnston Hardware Store and is where the post office now stands. The previous building on the site was a store/residence combination operated by Lorentz and Frizzell, then Johnston & Co, Johnston & Mosby and later MosbyJohnston, operated by Chas. A. Johnston and R. Trigg Mosby who sold the property to the government for the post office site.

Cambria is visited by the "Roanoke," circa 1857, The Virginia-Tennessee Railroad named their early vintage steam locomotives after towns along the right of way of the railroad. The white building in the right middle background was known as "The Louellyn Hotel", built during the boom days of Cambria.

As this picture depicts, Christiansburg was served by two passenger trains as early as May 1, 1856. In accordance with the policy of all railroads, the Virginia-Tennessee Railroad had the sign posted on the Christiansburg Passenger Station.

Christiansburg Invaded: 1863-1865 - During the Civil War, Christiansburg was invaded several times by the Yankees. Operating from bases in western Virginia, General W.W. Averell made raids into Christiansburg. General George B. Stoneman and his men were in Christiansburg during April 4-9, 1865. General Stoneman's headquarters were established in the Rice D. Montague home, a large house on the north brow of a hill on East Main Street. The army went into camp along what is now First Street behind Angles' Store. The main force stayed in Christiansburg and work forces were sent out. This army was in Christiansburg when news came of Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The soldiers loudly and joyfully celebrated the ending of the war. Pictured below is Montgomery White Sulphur Springs used for a hospital during the Civil War.

CONFEDERATE MONUMENT IN ELLETT VALLEY, erected in 1889.

Monument to Confederate soldiers who died at Montgomery White Sulphur Springs in Ellett Valley, 1861-1865.

Christiansburg (Industrial) Institute, earlier known as the Christiansburg Normal Industrial Institute, located near the present Christiansburg High School on North Franklin or U.S. 460, at the junction of the railroad tracks. This site was originally the Lattimer Mill, and a large plantation house sat on the hill overlooking the Pennsylvania Dutch barn, one of the two buildings still standing from this educational center. The facilities of this school far exceeded any available to the white children of the vicinity.

Christiansburg (Industrial) Institute was founded by Captain Charles S. Schaeffer, an agent of the Freedmens Bureau, to be a private school for the education of primary age Negro children. The school began in 1866, but the two story red brick building was not constructed until sometime later. The early curriculum of the school emphasized academic and religious training. In 1896, when the school had reached a low point, Booker T. Washington was asked to come to Christiansburg to take over the supervision of the Institute. Over the next several years, the curriculum under Dr. Washington's leadership changed from a classical orientation to a technical and industrial format. With this change, the Christiansburg Institute continued to operate successfully for over 100 years. During the years between 1934 and 1966, the school was leased by the Montgomery County School Board and was a semi-private institution for the local Negro children. The school doors closed in 1966.

PALMER'S MARKET

This building housed the last old time "Mom & Pop" grocery store in Christiansburg at the time of its closing, May 11, 1972. The late Dr. A.M. Showalter began his medical practice here around the turn of the present century. His son, the late Dr. Joe Showalter, was born in this building. Built in 1885, this building has been accepted as a Historic Landmark by the State of Virginia.

C. LAWRENCE AND SON GENERAL STORE

Established in the early 1870's, it served the Riner area as a country store, hardware, dry goods and general merchandise store until 1939. (Picture circa 1890)

By the early 1900's, Christiansburg had taken on many of the functions of a regional center with a bank, newspaper, Temperance Hall and photographer located there. Christiansburg Depot, one mile north of the Public Square, was established on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad in 1854. In 1906, the depot community was incorporated as Cambria and constituted the third largest town in the county. Considerable growth occurred between Christiansburg and Cambria around the turn of the century.

Above is a view of Christiansburg's West Main Street as taken from the old courthouse clock tower. The three‑story building at the right housed the G.B. Bruce store, City Drug and Bane Brothers Co. The next building was Thompson‑Hagan Drug Co. next to the Dunlap Millinery. The building at the left is the old Waddell Drug Store. A storehouse that stood on this site was used by the Confederates during the Lost Cause for a storehouse and commissary and was destroyed by the Yankees when they invaded Christiansburg.

First National Bank was chartered on June 17, 1905, and opened for business on February 5, 1906. The bank staff consisted of two people, C.R. Colhoun, Cashier, and G.W. Walters, Assistant Cashier.

Postcards were used as advertisement for many businesses.

DAY ON THE SQUARE 1905

In the early 1900's, livestock were driven to market down the Main Street of Christiansburg. In the above photo, swine are being herded past a feed store, livery and general hardware store, later known as The Evans and Flanagan Feed & Hardware Store, which was on the present day site of First National Bank. Below, sheep are being driven across the railroad tracks in downtown Cambria.

Early in the 1900's, the Virginia Anthracite Coal and Railway Company built a branch line from Blacksburg to Christiansburg about nine miles in length. In 1911, the line was purchased by the

Norfolk and Western and became an integral part of that line in 1913. The Blacksburg branch's chief duty was to carry the V.P.I. cadets. They nicknamed it the "Huckleberry," saying the train was so slow they could get off, eat the huckleberries which grew along the tracks, then overtake the train by running to catch it.

Houchin's Telegraph Office located two miles east of the Christiansburg Norfolk & Western Railroad Station. Shown in this 1890 photograph is Operator, H.L. Parrish, standing left to ht: Foreman Pannell, Mr. Lucado, unknown, Hatch Jones, Mr. Barnett, unknown.

Workers finish up another day as they dig out the Price Tunnelin Merrimac to bring the railroad to the area. One of the main purposes of building the railroad was the exploiting of the anthracite coal mines at Merrimac and other points in the county, but the anthracite coal mines were soon closed down. The Norfolk and Western merged this railway with its great system to provide rail transportaion to and from the college town of Blacksburg.

The more than one hundred years of building, growth and operation of the present Norfolk and Western system has given employment and careers to generations of Montgomery County citizens. Entire families, from father to son to grandson, have been handed the art and adventure of railroading.

The Aaron Graham Grocery and Wagon Lot, on the present site of Sherman's, was the gathering place for farmers, drummers, etc. who traveled to Christiansburg by wagon and camped overnight. Residents of the Floyd area would camp the first night at Camp Creek on present Route 615 between Floyd and the second night at the wagon lot shown here before making the two-day trip to Floyd. The building at the left was the Grocery Company, later known as the Harkrader Produce Co., and is no longer standing. Below is another Graham Store located at the corner of Main and Hickok Streets. (Circa 1900)

In 1885, Booker T. Washington was called to supervise CII, Christiansburg Industrial Institute. Under his guidance, the school programs improved greatly and many buildings were erected over the next ten years. Washington is shown above dedicating CII. Doctor Edgar A. Long, (shown at left) the second principal of CII, served as principal from 1906 until 1924. During his earlier tenure, he served as the school's treasurer and operated a printing press. The Christiansburg Institute's Alumni Association has a scholarship in his memory to help students further their education.

LEE HISTORIC HIGHWAY COMPLETED IN CHRISTIANSBURG

The occasion of the first completed interstate highway in America was celebrated in Christiansburg on November 17, 1926, when the last link had been hard-surfaced. Crowds of over 200,000 came from nearby states and counties to join in the festivities. The main speaker was Governor-elect Harry F. Byrd. Christiansburg people flag-draped buildings and decorated the entire town to emphasize the landmark in the history of highway building. The road had been part of a 150 year-old, well-traveled trail used by buffalo, Indians, white settlers, and even Daniel Boone. On November 27, 1926, the Pamunkey Indian Chief of West Point, Virginia, some of his tribe, officials of Norfolk and Western Railroad and authorities of Appalachian Electric Power Company walked down the highway built by the Roberts Contracting Company. Other commemorations of the event included the marble block on the Public Square of Christiansburg from people of Tennessee celebrating the "last unfinished gap of the Lee Highway" and a painting in the lobby of the Town Post Office showing the road in pioneer days.

The 1930's proved to be trying times for the area with the Great Depression creating much concern. At one point, merger of the two town banks was rumored; however, this action never materialized. By the end of the decade, the economy improved, and it was at this point First National initially decided to remodel and update its facilities. Renovation was rather expensive, including the installation of a permanent vault to replace the ball-type safe which had been previously used. At this time, the staff had grown to six employees, with the first female employee having been hired to work in the Bookkeeping Department.

Early form of Mass Transit for the Area. Irvin Martin and Leonard Craighead provided transportation to and from Radford Ammunition Plant for workers from Check, Pilot and Christiansburg.

A view in 1947 from the hillside behind a home built in 1943 on South Franklin Street.

This picture shows an early version of "tract housing," containing only a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath; these three-room houses lined Pepper Street in the 1940's. With little or no front lawn, you could step off the porch onto the street.

Pictured above is Roberts Motel, which was designed, built and operated by Lawrence L. Roberts in 1941. Located on old Rt. 11, it attracted many tourists, as it was the first of its kind built in Southwestern Virginia. It presently houses a dentist's office, beauty parlor, therapist, architect, survey company, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Supreme Court of Technical Assistance.

Mrs. Roberts, who presently lives next door, recalls one of the most distinguished guests in the early life of the motel--Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With The Wind. Members of the Motel Staff were: David Boyle, Holmes McGuire, Lettie Jones, Johnny Fliggins, Flora Hohnes, Verna Mae Holmes, Nathan Holmes, Sr., Ruby Roberts, Nathan Holmes, Jr., Weeta Ridinger, Juanita Nolley.

West Main Street (Circa 1940's)

Early in 1947, three men, Hugh Edwards, Weldon Hall and Paul Hall, recognized the need to provide emergency care to the sick and injured in the Christiansburg/Cambria area. On May 29, 1947, a meeting was called in the Council Room of the Christiansburg Municipal Building for the purpose of organizing a Life Saving and First Aid Crew.

The first set of officers was elected as follows: J. Cullen Murray, Captain; Hugh Edwards, Secretary; Frank Robinson, First Lt; Clyde King, Second Lt; Edwin Chrisman, Sgt; Frank Lawrence, Treasurer.

Christiansburg Rescue Squad (Circa 1950)

Scott Weaver, Clifford Costigan, Grover Nixon, Hubert Home, Curtis Covey, Dean Croy, Hugh Edwards, Ed Chrisman, Captain Cullen Murray, Fred Akers, Marvin Jones, Jack Brillhart, Dan Jennings, Sheryl Starr, Ivan Chandler, Dude Griffith, Ray Crews.

Christmas Parade 1947/48--Hugh Edwards driving, Clifford Costigan passenger, Fred Lee Akers riding on back. In the background is Vance Hardware, which is now First National Bank.

APPALACHIAN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY

The crew of Appalachian Power pulled wire by hand to provide electrical service to Christiansburg and the remainder of Montgomery County as well as Floyd County. Braving all types of weather, snow, sleet, bitter cold and electrical storms, they worked to repair failures caused by nature. Appalachian rented part of the Municipal Building until their new building on Roanoke Street was erected in June, 1966.

Pictured in this 1947 photo are (left-right): Bill Gilmore, L.C. Angle, Jack Kidcl, Eston Lawrence, "Red" Turman, Line Supervisor Parker Jones, Bradie Kidd, E.C. Jones, Frank Cecil, "Mut" Byrd, Edmond Martin, Trubbie Lindenbooth, Wayne Ruble, Raymond Proffit, Joe Custer,Ivan Jones. On the front of the truck are: Harley Bower and Jimmy Cox.

East Main Street home of the Brown Drug Store and American Finance. Shown on the left side of the street is the Hall Brothers Building (built in 1910), present site of the Bicentennial Headquarters and the Taylor Building which currently houses G & H Appliance. On the corner is the old St. Paul United Methodist Church which was torn down and replaced by the present courthouse.

Pictured are the Palace Theatre (circa 1950) and the town of Christiansburg, showing Leggett and Dixon Jewelers on the right side of the street and Cromer Furniture ancl Rose's on the left side.

Christiansburg Fire Department Members (Circa 1955)

(1-r) Bill Martin, Jimmy Kitts, Jimmy Blount, Clarence Chafin, Joe Custer, O.A. Richardson, Perry Harkrader, Claude Johnson, Joe Williams, A.A. Hawkins, Sid Akers, Chief C.Fred Blount, Billy Van Weeks, Harold Akers, Dillard Stone, Jack Turner, Jack Kidd, Robert Altizer, Paul Hall, Quinn Slusher, Sam Richardson, F.L. Harris, Dutch Spangler, Kenneth"Jack"Frost.

At left is the Downtown fire station (Circa 1955). Shown are the 1930 American la France 500 GPM pumper with 200-gallon booster tank, 1942 Ford Oren 500 GPM county pumper with 500-gallon tank, Town of Christiansburg #2,1941 Dodge Oren 500 GPM pumper with 400-gallon tank and Town of Christiansburg #3, 250 GPM pumper with 250-gallon tank.

MAJOR FIRES OF CHRISTIANSBURG 1941-66

1941-Givens'Apartment House, August 28 on Park Street

1942-Shelton-Walters Store

1947-Cambria Bank, Post Office, Mick or Mack, Bane Coal & Oil

1954-Roses' 5&10, Cavalier Furniture, Main Street

1956-City Market, Royal Cafe, Smith & Jones, Jennings Barber Shop, Interiors by Richard.

1957-Simmons Shoe Shop, Blue Moon Lunch, Jennings Barber Shop

1959-Three buildings, Main Street, Cambria

1962-Railway Car with Radioactive Material

1962-Upper floors, Mensh Building, Main Street

1963-Christiansburg Garment Co. A $1 million dollar loss--largest in our history.

CHRISTIANSBURG HIGH SCHOOL

Shown is Christiansburg High School built on the site of the Montgomery Female Academy now the Christiansburg Middle School located on College Street. This building served as the high school 1936-1974.

THE CHRISTIANSBURG LIVESTOCK MARKET (Circa 1960)

The Christiansburg Livestock Market provided a place for local farmers to sell all types of livestock and fresh produce. Each Thursday a sale was held and farmers from Montgomery and surrounding counties gathered to sell and enjoy each other's company.

CAMBRIA 1964

In 1964, Cambria, having lost most of its tax-paying enterprises, proposed and was accepted for annexation to Christiansburg as North Christiansburg. Cambria, with paved streets, and its own water and sewage systems, had a population of about 1,200 and 275 dwelling units. It also had an elementary school, Weller Baker, and four churches with active memberships.

CAMBRIA TOWN COUNCIL, August 1964.

This picture depicts the final meeting of the Town of Cambria at which time the merger with Christiansburg was complete. Front row: (l-r) Frank Rush, Kirk Hungate, Earl Palmer, Joe Shelton Back row: (l-r) Robert Showalter, James Collins, Glenn Stone.

THE FIRE OF 1956

A fire in 1956 destroyed businesses on East Main Street. The City Market, Royal Cafe, Smith & Jones, Jennings Barber Shop and Interiors by Richard were involved in the fire.

On September 2, 1957, a special passenger train made its way along the Huckleberry Line, triple-headed by three Norfolk & Western Class M "Mastodons," the same class of locomotive that served the Huckleberry.

Engineer R.A. Jewell takes the old Huckleberry between Christiansburg and Blacksburg on a sunny fall day.

Christiansburg Passenger Station

S. B. Morgan meets travelers at the train. Passenger service ended at the Christiansburg Station in May 1978.

Farewell Parade: No. 475 is "right proud" of herself on this particular day, August 1957. With brass bands circling her boiler shell, an oil burning headlight, diamond stack above her smoke box, her drivers well silvered, and a polished flag stick atop her cow-catcher, she has a right to be proud of all the work of railroad men in the Roanoke Shops of the Norfolk & Western, who deplored the abandonment of steam locomotives.

Ed King completes his last report on the final run of the Huckleberry between Christiansburg and Blacksburg.

The Huckleberry takes on another tanker of water before making the final run on August 9, 1958.

Pictured above is the Southern Dairies Plant, located just off Roanoke Street, which currently houses Southern States. The Sealtest manufacturing plant opened in 1940 and operated until September 1969.

Shown is an aerial photo taken in 1964 of the Christiansburg High School, its extension, and the Christiansburg Elementary School. The football field was located behind the high school building.

For many years, elementary grades five through seven were taught at the Grammar Grade School Building on East Main Street which in the early 1900's was the Christiansburg High School.

Due to the "Baby Boomers," the increase in the number of children entering the school system showed a need for additional classrooms. In December 1953, the elementary school moved from the overcrowded building on East Main Street to the new building on Radford and College Streets. Also in 1953, the eighth grade was added to the school system.

The new Christiansburg Elementary School consisted of 14 classrooms, a library, an office and teachers' lounge. The seating capacity was 400 with three rooms each for grades four through seven. The High School, now the Christiansburg Middle School, accommodated grades eight through twelve with a cafeteria shared by both the elementary and high school students.