Browse Items (27 total)

Touted as the largest and most magnificent exposition of all time, the New York World’s Fair opened at Flushing Meadows in April 1939. In the Court of States, one exhibition was strikingly different from the rest: the Virginia Room, “an island of…

In 1716, by order from Lord Fairfax, Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood led an expedition over the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley. Spotswood traveled with a group of gentlemen, servants, American Indians, and rangers over the Blue…

Alexander Spotswood served from 1710 to 1722 as lieutenant governor of Virginia, in the place of the royal governor who never came to the colony. During his tenure, Spotswood sought to improve the colony's security and economy and relations with…

The English established Jamestown or Fort James as it was also known, in 1607. Soon after their arrival, the English began to claim that the land belonged to them as the Virginia Indian tribes did not state in explicit terms that they owned the land.…

Touted as the largest and most magnificent exposition of all time, the New York World’s Fair opened at Flushing Meadows in April 1939. In the Court of States, one exhibition was strikingly different from the rest: the Virginia Room, “an island of…

The photograph, taken in 1939, is one of the monuments that stands in Charlottesville, Virginia and is dedicated to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Virginia natives Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, led an expedition to explore the unknown…

In rural areas across the state local stores, such as the Pocahontas Colliery Store in Tazewell County, were often the centers of centers of commerce and provided meeting places for community residents. In the 19th Century, stores in these rural…

The War of 1812 is often called the “Second War of Independence '' as it was the first large-scale battle fought in America as a newly formed nation. Great Britain was at war with France and their conflict spilled over into America and Canada. The…

Salem, Virginia is an independent city within the boundaries of Roanoke County. The first known European exploration of the area occurred in 1671. Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam gave the area its first recorded name: Totero Town, after the local…

Long associated with coal mining, Southwest Virginia has an impressive list of other industries including farming, salt production, timber, and the mining of lead, copper, gypsum, and iron. These industries played a role in the region being given the…