Places To Visit

Rebel Hall was built about 1848 for Dr. James H. Minor, a prominent surgeon and farmer in the Town of Orange. The two-story brick house is one of a handful of antebellum dwellings surviving in the town and the only one executed in the Greek Revival s... Read More

Although antebellum Halifax County was dotted with small farm complexes, the area also saw the establishment of vast plantations with architecturally sophisticated houses. John R. Edmunds, owner of 1,110 acres on Birch Creek, was able to build an Ita... Read More

Exhibition Opening at the Torggler Fine Arts Center... Read More

The United States of America’s story starts well before 1776 right here in Northampton County. Don’t be fooled by the beautiful idyllic landscape on this isolated peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay. These roads, bu... Read More

The Reynolds Homestead, also known as Rock Spring Plantation, is a slave plantation turned historical site. First developed in 1814 by slaveowner Abram Reynolds, it was the primary home of R.J. Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company a... Read More

Dating back to the late 1700's, Historic Rice's Hotel/Hughlett's Tavern is located in Heathsville's Historic District behind the Old Northumberland Courthouse. Working artisan guilds on-site include the Blacksmiths in the Forge and the Woodworkers... Read More

Renowned frontier soldier and Revolutionary War hero General Andrew Lewis lived on his estate Richfield. The house, destroyed by fire in the 1820s, was between the Civic Center and the Roanoke River. His original grave site was a few blocks to the so... Read More

The center of Confederate manufacturing fueled a modern war, one of the South's largest hospitals gave care to the sick and wounded, and armies battled on open fields and in miles of defensive earthworks. From 1861 to 1865, Richmond's fate would dete... Read More

The Ringgold Rail Trail is a 5.5 mile walking and biking trail that follows part of the right-of-way of the old railroad of the same name. Currently, about 2 miles of the trail is open to the public; the rest of the trail was rendered unusable by Tro... Read More

Rippon Lodge is one of the oldest known homes in Prince William County. The home provides a vital connection and opportunity to interpret our community's link to Colonial Virginia. The site's story includes important people, events and times in Pr... Read More

Built by George Washington's youngest brother Charles around 1760 as his home, this frame building became a tavern in 1792 when it was purchased by the Wallace family. It operated for 35 years as a stopover for travelers in the bustling port town of... Read More

The Virginia Room holds the library's special collection of historical and genealogical research resources. We comprehensively collect materials for the Roanoke Valley and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Virginia Room has the most extensive holding... Read More

Roaring Run Recreational Area is in Botetourt County, 8 miles northwest of Eagle Rock. Roaring Run Furnace is a 19th century iron furnace on National Register of Historic Places. Informational signs explain the turn of the century furnace operation. ... Read More

Col. Robert Preston (1750-1833) acquired 720 acres here in the 1780s and established Walnut Grove. Preston had emigrated from Ireland in 1773 and worked as assistant surveyor under his relative William Preston, who laid out vast areas of western Virg... Read More

Holly Knoll is the historic home of Dr. Robert Russa Moton in Gloucester, Virginia. The home was used after Dr. Moton retired from his position as President of Tuskegee Institute. Dr. Moton invited many dignitaries to his home, both black and white... Read More