Fincastle Bluegrass Festival, 1965

Fincastle was home to the very first multi-day bluegrass festival, way back in 1965.

Here is a youtube video showing some of it:



And here's a write-up about in Banjo Newsletter.

Places on the National Historic Register

Botetourt County is full of history and historic places. At one time the county stretched to the Mississippi River and up into Wisconsin. It's not so large today but we have many historical structures on the National Register of Historic Places.

Here are 13 of them.

The Phoenix Bridge

1. The Phoenix Bridge. This is a truss bridge near Eagle Rock.

2. Greenfield. Currently (2015) a major source of controversy in the county as the property was purchase by government officials 20 years ago. They want to move the historic structures to build a shell building in hopes that some big company will come in.



Botetourt Courthouse Steeple

3. Fincastle Historic District. The entire town of Fincastle is mostly a historic district. The town was established as the county seat in 1770. Fires took out a few blocks but many old buildings still exist in the town, including a number of historic churches.



4. Breckinridge Mill. An historic grist mill that no longer works. It has been turned into apartment complexes but the structure is still intact.

5. Bessemer. This is an archeological site of prehistoric Native Americans. The site was first discovered during road construction.

6. Buchanan Historic District. While not quite as old of an incorporated town as Fincastle, Buchanan has been around a long time. It was originally known as Pattonsburg and because of its location along the James River was an active port town. It was also a site of Civil War activity.

7. Lauderdale is a huge home located outside of Buchanan. It has been undergoing restoration for a number of years.

8. Santillane is a historic home located just outside of Fincastle. It was constructed around 1835. The family who originally owned it was the Hancocks, and daughter Julia married William Clark (of Lewis & Clark fame).


Santillane


9. Wheatland Manor. This historic home is located between Fincastle and Buchanan.

10. Wiloma. Another historic home located near Fincastle, constructed in 1848.

11. Nininger's Mill. This is also known as Tinker Mill. The grist mill was originally constructed about 1847.

12. Greyledge. Located near Buchanan, the original structure was built around 1842.

13. Bryan McDonald House. This is one of the older homes in the Troutville area. It was built in 1766.

You can find more listed at this Wiki article.

Fincastle Today - October 27, 2013

Botetourt County Courthouse

The Old Jail

Courthouse Complex (as it is currently called)

Botetourt Museum

Old District Court Building

Remnants of the Hayth Hotel, now rental property

Fencing at the Courthouse

A look down Roanoke Street

This view shows four of the seven steeples of Fincastle, from left: The Methodist Church, the Courthouse, the former Baptist Church, and the Presbyterian Church.

Fincastle Presbyterian Church. Parts of this structure are thought to date back to 1813, if not earlier.

The Botetourt County Courthouse stands out above the rooftops.

The steeple of the Fincastle United Methodist Church.

The Town of Fincastle, on the night of December 15, 2011.

Christmas lights on the Voter Registrar building.

Christmas lights on Main Street.

Fincastle Methodist Church

The town from the Godwin Cemetery.

Fincastle Presbyterian Church from Godwin Cemetery.

The Courthouse from Godwin Cemetery.

Another shot of the town from Godwin Cemetery.

The Botetourt County Museum

The Botetourt County Museum is located in Fincastle in what is called "Courthouse Square," at the rear of the courthouse. The building used to be a law office, and one room is set up to resemble that. The structure also was part of a hotel complex at one point.

Botetourt County was created in 1770 from Augusta County. It was named for Norbourne Berkley, Lord Botetourt, who was a beloved governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770. As you can see from the photo of the map above, at one time the county went all the way to the Mississippi, taking in Kentucky to the south and going as far north as a little piece of Wisconsin. People who lived far away were excused from jury duty, by the way.

The museum has many period pieces from prominent families. Displays include housewares, toys, clothing, and utensils, among other things.

This is difficult to see because of reflections, but this houses what is believed to be the original bell from the first courthouse. The county has had at least three different courthouses. In 1970, the courthouse burned but the records were saved because they were inside a massive room-sized fireproof vault. The courthouse was rebuilt from plans that are said to have originated with Thomas Jefferson, though no one is 100 percent certain of this.

As a piece of trivia, my husband's father fought the courthouse fire as he was a volunteer fireman at the time.

Speaking of relatives, this coffee grinder belonged to Philip Firebaugh, who is my husband's great, great, great, great grandfather. Philip Firebaugh came to Botetourt in 1818, allegedly with saddlebags full of gold, and purchased property known today as Stonelea (or the old Philip Firebaugh place if you're an old timer). It is no longer in the family.

This is a portrait of James Breckinridge. Breckinridge was a lawyer and statesman, and the museum is located in what used to be his law office. Breckinridge also fought in the American Revolution. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates and in Congress. He assisted Jefferson with the construction of the University of Virginia. He owned a vast amount of property, which was and still is called "Grove Hill."

One of his descendants, Lucy Breckinridge, lived at Grove Hill and kept a diary during the Civil War, which is sort of famous. I've read it and it's quite an interesting look at life during those turbulent times. The book is for sale at the museum.

1909-1910

"The first snow of the season fell Christmas day. It was not a first-class snowfall, but it was sufficient to cover the streets [of Fincastle] by night and to make the trees resemble the Chistmas of days that old and young delight to recall." - The Roanoke Times, December 28, 2009, in "Your Community"

1785. BOTETOURT SEMINARY: BOTETOURT COUNTY.

The following information came from The Beginnings of Public Education in Virginia, 1776 - 1860, by A. J. Morrison, Issued by the State Board of Education as a Report Introductory to the Series of Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1917.

Quote:

An act incorporating trustees for establishing and conducting a seminary of learning, at the town of Fincastle, in the county of Botetourt:

"Whereas it is the interest of all wise, civilized and free govern'* ments, to facilitate as much as may be, the diffusion of useful knowledge among its inhabitants: And whereas to this end sundry persons of the county of Botetourt have given considerable donations, for the purpose of endowing and supporting a seminary of learning, at the town of Fin- castle, in the said county, and have represented to this present general assembly, that their designs would be much accelerated were a law to pass incorporating them into a body
politic, etc., etc.

The said president, wardens, and directors, or any seven of them, shall have full power and authority to meet at such times as they shall think proper, and determine in all cases where a greater number of poor and indigent apply for admissioa than the funds ean support, (to whom the preference shall be given) and to continue those so admitted for
such length of time as they, or a majority of them, shall think necessary, having regard to
the genius and capacity of the students, and of directing the study of such to any branch of
.literature, to which in their opinion the genius of the student is best adapted. . . . The
treasurer, previous to his entering on the duties of his office, shall give bond, with security
to be approved by the corporation, in the penalty of three thousand pounds.'1

This act of incorporation was amended and re-enacted in 182*4, provision being made for
a new board of trustees (as if the institution hact lapsed); the powers of the new board were the same as those of the old. Botetourt Seminary, as planned was an institution of extraordinary designs.

Martin's Gazetteer gives the town of Fincastle an academy in 1834. This may or may not
have been the seminary, for in their first report to the second auditor, the trustees of the
seminary state that the institution "opened in May 1837," with forty students, the Rev. Thomas Brown, principal, and that there were fifty to sixty students in sight. This report may be taken to mean that Botetourt seminary had been closed for some years before 1837. The next report of the trustees gives the seminary fifty students, a principal and assistant, supported by the tuition fees, plus an appropriation of $500. Apparently the
guaranteed salary was from endowment. In their report for the year 1841, the trustees give the number of pupils as fifty-seven. Major Joseph W. Anderson (b. 1836), was a pupil at Botetourt seminary about 1845: "When not yet ten years old, he was sent to the Botetourt seminary, then under the charge of a graudate of the Virginia Military Institute."

It is regretted that more information is not to be had regarding this interesting foundation.*

In 1838 the James River Academy, Botetourt county, was incorporated.

Hening, Statutes at Large, XII, 201.
Acts of Assembly, 1824, p. 75.
Martin, Gazetteer of Virginia, p. 328.
Doc. No. 4, in Journal and Documents, 1839, 1841-42, 1842-43.
Johnson, The University Memorial, Baltimore, 1871, p. 3S3.

Fincastle

Fincastle is Botetourt County’s oldest incorporated town, and the smallest. It has about 350 people.

The current Fincastle Town Hall was built in the early 1990s. The town has a water and sewer system.

The town’s total budget, including utilities, is about $450,000. The town residents have the highest per capita income of Botetourt County’s three towns, at $19,954. There are 142 total housing units in the town, and 62.4 percent of the citizens are in the labor force. These folks travel 22.2 minutes to their jobs.

The town was originally called Miller’s Mill, then Fincastle, in 1772. In 1794 the town changed its name to Monroe, but that didn’t stick. The town incorporated in 1821.

The town is the county seat of Botetourt and houses the Botetourt County Courthouse and a multitude of historic records. Many of the historic structures are listed on the National Register.

Thirty-six Confederate soldiers are buried at Fincastle Presbyterian Church and a walking tour of this quaint town is available, guided or unguided, through Historic Fincastle, Inc.

Wysong Blacksmith Shop

Blacksmiths were very important and necessary folk during the colonization of America. They were needed to make iron tools, like plowshares, so the hard work of planting and building structures could be completed. Farriers were smiths who specialized in shoeing horses. But smiths not only shod horses, they created springs and wheel parts for carriages, made nails, pots, pans, and other utensils. The work was done with a hammer and anvil, using iron heated in a fire kept hot by hand-operated bellows. Without blacksmiths to work iron, the settlers could not have moved west as quickly as they did. Today, mass production methods have all but eliminated most work done by blacksmiths.

The Wysong Blacksmith Shop

The smell of molten metal and the hiss of fire in water do not echo on Fincastle’s Main Street anymore, but visitors can see the efforts of blacksmiths of old in the Ludwig Wysong Blacksmith Shop museum at Wysong Park. ...

The museum was dedicated in 1978, a gift to Historic Fincastle, Inc. (HFI) from two brothers: Rufus and Dr. H. D. Wysong. During the 1970s, while researching family history, they became interested in the old shop. It was the last remaining smithy in town, and they purchased it and restored it as a tribute to Fiedt Wysong, their ancestor.



The Wysong brothers partnered with HFI to reconstruct the sagging building. Wysongs from all over the United States donated money, and HFI provided additional funding to help acquire the lot, which is now called the Ludwig Wysong Memorial Park, in honor of Fiedt Wysong’s father....

Fiedt Wysong (1755-1837) was an early Fincastle settler who owned many properties in town. The museum may not have been his shop – there were several in the area and no one knows which was his. But the current building was a working smithy until 1932. ...

... Today, one room of the museum contains benches and furniture, and is called the Wysong Meeting Room. ...


Information courtesy of Fincastle Historian Dottie Kessler and Historic Fincastle, Inc. Original article appeared in The Fincastle Herald in 2004.