Events

Sunday, Dec. 20, 2:00 PM Zoom Link: RHS Annual Meeting Click HERE And Show your Support with a Year-End Gift to RHS

Rockbridge Museums: What do We Have?; What do We Do?; Why do We Matter? Launching Kendal’s Year-Long Series:     “Knowing Rockbridge” Panelists: Keith Gibson, VMILynn Rainville, W&LEric Wilson, RHS Wednesday, Jan. 15, 3:00 Kendal HallFREE, Reception to Follow There are many museums in our Rockbridge area: five clustered in downtown Lexington alone, not counting its range of art galleries, and school and church archives.  All tell the story of our area in different ways.  Each month in 2020, as part of a series titled “Knowing Rockbridge: Connecting the History and Culture of our Home,” Kendal at Lexington will host talks…

Join RHS on St. Patrick’s Day for this free, family-friendly, interactive walking tour in downtown Lexington, focused on Rockbridge women who impacted local and national histories across the 18th-21th centuries. Tour begins and ends at RHS’ Museum where you can see many artifacts relevant to these specific lives, in the heart of Women’s History Month. The dozen women chosen for the tour draw from four centuries of local history.  They range from the first white female settler in 18th century Rockbridge, to women who survived frontier violence and the 1864 Civil War attack and occupation of Lexington.  They constellate 20th…

“The Color of War”: RHS Film Series Honors WWI and Black History Month   Tues., Feb. 19, 5:30- 7:00 PM Rockbridge Regional Library, Lexington Piovano Room On Feb. 19, the Rockbridge Historical Society kicks off a four-month film series: continuing its centennial commemorations of World War I To illuminate local, national, and international perspectives, scenes from PBS’ new documentary, THE GREAT WAR, will spotlight the experience of African-American soldiers serving in France, along with social divisions on the homefront still marked by Jim Crow, and the drive for Women’s Suffrage. For local immediacy, artifacts and images will be on hand…

The Characters and the Character of Arnold’s Valley Stephen D. Beck, outgoing president of the Rockbridge Historical Society, will present RHS’ final quarterly program of the year, titled “The Characters and the Character of Arnold’s Valley.” Held at 2:30 PM on Sunday, December 2, in the gymnasium at Natural Bridge Elementary School, this illustrated slideshow is free and open to all, with plenty of accessible seating and parking. Refreshments and fellowship will close the afternoon, along with a chance to browse historic displays and purchase RHS publications and maps for the gift-giving season. President Beck’s farewell presentation will be rich…

On Saturday, Oct. 20, 11 AM – 2 PM, join RHS at our Campbell House Museum and Historic Gardens as we again host the Living History groups “The Ladies for The Union” and “The Officers for the Union,” to partner with Stonewall Jackson House on Apple Day festivities. Inside, you’ll have a chance to talk with costumed, first-person interpreters as they demonstrate mid-19th century textile crafts, hand-produced to support wounded and sick soldiers during the Civil War. Their tools and techniques include bobbin-made fancy lace, piecework quilting, and use of an authentic 1865 single-thread sewing machine invented by Rockbridge County’s…

Sunday, October 21, 2:30 PM FREE RHS Program Vesuvius Baptist Church (Rte 56)   Local Historian and former RHS Officer Dick Halseth will steam us ‘down the track’ through the historic developments of Vesuvius, on the northern edge of Rockbridge County. His illustrated slideshow will explore the area’s early industrial growth in the early 1800s, the impact of the vital rail line that ran through the town and County by the end of the century, and some of the community rhythms, and local curiosities, that have made this village a distinctive center for two centuries and counting. Learn more about…

July 20, 2018 6:00 PM RHS Garden On Friday, July 20, 6:00 PM, the Rockbridge Area Master Gardeners Association and the Rockbridge Historical Society will partner for an educational, interactive demonstration of the new “Healing Garden,” behind RHS headquarters at 101 E. Washington Street. Along with its unique historical and horticultural content, this program on “Healing, Herbs, and History” also offers information for people interest in learning more about volunteer opportunities with RAMGA, or with RHS’ own Gardens Team. Though some of these herbs go by different names today (not to mention their pharmaceutical adaptations), the domestic plot offers a…

June 17, 2:30 PM, Mt. View Elementary School FREE Rockbridge Historical Society Program Join RHS on Father’s Day to explore some of Rockbridge’s “Lost Histories: South River from Marlbrook to Old Buena Vista.”  RHS Programs Chair Reed Belden will share a slideshow presentation tracking four centuries of settlement, economic development, and social evolution in this often-overlooked area of our County. For a fitting opening and overview, Belden will survey the 14 small schoolhouses that were eventually consolidated into Mt. View School itself.  He’ll then turn back to the ‘first families’ of the mid-18th century who would settle the waterways, forests,…

Presenter: Gene Sullivan Sun. April 8, 2:30 PM, Effinger Firehouse, Collierstown The first RHS Quarterly Program of 2018 will continue highlighting the small towns and villages that were so integral to Rockbridge County’s history.  Presenter Gene Sullivan will direct attentions to Rapp’s Mill, a small village in southern Rockbridge that saw tremendous growth and became one of the focal points for community life during the mid-1800s.  The first colonial settlers in what would become southern Rockbridge County began purchasing plots of land to farm in the mid-18th century.  By 1768, a church had already been established that would help anchor…

Presenter: Eric Wilson, Executive Director, RHS Saturday, March 17, 1:00 PM Natural Bridge State Park Visitor Center Co-Sponsored by the Rockbridge Historical Society National Park Service Natural Bridge State Park   FREE Presentation, and FREE Admission to the Park   Click HERE  to view the 100 presentation slides, or related documentary VIDEO on Rockbridge Flags.   Flanked by the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies, and long traversed by the Great Valley Road, the natural and social histories of Rockbridge have evolved with its agricultural and cultural growth, and through its conflicts.An illustrated slideshow will survey the natural resources and social patterns that have…

The Rockbridge History Bee buzzes back into action, Saturday, February 10, 2018 The Rockbridge Historical Society welcomes our whole community to Buena Vista to follow along with the questions on local history, as area high school students compete to demonstrate their year’s study of Remarkable Rockbridge.  The book is available in school and public libraries or for purchase HERE. Saturday, February 10, 2018 Ramsey Center: Buena Vista, VA With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy’s TV show pitting 5th graders against adults:    “Are You Smarter than a High Schooler??” Join us at this busy “Hive of History” in Buena Vista, as…

Dr. Lynn Rainville (Sweet Briar College) Sunday, November 5, 2017 2:00 Slideshow Lecture, Lee Chapel 3:30 Exhibit, Curators’ Talk, Reception, Leyburn Library During the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into WW1, and week before Veterans’ Day/ Remembrance Day, the Rockbridge Historical Society and Washington and Lee’s Special Collections Library will turn attentions to the local and statewide impact of the Great War, and the range of memorial legacies it brought. Dr. Lynn Rainville’s slideshow presentation draws on her research as one of the leading experts in this field.  She will also be showing images from the groundbreaking website she’s…

Presented by Anne McClung On September 10, 2017 the Rockbridge Historical Society will sponsor another one of its popular programs in which the county’s smaller localities are researched, explored, and brought to life. In recent months, talks and slide shows on House Mountain, Denmark, Buena Natural Bridge Station and Collierstown have illuminated what these areas were like in their heyday. As we continue to explore other themes and patterns that mark Rockbridge history more broadly, we are glad to keep spotlighting the neighborhoods and local networks that have long dotted our county. Next up: a look at our western-most portion…

Presentation by RHS President Stephen D. Beck April 2, 2017 at Natural Bridge Elementary School Fried Green Tomatoes? The Whistle Stop Café?? If you’re interested in a touch of that era, and that type of a small crossroads town, come explore “The Heyday of Natural Bridge Station”: the Rockbridge Historical Society’s first quarterly program of 2017. RHS President Stephen D. Beck will share a slideshow presentation, built on over two years’ research and local ‘crowdsourcing’ that illuminates the vitality of Natural Bridge Station in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including some of its neighboring communities like Twin Cities…

RHS and First Baptist Church partner for Black History Month Feb. 18, 2017 As part of Black History Month, the Rockbridge Historical Society presents a free, narrated walking tour on Sat. Feb.18, honoring a range of African-American residents who left their mark on local history over the course of the 18th-20th centuries. Led by RHS Executive Director Eric Wilson, the hour’s tour welcomes all ages, including schoolchildren. Departing the public library at 4PM, the tour makes stops along the Main St. trail of historic street pavers to highlight some of the black lives that mattered to their contemporaries, and whose stories still resonate with…

RHS’ April 2016 Program will revisit the terrain surrounding House Mountain, a clear draw for December’s record-breaking audience for “The Haunts of House Mountain.” The afternoon presentation will cover the period from Denmark’s beginning in 1800 to the closure of its last commercial business in the early 20th Century.  Accompanied by historic artifacts and a map of the community, a slideshow and remarks will be based on the Teaford Papers, a chronology of life in that period left to us by Cleopatra Hartbarger (1894-1979) and her daughter Seatta Hartbarger Teaford (1918-2012) . The program will be presented by Reed Belden,…

RHS Members’ Tour, Saturday, January 30, 2016 1:00-4:30 p.m., Roanoke Museums Building on the success of our December tours, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Robert E. Lee’s leadership as President of Washington College, RHS now looks to extend our reach further afield: arranging a field trip to see two photographic and multimedia exhibits in downtown Roanoke, at the History Museum of Western Virginia, and the Taubman Museum of Art.  The staffs of these partner institutions have kindly offered to welcome our group to the complementary shows at these flagship regional museums.  We are not number-limited for this event, but RSVPs…

December 13, 2015 House Mountain Inn After September’s journeys to Rockbridge County’s southerly namesake at Natural Bridge, RHS turns this December to another local landmark in a joint presentation by Sarah Clayton and Jennifer Law Young that will center on the communities nestled around House Mountain. Though the Bridge’s majestic span may be the signature for outsiders, the icon for many local residents is the familiar profile of House Mountain (indeed, its double profiles, for those here who know its twin ridges). The December program will provide a visual and narrative tour of the histories, hollows, and homes that surround…

Sep. 20, 2015 Natural Bridge Historic Hotel, Washington Hall The Rockbridge Historical Society’s next program will feature a double bill of eminent speakers on the afternoon of Sunday, September 20, chronicling the history of Visitor Experience at Natural Bridge. Entitled “Four Centuries of Visiting Natural Bridge: From Jefferson’s Family to Tourism Today,” the program will meet, fittingly, at the Historic Natural Bridge Hotel in its newly renovated Washington Hall.  A reception will follow the 3 PM slideshow presentation, with both free and open to the public. Extending from the visual focus of our “Images of the Rock Bridge” exhibit (still running at…

Talk by Dr. Neely Young Monday June 8, 2015 First Baptist Church, Lexington, 130 N. Main On Monday June 8th, at Lexington’s First Baptist Church, the Rockbridge Historical Society welcomes you to its second program of the year, free and open to the public. A 6:30 social hour reception will be followed by a 7:30 presentation by Dr. Neely Young: RHS Board Member, and author of Ripe for Emancipation: Rockbridge and Southern Antislavery from Revolution to Civil War. The talk and following discussion will center on some of the local histories connected to the national and international developments in early…

Special Master Gardeners’ tours and new interpretive brochures of RHS’ historic gardens, stonework, and landscape architecture at Campbell House, The Castle, and Sloan House will be held from 10-5 on Saturday. Campbell House will also welcome visitors with extended hours from 10-4 for tours of our permanent collections and Natural Bridge exhibit. Other featured events by RHS and our partners include presentations by The House on Fuller St (drawn the 2012 HLF/RHS Exhibit, Dialogue with Diamond Hill) Dr. Beverly Tucker, President, Historic Lexington Foundation: 10 AM, First Baptist Church, 103 N. Main Street A History of Main Street Lexington Eric…