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 […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]