Rockbridge Historical Society

Tag: 18th century history

  • Free Public Program: The Kerrs Creek Raids: Life & Death on the Rockbridge Frontier

    Free Public Program: The Kerrs Creek Raids: Life & Death on the Rockbridge Frontier

    Kerrs Creek Raids event poster

    The Rockbridge Historical Society will host a free public program titled “The Kerrs Creek Raids: Life & Death on the Rockbridge Frontier,” on Sunday, March 30, 2:00 PM, at New Monmouth Presbyterian Church. 

    A slideshow presentation will re-visit the deadly attacks of 1759 and 1763 in western Rockbridge County.  It provides new contexts for their relationship to shifting patterns of local colonial settlement, and the accelerating conflicts between European and indigenous empires, a decade and a half before Rockbridge was founded during the Revolutionary War.  The program concludes with an overview and tour of a neighboring cemetery, where some of those involved and their descendants were buried, now the site of a growing restoration project.  

    The News-Gazette feature on the program and histories is available online.

  • 250th Anniversary: Jefferson Buys the Natural Bridge

    250th Anniversary: Jefferson Buys the Natural Bridge

    Friday, July 5, 11 AM – 4 PM
    Natural Bridge State Park


    On Friday, July 5, join RHS at Natural Bridge State Park to celebrate a very special 250th Anniversary: commemorating Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of The Natural Bridge from King George III, that same day in 1774. 


    11:00 AM ceremonies under the Bridge spotlight local history, and the perspectives of leading state officials.  After a 4th-of-July-style cookout lunch by Cedar Creek, you can choose from an afternoon menu of related presentations on histories of Jefferson and Conservation; Artistic Depictions, and Tourism at the Bridge.

    For the day’s full program, click HERE. For the News-Gazette feature and related backstories, click HERE.

  • Remarkable Rockbridge

    Remarkable Rockbridge

    Charles Bodie has written a popular narrative of the county’s history to replace the 1920 account by Oren J. Morton. He has brought us up to date! Bodie’s materials range from public records to private correspondence, and include business ledgers, diaries, yearbooks, newspapers, and other primary sources.

    This is a fresh and comprehensive account of our county, starting with the Native American presence and moving through the early land grants, town settlements, the spread of schools, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the coming of railroads, highways, and other important events of the twentieth century. The book also contains numerous illustrations, footnotes, and a generous index.