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.

Buchanan's Swinging Bridge

The pictures below are of the swinging bridge in Buchanan. The bridge is used for foot traffic and crosses the James River.

It has an interesting history.

This is the only such structure to cross the James River.  The bridge was initially constructed as a toll bridge by the Buchanan Turnpike Company. The toll was a nickel per person, wagon, or animal.


The bridge is 366 feet long. Some parts of the bridge, most notably the rock piers, date back to 1851, and Civil War troops used it to cross the river.





The bridge, then a covered bridge, was burned in 1864 by General John McCausland in an effort to keep  Union troops from using the bridge to cross into Buchanan to burn parts of it during Hunter's Raid.




After the Civil War, the bridge was rebuilt, but a flood washed it away in 1877. The bridge subsequently has been replaced several times, finally becoming a pedestrian bridge in 1938.

The bridge is featured on the Town of Buchanan's official seal.

The Botetourt County Courthouse

Botetourt County's Courthouse reopened in 1975 following a devastating fire in 1970. A story about the fire, along with a picture of the old courthouse and a photo of the courthouse burning, may be viewed here.

The county's records, fortunately, were in a fire-safe room-sized vault, and saved. As a result of this fire, the Virginia General Assembly in 1975 passed the Virginia Records Act, which mandates microfilming and otherwise archiving records so that they may be stored at a second site, the Library of Virginia in Richmond, for safekeeping.

The county's courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Courthouse was rebuilt in the Greek Revival style, and this courthouse and the one before it are thought to follow plans initially created by Thomas Jefferson, though this is has not been proven to everyone's satisfaction.

The original log courthouse was built in 1772 before being replaced around 1848 by the brick courthouse that burned.

This is the courtroom as seen from the balcony. Note that the jury is seated around the judge's bench, and thus the defendants must face the jury when they are in the stand, which is the space at the far lower right of the photo.

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.

1910

"A force of men is busily engaged installing the large crusher at the Catawba mines of the Cooper Silica and Glass Co." - The Roanoke Times, February 1, 2010, in "Your Community."

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"

1909

"The Breckinridge home, one of the most attractive and one of the most costly homes in Botetourt County, was entirely destroyed by fire Sunday morning." - The Roanoke Times, October 26, 2009, "Looking Back"

The Breckinridge family settled in Botetourt County prior to the American Revolution. Members of the family fought in the Revolutionary War and served in the Virginia House of Delegates and in the United States Congress. Their home was called "Grove Hill."

See The Political Graveyard for a synopsis of information.

See Wikipedia for a profile of James Breckinridge.

See Google Books for exerpts of Lucy Breckinridge: Diary of a Young Girl, published by University of South Carolina Press.