Highland
Historical Society
Highland County, VA
Est. 1847
Settled ca. 1745
P.O. Box 63
McDowell, VA 24458
Phone:
540-396-HIST(4478)
The Highland County Historical Society offers the following historic documents for purchase. All orders must be mailed with payment enclosed. Click to the right to download an order form in either Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format.
- 1847 Thomas Campbell Map
- Map Set of the Battle of McDowell
- Civil War Artist Bradley Schmehl's Painting: "Reconnaissance At McDowell"
1847 Thomas Campbell Map
Thomas Campbell composed the first map ever made of Highland County, Virginia, soon after the new county was formed in 1847. In October of that year, Campbell, the new Surveyor of Highland County, with William McClintic, Jr., Surveyor of Bath County, and Jacob F. Johnson, Surveyor of Pendleton County, took the metes and bounds of Highland.
In 1998, Clay Hamilton, a Life Member of the Highland Historical Society, found the original map hanging in a back room in the courthouse in Monterey. Poorly framed, in four pieces held together with everyday adhesive tape and stained with age, the map was in sad condition. The Highland Historical Society undertook the task of financing and overseeing the restoration of this historic map. The restoration was successfully completed under the direction of Mr. Hamilton, and the restored map was presented to the county in 1999.
Limited edition, numbered prints of the map have been printed and are offered for sale by the Society. The prints measure appoximately 30" x 30" and may be purchased for $15.00 plus $3.75 shipping, handling, and sales tax.
Map Set of the Battle of McDowell
The Highland Historical Society is pleased to offer map sets of The Battle of McDowell. The maps are portable, in full color, and large scale. They use simple graphics, divide the battle into phases, and show the terrain both the way it was in 1862 and the way it is today. UTM grid lines are also used, so a GPS receiver can be employed on a terrain walk. Many Civil War maps try to show too much detail. These maps reduce this problem with several techniques. One is to use a larger scale. The battle is depicted in phases in order to show the units and their movements without too much clutter.
Standard map terrain symbols and colors are used. Hills are depicted as contour lines. Military symbols are limited to common Civil War era graphics. Units are depicted down to the regimental level. The UTM grid system is superimposed over the map. Current landmarks also appear on the map as an aid to orientation. Scale is 1:24,000.
The map set consists of four 8-1/2" x 11" paper maps, an overlay, matrix and outline, military terms.
Price: $8.00 plus $2.90 shipping, handling, and sales tax.
Civil War Artist Bradley Schmehl's Painting:
"Reconnaissance
At McDowell"
In 1999, the well-known Civil War artist Bradley Schmehl began a new series of paintings. The series focuses on General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's brilliant Shenandoah Valley Campaign, and the first painting of the series is — most appropriately — of the first battle in that campaign: The Battle of McDowell.
"RECONNAISSANCE AT MCDOWELL" shows Jackson and Jedediah Hotchkiss, his cartographer, and some of Jackson's staff near the summit of Sitlington Hill before the battle. Hotchkiss is showing the general some of the features of the rugged landscape that his troops will defend in the battle to come.
The Highland Historical Society is proud to offer for sale numbered, limited edition ARTIST PROOF prints of this magnificent painting. In a special collaboration with the artist, 1/2 of the sale price will go to the Highland Museum and Heritage Center.
Price: $225.00 plus $11.25 sales tax and postage; postage will be billed by the Society after delivery.
In Search of A Porch: Final Report on Salvage Excavations at The Mansion House by C. Mike Wilke
In mid-May of 2004 while attending a building committee meeting of the Highland Historical Society focusing upon restoration of the Mansion House in McDowell, discussions ensued on restoration of the original porch on the building. I asked the architectural consultant if he was certain that the porch pictured in an 1880 photo was in fact the original. He responded that he was not and I was given permission to initiate a salvage excavation of the porch area before the backhoe arrived to remove the footers that had held the last brick/concrete porch structure. This report describes the excavation and conclusions that were formulated both preliminary and final.
Price: $7.00 plus $3.35 shipping, handling, and sales tax.
Quarterly Bulletin of the Archeological Society of Virginia - June 2005 Volume 60, Number 2
This limited supply journal includes the published version of In Search of A Porch as well as Archaeological Investigations at Fort Loudon by Robert Jolley.
Price: $10.00 plus $3.50 shipping, handling, and sales tax.
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