HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/14/2026 - Citizen Comments - Ann Rogers - Handouts7/14/26, 11:27 AM Yahoo Mail -Addendum : Documents shared in today's meeti ng of Roanoke County Board of S upe rvis ors
Addendum: Documents shared in today's meeting of Roanoke County Board of Supervisors
From : Ann M Rogers (amelvin3@verizon.net)
To: bos@roanokecountyva.gov
Cc: graceterry09@gmail.com; jchand4845@aol.com
Date : Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 11 :25 AM EDT
Addendum to: Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, Clerk to the Board's Office
From: Ann Rogers, Section 106 Coordinator, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
This morning I received a phone call from Bent Mountain resident, Kathy Chandler, informing me that the Swann
Alternative 4 site is located within the Bent Mountain Apple Orchard Rural Historic District.
Attached please see documentation of the eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places of the Bent
Mounta in Apple Orchard Rural Historic District , including:
1. Pulice final PIF 5-24-17
2. Bent Mountain Orchard Rural Historic District as of 11-3-18 (VI 1C'<-f )
3. Ki rchen to FERG announcing Bent Mounta in Orchard RHO 11-8-17
4. Addendum to PIF Apple Orchard RHO 9-13-17 (document too large to attach to email, please access via th is link-->
httRs ://aRR-box.com/s/o!Yjy..§jx7 clldm2P-£11 gn9khm2fbmm6s4
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and our chapter organization , Preserve Bent Mountain have made the
commitment to work together to seek the following :
--MVP, LLC's recognition that the Swann Compressor Station Alternative Site 4 is located inside the Bent Mountain
Apple Orchard Rural Historic District
--registration of both the Coles-Terry Rural Historic District and the Bent Mountain Apple Orchard Rural Historic District
on the National Register of Historic Places
--support from the Roanoke County Board of Supervisor in our effort to obtain MVP, LLC's recognition that Swann
Compressor Station Alternative Site 4 is located within the bounds of the Bent Mounta in Apple Orchard Rural Histor ic
District , which has been found eligible for listing of the National Register of Historic Places .
I look forward to presenting this information at today's board meeting.
Thank you,
Ann Rogers
Section 106 Coordinator
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
540-312 -3104 (Ann's cell)
On Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 08:49 :52 AM EDT, Ann M Rogers <amelvin3@verizon.net> wrote :
TO : Ro anoke County Bo ard of Supervisors , Clerk to the Board's Office
FROM : Ann Rogers , Sec ti on 106 Coordinator , Blue Ridge Environmental
Defense League
I will be making a presentation at t o day's meeting o f the Roan o ke
Co unty Board of Supervisors_ In my presentation, I will be sharing the
documents listed below (attached and linked):
1 . Preli mi nary Information Form (PIF) for the Coles -T erry Rural
Historic District on Bent Mountain (September, 2012 )
2. Map of Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
about:blank 1/2
7/14/26 , 11 :2 7AM Yahoo Mail -Addendum : Documents shared in today's meeting of Roanoke County Board of Superv is ors
3. Letter from James Hare , Director, Survey and Register Division,
Virginia Department of Historic Resources, recognizing the Coles-Terry
Rural Historic District as eligible for listing on the National
Register of Historic Places (September, 2016)
4. National Register of Historic Places Form for Coles-Terry Rural
Historic District, prepared by SEARCH for Mountain Valley Pipeline,
LLC (November, 2019)
5. Letter from Roger Kirchen, Director, Review and Compliance
Division, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, approving the
National Register of Historic Places nomination of the Coles-Terry
Rural Historic District, as prepared by SEARCH (March, 2020)
6. MVP Boost Alternatives Study, which indicates (see chart on page
10-8) that Swann Alternative 4, located inside the Coles-Terry Rural
Historic District, is not "within 0.5 mile of NRHP Historic District"
(October, 2025). Please note: the document size prevented attachment
to this email message. Please access the document at-->
h:t..t_ps:/laR~,box.com/s/6w42llcqi:.Q.lP-illlgxwul6b948n2gm.5.Qll
In my presentation to the Board this afternoon, I will be announcing
plans to complete the nomination of the Coles-Terry Rural Historic
District to the National Register of Historic Places.
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and our chapter organization,
Preserve Bent Mountain, will be communicating with Mountain Valley
Pipeline , LLC regarding the historic status of the Coles-Terry Rural
Historic District as the basis for eliminating Site 4, located on Bent
Mountain, from among the alternative sites being considered for their
proposed compressor station .
We would be extraordinarily appreciative of the support of the Roanoke
County Board of Supervisors in our efforts to obtain MVP,LLC's
recognition of the eligibility for listing on the National Register of
Historic Places of the Coles-Terry Rural Historic District, within
which is located Swann Compressor Station Alternative Site 4.
Thank you,
Ann Rogers
Section 106 Coordinator
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
(540) 312-3104 (Ann's cell)
about:blank
Bent Mountain Orchard Rural Historic District as of 11-3-18.pdf
355.4 kB
Pulice final PIF 5-24-17 080-5731_BentMtn_Orchard_RHD_2017 _plF .doc
112.5 kB
Ki rchen to FERC announcing Bent Mountain Orchard RHD 11-8-17.pdf
135 .7 kB
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Molly Joseph Ward
Se cretary of Natural Resources
November 8, 2017
Mr. Paul Friedman
COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23221
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street NE, Room IA
Washington, DC 20426
Re: Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC -Docket No . CP 16-10-000
DHR File No. 2014-1194
Dear Mr. Friedman:
Julie V. Langan
Director
Tel: (804) 367-2323
Fax: (804) 367-2391
www.dhr.virgini a.gov
As a follow up to our November 3, 2017 comments on the effect of the referenced undertaking on historic
properties, the Department of Historic Resources (DHR), which serves as the Virginia State Historic
Preservation Office (SHPO), provides below further guidance to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) regarding the identification of historic properties and assessment of effects.
As noted in our earlier comments, DHR's National Register Evaluation Committee has determined that the
proposed Bent Mountain Orchard Rural Historic District (OHR ID #080-5731) is eligible for listing in the
National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The Bent Mountain Orchard Rural Historic District is located
within the boundaries of the previously-identified Bent Mountain Rural Historic District (DHR ID #080-
5677). It is our recommendation that the FERC individually recognize this new district as an historic
property and, as with the Bent Mountain RHD, find that the Bent Mountain Orchard RHD will be adversely
affected by this undertaking. While the overlap of the Bent Mountain, Bent Mountain Orchard, and Coles
Terry rural historic districts reflect the need for further refinement of district boundaries, based on the
available information, it is our opinion that each of these districts has unique characteristics that warrant
individual recognition.
DHR further recommends that the adverse effects to the Bent Mountain, Bent Mountain Orchard, and Coles
Terry rural historic districts be addressed as follows. We support the preparation of nominations to the
NRHP for the Bent Mountain Orchard RHD and Coles-Terry RHD and the preparation of a Preliminary
Information Form (PIP), which is a precursor to a NRHP nomination in Virginia, for the Bent Mountain
RHD. The PJF for the Bent Mountain RHD will allow for the refinement of boundaries for the Bent
Mountain Orchard RHD and Coles-Terry RHD while developing the unique historic context for the Bent
Mountain RHD. In our opinion , the level of effort required for this proposed treatment does not surpass that
Western Region Office
962 Kime Lane
Salem , VA24153
Tel: (540) 387-5443
Fax: (540) 387-5446
Northern Region Office
5357 Maio Street
PO Box 519
Stephens City, VA 22655
Tel: ( 540) 868-7029
Fax : (540) 868-7033
Eastern Region Office
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
Tel: (804) 367-2323
Fax: (804) 367-2391
Page 2
November 8, 2017
DHR File No. 2014-1194
which has already been recommended; however, this treatment will recognize the significance of the newly
identified historic property and provide the data important to the future management of these districts .
We look forward to continued consultation on this project. Should you have any questions concerning these
comments , please do not hesitate to contact me at roger.kirchen@dhr.virginia.gov .
Sincerely,
Roger W. Kirchen, Director
Review and Compliance Division
c. Mr. John Eddins, ACHP
Ms. Ann Rogers
Mr. John Centofanti , MVP
Western Region Office
962 Kime Lane
Salem, VA24153
Tel: (540) 387-5443
Fax: (540) 387-5446
Northern Region Office
5357 Main Street
PO Box 519
Stephens City, VA 22655
Tel: (540) 868-7029
Fax: (540) 868-7033
Eastern Region Office
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
Tel: (804) 367-2323
Fax: (804) 367-2391
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORIC RESOURCES
2801 Kensington Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23221
Telephone: (804) 367-2323 Fax: (804) 367-2391
PRELIMINARY INFORMATION FORM
HISTORIC DISTRICT
An historic district is defined as a significant concentration of buildings, structures, or sites that are united historically
and aesthetically by plan or physical development. The following constitutes an application for preliminary
consideration of eligibility for the nomination potential of a historic district for listing in the Virginia Landmarks
Register and the National Register of Historic Places. This does not mean that the district is being nominated to the
registers at this time. Rather, it is being evaluated to determine if it qualifies for such listings . Applicants will be
notified of the staff's and the State Review Board's recommendations.
Co ntact the Virginia Department of Historic Resources Archivist to determine if previous survey material for this
proposed district is on file, and if the district has been previously evaluated by DHR. Obtaining previously recorded
information could save a significant amount of time in preparing this Preliminary Information Form (PIF). The
archivist may be reached by phone at (804) 482-6102, or by email at Ouatro.Hubbard@dhr.virginia.gov . The
archivist will also give you the address of the regional office to which you should send your completed PIF materials.
Please type this form and, if additional space is needed, use 8½" x 11" paper. If an electronic version of this PIF is
availab le, it would be helpful if it could be submitted on a disc, or via email to the archivist. Note: All submitted
materials become the property of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and will not be returned .
Photographs: Please provide at least four (4) color or black-and-white (B&~ photographs of general streetscapes
and four (4) color or B&W photographs showing a sample of individual buildings within the proposed district. The
inclusion of photographs is essential to the completion of this application. Without photographs, the application
cannot be evaluated. Photographs should be labeled on the reverse side in soft pencil or china marker (not with
adhesive labels), and are not to be mounted or affixed in any way.
Digital Images: In addition to the images printed on photographic paper, digital images, if available, should be
submitted in TIF o r JPEG format and can be included on the same disc as the PIF.
Maps: Please include two (2) maps showing the location of the proposed district:
• A copy of a USGS Quad map with name of county/ city printed on the map and with the name of the
proposed district indicating its location (sections of USGS Quadrangle maps can be printed free of charge from
http://store.usgs.gov and hand-labeled to mark property boundaries or location), and
• A map showing a closer picture of the proposed boundaries with street names and/ or routes and possible
building footprints would also be helpful . Please include a "No rth" arrow, date, and "Not to Scale" on this
map.
Before submitting this fo1m, please make sure that you have included the fo llowing:
• Section oflabeled USGS Quadrangle map
• Proposed district boundary map
• 4 labeled color or B&W general photos
• 4 labeled co lor or B&W individual building photos
• Completed Resource Information Sheet, including
o Applicant contact information and signature
o City or county official's contact information
Thank yo u for taking the time to submit this Preliminary Information Form. Your interest in Virginia's historic
resources is helping to provide better stewardship of our cultural past.
Preliminary Information Form
Revised September 20 I 2
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
PIF Resource Information Sheet
This information sheet is designed to provide the Virginia Department of Historic Resources with the necessary data to be able to
evaluate the significance of the proposed district for possible listing in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register
of Historic Places. This is not a formal nomination, but a necessary step in determining whether or not the district could be
considered eligible for listing. Please take the time to fill in as many fields as possible . A greater number of completed fields will
result in a more timely and accurate assessment. Staff assistance is available to answer any questions you have in regards to this
form .
General Property Information
District Name(s):
District or Selected
Building Date(s):
Main District
Streets and/ or
Routes :
Bent Mountain Orchard Rural Historic District
1895 -1972 il;JCirca
Bottom Creek Rd., Mill Creek Rd., Rocky
Rd., Green Hollow Dr., network of dirt and
gravel roads
City:
I DHRID#:
For Staff Use Only
080-5731
Open to the Public? [8J Yes
Zip:
Bent Mountain 24059
County or Ind. City: Roanoke County USGS Quad(s): Bent Mountain
Physical Character of General Surroundings
Acreage : 835 -----Setting (choose one): ~Rural
Site Description Notes/Notable Landscape Features/Streetscapes:
The district is comprised of land surrounding Mill Creek and its feeder springs, headwaters and wetlands. These are the famous
mountaintop wetlands of Bent Mountain, at elevations ranging from 2,500 to 2,650 . The scenic vistas and unusual, lush vegetation
that thrive in and around these springs and wetlands are known for their undisturbed natural beauty. The district contains the 17-
acre King-Waldron apple orchard originally planted in the 1930s with 30 varieties of apples, including the famous Bent Mountain
Pippin, the principal strain of apple responsible for fueling the lucrative orchard industry that thrived on Bent Mountain from
Reconstruction through the 1970s. The district also contains the historic King-Waldron wood frame residence (080-0494) and
farm. Remnants of the 19 th and 20 th century Hale family settlement are found on Green Hollow Drive southeast of the historic
orchard. This area is bisected by a bold stream that forms part of the headwaters of Mill Creek. This lushly vegetated, relatively
low-lying area is used for cattle grazing and contains remnants of a network of earthen and gravel roadways that were an essential
part of the local transportation network during the historic period. The historic Willett Farm contains historic orchard land that
has been converted for use as rangeland for longhorn cattle. The property is watered by a several productive perennial springs
originating near the tops of the slopes, several of which provide water used in farm operations.
See map of the district, including overview and detailed views of the northern, central and southern portions : MAP 1 -Bent
Mountain Apple Orchard RHD
Ownership
Categories: ~Private
General District Information
What were the historical uses of the resources within the proposed district? Example s include: Dwelling, Store, Barn, etc ...
Preliminary Information Form
Revised September 20 12
Historical uses included dwellings , barns , apple orchards , gristmill , sawmill , grocery store , veterinary services , blacksmithing
and ferrier shop, cemeteries , outbuildings for apple processing, fishing , commercial and domestic garden spaces , and transport
of apples from orchards to market.
What are the current uses? (if o ther than the historical
use)
Structures currently serve as dwellings , barns , and outbuildings for
domestic farm and garden activities. The historic road network is
used to provide access to and from current residences. The Waldron
Orchard is under active maintenance.
Architectural style s or elements of
buildings within the propo sed district:
Architects, builders, or original owners
o f buildings within the proposed
district:
Craftsman style
KING-WALDRON HOUSE (080-0494)
The historic dwelling owned by Lois King Waldron (080-0494) was purchased by
her parents from the Monroe Starkey family in 1935 , whom we assume to be the
original owners .
WILLETT (VEST) HOUS E
The house owned by Fred Vest (no VCRIS number has been assigned) was built in
1920 under the ownership of Samuel Willett, who retained it until 1948.
HALE STRUCTURES
The district contains three Hale family structures , including:
(a) William M. Hale homestead remnant -Two -story frame structure with extant
cement front porch, built by (or for) William M . Hale in 1895. William Hale
operated a gristmill and sawmill nearby that were powered by Mill Creek and its
tributary , and was extensively involved in orcharding .
(b) Hale Cabin remnant -remnants of log cabin built in 1919 by Sim Hale , on land
gifted from his father , William M . Hale .
(c) Edith Hale and Bill Hall House -historic frame house of unknown construction
date , built for William M. Hale's daughter, Edith, and her husband Bill.
TAZEWELL PRICE HOUSE (L E S LANDES)
At the southeastern tip of the Bent Mountain Apple Orchard Rural Historic District
is Les Landes (080-0487), the house built in 1870 for Tazewell Price .
Are there any known threats to this district? The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline has been routed through the Bent
Mountain Orchard Rural Historic District. A permanent access road for heavy
equipment for building and maintaining the pipeline has been routed along a
remnant of the historic Bent Mountain Highway and the historic road through
the Hale famil y settlement inside the district. Please see MAP 2 -MVP access
road .
General Description of District: (Please describe building patterns, types , features, and the general architectural quality o f
the proposed district. Include prominent materials and n o tewo rthy building details within the district and a general setting and / or
streetscape description.)
The district includes an array of domestic and agricultural buildings and structures dating to the proposed period of
significance , in various states of preservation. Lois Waldron's two-story weatherboard frame house [080-0494],
which has a standing-seam-metal side-gable main roof, a wrap-around one-story porch, a one-story rear shed
addition, and two-over-two sash windows . The property also features a one-story frame secondary dwelling, a
garage, pole barn, and domestic outbuildings dating to the proposed period of significance.
Th e former Samuel Willett Farm / Orchard property includes a one-story vernacular Craftsman Bungalow
style h o us e built o f brick, with a wrap-around comer porch incorp o rated under the main roof, supported by
Preliminary Information Form
Revised September 20 I 2
bri ck pi e rs. Th e building features a tw o -bay sh e d d ormer in th e fr o nt, w oo d-shingl ed ga bl e end s, and
w ind ows w ith fo ur v ertical lig hts in the upper sash and a single pa n e in th e lower sas h .
The old He n ry H o us e, n ow es se nti ally a band on ed and h eavily ove rgrown, is a sid e-ga bled tw o-story
weath erboarde d frame h o use with an ex terio r end chimn ey o f ha nd-made brick, a sta nding -seam m etal m ai n
roof, an d a o n e-s tory end addition with a sla te-shingle-cl ad gabl e roo f.
The Willia m H ale H o us e, long va cant and abandoned, still stands, alb eit in v ery p oor co nditi o n. It is a tw o
story weath er b oard ed fram e structure with a three -b ay fac,:ad e, two central interio r flue chimneys, a V-crimp
sh eet-m etal -d ad m ai n r oo f, and a co ll ap sed fro nt p o rch roo f.
Significance Statement: Bri e fl y n o t e any significant eve n ts, p erso n ages, a nd / o r famili es asso cia t ed with th e
pro p ose d di strict. It is n o t n ecessary t o attach lengthy articles o r ge n eal ogi es to this form. Pl ea se li st al l
sources o f in fo rm ati o n. No rmally, o nly informa ti on co n tain ed o n this form is forw arded t o th e State R eview
B oard.
KING-WALDRON ORCHARD
The Bent Mountain Apple Orchard Rural Historic District is associated with the apple orchard industry that
emerged on Bent Mountain during Reconstruction. According to current owner, 81-year-old Lois King Waldron ,
the 17-acre orchard was planted by her father , Harry King in 1935 , soon after he purchased the property . King ran a
successful orchard business that was inherited by Lois and her husband Lindbergh Waldron in the 1950s. A 1937
aerial photo shows the Waldron orchard in an early stage of development, which supports Ms . Waldron's
chronology. See current and 1937 aerial photos . Note : The 1937 aerial photo shows the immature apple trees ,
supporting Lois Waldron's claim they were planted in 1936 .
In 1974 , the Lindbergh Waldron Orchard was one among 12 orchards showcased in an advertising brochure
produc ed by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Commerce . (See attached copy of 1974 brochure
advertising Lindberg Waldron Orchard .)
Among the 12 orchard operations whose products were advertised in the brochure , the Lindbergh Waldron Orchard
was one of two located in Bent Mountain . The majority were in the Daleville/Troutville area in Botetourt County ,
which indicate s that the once pioneering Bent Mountain orchard industry had entered a phase of increas ed
competition from nearby growers. Lois King Waldron has a photo of her and Lindbergh selling apples at the
Roanoke City Farmers Market. The photo is dated September, 1985 .
The famil y continued growing and selling apples until Lindbergh's death in 1990. The Lindbergh Waldron
Orchard's continuing successful operation into the mid 1980s allows us to assign a period of historic significance
for the orchard spanning the period from 1895 until 1966 . All 17 acre s planted in apple trees in the 1930s remain in
apple trees today. See 2015 aerial image of Lois Waldron's orchard : MAP 3 -Waldron & Via orchards; and 1963
topographic map showing orchards at both the Waldron and Vest properties : MAP 4 -King-Waldron & Vest
orchards .
This orchard appears to be significant under National Register Criteria A 1 and A2 as described in the 2009 National
Park Service publication , "Fruitful Legacy: A Historic Context of Orchards in the United States , with Technical
Information for Registering Orchards in the National Register of Historic Places ," pages 151-159 . See page 154 for
tabl e showing the application of Criterion A to orchards as three categories. Below we offe r explanation of how the
King Waldron Orchard meets the criterion under categories 1 and 2 .
Criterion A Type of King Waldron Orchard Significance
Significance
Category A 1 The orchard or fruit The King Waldron Orchard played an integral role in the lucrative apple
trees have played production industry that is credited with lifting the Bent Mountain community
an important role in out of crushing economic deprivation immediately following the Civil War,
Preliminary Information Form
Revised September 2012
the history of followed by increasing profitability that continued through the mid-20th
development of an century.
area .
Category A2 The orchard or fruit The King Waldron Orchard contains Bent Mountain Pippin apple trees. The
trees are associated Bent Mountain Pippin was developed by Jordan Woodrum. The following
with a historic narrative appearing in the Works Projects Administration publication
horticultural available in the Virginia Room , "Roanoke: Story of County and City ",
innovation , practice describes Woodrum's profound influence on Bent Mountain's economic
or event. revival after the Civil War .
"On April 1, 1940 there were in the county 153 ,113 apple trees of bearing age
and 28 ,539 trees not of bearing age, and 739 farms reported having harvested
280,402 bushels of apples in 1939 .... All this came about largely because of
Jordan Woodrum ( 1822-1901) who started the growing of apples on Bent
Mountain while his neighbors shook their heads and spoke discouraging
words . Like all successful pioneers , however, Mr. Woodrum soon had reason
to know that imitation is the sincerest flattery . The first man in the county to
grasp the possibilities of the commercialization of apples, Jordan Woodrum
made a scientific study of fruit culture. His experimentation proved to him that
the pippin, because it did not decay quickly, could be exported to great
advantage . Perhaps, too, he capitalized upon Queen Victoria's alleged
preference for the Albemarle pippin above all apples .... Clearly enough
Albemarle soon had a rival , for Queen Victoria liked the Roanoke pippin so
well that she is said to have permitted it to enter England without duty .... In
1907 the Roanoke Chamber of Commerce wrote with enthusiasm: 'The
reputation of apples raised in this immediate locality has become international.
The famous Bent Mountain Pippin is purchased extensively for export trade,
its delicate flavor and fine keeping qualities making it an especially desirable
fruit for long-distance shipment , as well as for home consumption .... The
business yields splendid profits , and promises to eventually become of great
magnitude."'
The King Waldron Orchard appears to embody the seven qualities of integrity as defined by the National Register
of Historic Places, and as adapted for historic orchards on page 179 of "Fruitful Legacy" (cited above), including :
• location : the place where the orchard or fruit trees were sown or planted, and their distribution upon the
land
• design: the combination of elements that create the form , plan , space, structure and style of an orchard or
fruit trees in a horticultural system
• setting: the physical environment of the orchard or fruit trees , including the land forms, rivers or streams ,
naturally-occurring vegetation, climate , elevation , and aspect
• materials : the physical elements that were combined or deposited in a particular pattern or configuration to
form the orchard or fruit trees, including the seedling or grafted plant materials, ground cover plant
materials, stakes , fences , windbreak and ditch materials
• workmanship: the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture of people during the period of
significance, such as cultivation and care of an orchard (propagation, planting, pruning, fertilizing,
irrigating and harvesting) and protection of an orchard (pest control, animal husbandry, staking , fencing ,
and windbreaks)
• feeling: the orchard's expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of the period of significance , evoked by
sounds , smells, and the seasonal rhythm of horticultural activities, productivity and change
• association : the direct link or clear relationship between the important historic event, person or distinctive
characteristics of a period , and an orchard or fruit trees.
SAMUEL WILLETT HOUSE (Currently the Fred Vest House & Farm)
Preliminary Information Form
Revised September 2012
According to George S. Jack's History of Roanoke County (1912), Sam Willett's grandfather is credited with
bringing the first pippin apple trees to Back Creek during the mid-18 th century. According to Jack, "He [Samuel
Willett] is the owner of a fine Bottom Creek Farm, where he engages to some extent in stock raising and
agricultural pursuits. He has planted an orchard of nine hundred pippin apple trees . They are in thrifty condition and
will be extremely valuable in a few years . Mr. Willett is a firm believer in the future of Bent Mountain apples, and
every year he plants additional trees ."
Deeds reveal that Samuel Willett bought the property in 1896 and owned it until 1948 , which dates the 1920
construction of the house to Willett's ownership ; and that an individual named Jack Poff owned the house and
orchard from 1957 until 1969. In a brief autobiographical narrative written in February, 2017, a 63-year-old
resident of Bent Mountain named John Poff reminisces about his uncle , Jack Poff s orchard, "I remember working
at my uncle Jack Poffs apple orchard on Mill Creek Road . Jack Poffs land was fertile and prosperous . His orchard
was able to raise his whole family . Plus it helped support the other pickers in the community giving them a living
wage."
The property is shown as having extensive apple orchards in a 1937 aerial photo (Natural Resources Conservation
Service office , Bonsack, VA): PHOTO 4 -1937 aerial photo of orchards on Vest property .
Fred Hale, a grandson of William M . Hale, owned the property from 1969 to 1972 and reported to preservationists
that he conducted orcharding on the property during those years. A USGS topographic map from 1963 depicts
orchards on the property. See MAP 5 -Vest orchards on 1963 topo map-closeup .
Although the Pippin apple trees planted by Willett and tended by subsequent owners died of natural causes , the
historic house and farm provide an important reminder of the proud orchard industry that spurred significant
e conomic development on Bent Mountain from the end of the Civil War until the mid-to-late 20th century .
WILLIAM HALE SETTLEMENT
The remnants of the Hale family settlement are found along Green Hollow Drive. William M. Hale owned
approximately 300 acres prior to and after the Great Depression and operated a grist mill and saw mill at the place
where the bold stream bisecting Hale Hollow joins with Mill Creek, giving Mill Creek its name. As related by
descendants Jack and Fred Hale , the Hale family migrated to this portion of Virginia from Franklin County in the
18th century , and their grandfather, William M . Hale built a frame house on Green Hollow Drive in 1895 .
See PHOTO 6 -Photo of William M . Hale homeplace , taken in 1922 ; and PHOTO 7 -William M. Hale dwelling
today .
William Hale's gristmill and sawmill played a significant role in the local economy. Said Jack Hale in a 2017
interview describing the sawmill, "Everyone came to Grandfather's mill . He served the Bent Mountain community.
The road to the mill and to get to the old Poff farm or King's , you had to cross Mill Creek. It was a bonafide road!
In those days one would walk over the creek on a foot bridge, or a wagon had a shallow water crossing ." He added,
"The sawmill was very much used. The pile of sawdust was so large -75 feet high -that parents forbade the kids
from playing in it for safety reasons ."
William Hale served the Bent Mountain community as an amateur veterinarian. According to Jack Hale , "He had
outbuildings for livestock, and he would offer to help someone if they had a sick cow or horse . He particularly liked
horses and was good with them. He developed a reputation with the horses ."
Roanoke County deed revealed that William Hale owned as many as 300 acres in the area encompassed by the
district. A deed dated August 24 , 1912 conveyed land owned by Tazewell Price's heir, Cammie T. West, to William
Hale. A quarter acre of the conveyed land contained the graves of Tazewell Price and his wife, and the deed
retained right-of-way for West to visit the graves .
William Hale bequeathed portions of his land holdings to his children , Sim and Edith , who subsequently built
dwellings on the land . Sim Hale's cabin has partially collapsed. Edith Hale's house , which she lived in with her
husband , Bill, is currently occupied and maintained in its historic condition by ne\v owners .
Preliminary Information Form
Revised September 2012
See PHOTO 8 -Sim Hale cabin and PHOTO 9 -Edith Hale dwelling
Said Jack Hale about the orcharding lifestyle of Bent Mountain , 'Toe reason for residing on Bent Mountain was
apple orchards. That's what everybody had . That's what everybody did . There was a special law back in those days
for kids. Everybody was needed to help pick. Picking season started about the time school did so, come September
first, all kids were excused from attending school for the month of September. Of course , we had to make it up in
July but , that's just what you did ."
IDSTORIC ROAD NETWORK
Jack Hale recalled as a boy walking down the old Bent Mountain Highway, which at the time was an unpaved
gravel road , to attend church at the Thompson Memorial Primitive Baptist Church , to attend the Bent Mountain
School , to buy food at the local grocery, and to work apple picking jobs . He described in detail a network of dirt
and gravel roads within the Bent Mountain Apple Orchard Rural Historic District. These old roads , combined with
the historic precursor of U .S . 221 called the Bent Mountain Turnpike , provided the Bent Mountain apple orchard
industry vital access from their isolated rural farms to lucrative markets in Roanoke . All the roads in and around the
district were unpaved and none had formal names except for the Bent Mountain Turnpike and Bottom Creek Road .
Mr. Hale's description of the local road network is corroborated by a 1963 topographic map showing the position of
several unpaved roads inside the district. See MAP 6 -1963 topo map showing network of dirt roads inside district.
Each of these local roads is discussed below .
BUGGY ROAD
According to Lois Waldron's daughter, Inky, the Buggy Road was a dirt and gravel road used to transport apples
from the King Waldron orchard to the Bent Mountain Turnpike , and thence to markets in Roanoke. The Buggy
Road also served the orchard owned by Lois Waldron's grandparents , Joseph and Emma King. See MAP 7 -Buggy
Road -which shows a fork in the alignment where it split to provide access to the two orchards . See also PHOTO
10 -Buggy Road.
CIRCUMNA VI GATOR
The Mill Creek Circumnavigator is a name coined for the purposes of this study for a network of dirt and gravel
roads described in detail by Jack Hale during a visit to the district in 2016 and in subsequent phone calls in 2017 .
On th e basis of Jack's extensively detailed description of the roads , preservationists were able to record with GPS
each historic road alignment. MAP 8 -Circumnavigator shows the location of th e roads contained within the
Circumnavigator . See also PHOTO 11 -Circurnnavigator.
STATE ROAD 205 I BENT MOUNTAIN TURNPIKE
According to Mr . Hale , Green Hollow Drive , located within the district, is the longest surviving gravel segment of
the precursor of U .S. 221, known during the period of historic significance by different names , including State
Route 205, the Bent Mountain Turnpike , and the Roanoke Floyd Highway. A quarter mile-long grass y remnant of
the historic roadway can be seen along the western side of U .S . 221 a little north of the intersection with Green
Hollow Drive , and is included among the historic road alignments designated on our district map with a black
dotted line . See photo of a remnant of the Bent Mountain Turnpike : PHOTO 12 -remnant of Bent Mountain
Turnpike. We have re-drawn the route of the historic Bent Mountain Turnpike by tracing the combined alignments
of U.S . 221 and Green Hollow Drive on a contemporary map : MAP 9 -Simulation of Bent Mountain Turnpike
including Green Hollow .
TAZEWELL PRICE HOUSE
6,000 to 8,000 acres of the tract deeded to General Andrew Lewis by George Washington as a reward for Andrew's
service in Indian wars and the Revolutionary War were purchased from Lewis's heirs by brothers , Tazewell and
Morefield Price . According to Deedie Kagey's history of Roanoke County titled When Past is Prologue (Roanoke
County Sesquicentennial Committee , 1988), Tazewell Price began cultivating his land in 1860. The house that
Price built in 1871 , known as "Les Landes ," is located on the west side of U .S . 221 and is eligible for listing on the
National Register of Historic Places . Les Landes and the structure's beautiful rural historic setting one-half mile
north of the Adney Gap entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway contribute powerfull y to the historic integrity of th e
Bent Mountain Apple Orchard Rural Historic District and to the scenic values of the Bent Mountain community.
Preliminary Information Form
Revised September 2012
Said Jack Hale about the Tazewell Price homestead , "That was one of the most affluent homes on Bent Mountain at
that time . I used to go there to work and do chores for that nice lady, and she would pay me."
CONTRIBUTORS/ SOURCES/ BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bondurant, Roberta.
Ms . Bondurant provided extensive contributions which added significantly to the comprehensiveness and accuracy
of the PIF , including :
• coordination with Fred Vest including deed search and research on history of property ownership and
orcharding thereon
• coordination of interviews with Lois Waldron and her daughter, Inky
• coordination of interviews with Jack and Fred Hale
• invaluable assistance researching historic aerial photographs at Natural Resources Conservation Service ,
Bonsack , VA
• coordination of field investigations and analysis with Kathy Chandler
• photography of Waldron property
• assistance in field expedition identifying historic road network
• access to her detailed knowledge of Bent Mountain , including its residents past and present , structures , road
network , geography, and culture.
Chandl er , Kathy
Ms . Chandler provided extensive service in developing the concepts and narrative on the William Hale settlement
as d escribed in this PIF. Her contributions included :
• serving as liaison with Jack and Fred Hale; arranging preservationists' interviews with them ; conducting
extensive communications with them via phone and mail
• deed search on William Hale land ownership at the Roanoke County Courthouse , Salem, VA
• organizing and leading a field expedition to photograph and mark on GPS the district's historic road
networks
• photography in and around the Hale family settlement, including photos of the historic road network
County of Roanoke , Roanoke , VA.
The County's GIS mapping of the Mountain Valley Pipeline has provided enormous service to preservationists ,
residents , and others who are engaged in analysis of environmental and cultural impacts of the proposed Mountain
Valle y Pipeline. The maps are accessed online at: http ://gisweb.roanokecountyva .gov/pipeline/.
Dameron , Rebecca .
As the owner of the historically significant Tazewell Price dwelling , Ms. Dameron generously shared copies of
historic deeds and other documentation pertaining to the history of her home .
Hale , Jack
During a 2016 visit to the historic Hale family homestead within the proposed district, Mr. Hale provided an
interview with preservationists on the history of his family's involvement in the district and the surrounding regions
of the Bent Mountain community . Afterward , he responded to numerous requests from Kathy Chandler for
additional information and clarification of details. He is credited with bringing the district's historic road network to
the attention of preservationists . He remains a resource for subsequent research.
Preliminary Infonnation F om1
Revised September 2 0 I 2
Jack, George S . History of Roanoke County . 1910 . Virginia Room, Roanoke City Public Library , Roanoke , VA
Kage y, Deedie Dent. When Past is Prologue: A History of Roanoke County . 1988 . Virginia Room , Roanoke City
Public Library, Roanoke , VA
Natural Resources Conservation Service , Bonsack , VA
The Bonsack NRCS maintains a collection of historic aerial photographs of Roanoke County and surrounding
regions . In 2017 , the NRCS provided access to the photos and permission to take pictures of them for the purpose
of our research .
Poff, John . 'The Bent Mountain Men ." Unpublished personal memoir, 2017 .
Vest, Fred .
Mr. Vest responded to numerous requests from preservationists for information on the past ownership of his
property , as well as the historic presence of orchards thereon . In response to a 2017 request from preservationists ,
he conducted research on his property's deeds at the Roanoke County Courthouse , Salem , Va . He has allowed
preservationists access to his property for numerous research trips , and remains a viable resource for future
rese arch .
Virginia Department of Transportation, Salem , VA
VDOT responded to a request for information on the history of U .S . 221 , sharing a 1930 map of Bent Mountain that
pre-date s the construction of U .S . 221 .
Virginia Room
The Roanoke City Public Library's Virginia Room allowed preservationists to view and take pictures of several
historic maps in their collection , including the 1963 USGS topographic series and an 1865 map of Bent Mountain
produced by the Confederate Army. The Virginia Room staff were remarkably prompt , accurate , and thorough in
thei r responses to all requests for assistance.
Waldron , Lois
Ms . Waldron provided two interviews with preservationists during 2016 . She shared family memorabilia and
photographs that contributed greatl y to preservationists' understanding of the history and significance of her
famil y's orchard. In 2015 , she produced and shared with preservationists a handwritten narrative describing her
famil y's orchard business and other facets of life on Bent Mountain during the period of historic significance of the
Bent Mountain Apple Orchard Rural Historic District.
Preliminary Information Form
Revised September 2012
Applicant Information (Indi vidu al compl etin g form)
Ms. Ann R ogers
634 7 Back Cr ee k Road
Boo n es Mill, VA 2406 5
54 0-312-3104
am elvi n3 @veri zon .n et
Date : March 10, 2017
Applicant's Signature : A nN\/ lvf. 'R~~
Notification
In som e circumstances, it m ay b e n ecessary for DHR to confer with or notify loc al o ffi cials of p ro p os ed listings o f pro p erties
within th eir ju risdiction . I n the fo llowing sp ace, please provid e the con tact info rmatio n for the local Coun ty Administrator o r City
Man ager.
Mr. ~ M rs.D Dr. D
Miss D Ms . D H o n.O
Roanoke County
(Locali ty)
Roanoke
(City)
Thomas C. Gates
(Name)
VA 24018
(State) (Zip Code)
Administrator
(Po sitio n)
5204 Bernard Dr.
(Address)
540-772-2004
(Daytim e telephone including area code)
Please use th e fo llowing sp ace to explain wh y you are see king an evaluatio n o f this d is trict.
T o ackn ow ledge, h o n o r, and safekee p r eminders o f the o nc e-p ro ud Bent Mou ntain appl e o rch ard indu stry
and the fe rtile land and hard-wo rking fa mili es w h o m ad e it p oss ibl e . T o p ro tec t the breathtak ingly beautiful
lan d scapes and ch erish ed hi sto ric structures co ntai n ed w ithin th e di strict fr o m b eing a bu se d or d es troyed by
in appro priat e indu stri al d eve lo pm ent.
Would yo u b e interes ted in the Sta te and /o r th e Fed eral Reh abilitation Tax Credits ? Yes D No ~
7/1 4/20 26 11 of 11
0 1000 2000
Data Zoom 13-0
Bent Mountain Apple Orchard Rural Historic District as of November 3, 2018
ADDENDUM -BENT MOUNTAIN APPLE ORCHARD RURAL HISTORIC DISTRICT
This document is provided as an addendum to the Preliminary Information Form for the Bent Mountain
Apple Orchard Rural Historic District (BMAORHD) that was submitted to Virginia Department of Historic
Resources (VDHR) on May 17, 2017. In this addendum, we offer the following new information about
the area within the proposed district:
(1) map showing locations of over 1,000 living apple trees identified to date within the district
(2) locations on map and photos of two large apple barns within district; discussion of our discovery of a
distinct architectural element within the district used for cooling apples without electricity
(3) photos of two apple picking ladders stored at Waldron property; historic photos in collection of Lois
Waldron showing apple ladders in use
(4) photo of apple storage shed at Waldron property; discussion of its non-electric method of apple
cooling that is different from the Vest and Hollyfield apple barns
(S) contemporary photos of Waldron apple orchard and apples from 2017 crop
(6) contemporary aerial photo of Waldron apple orchard
(7) photos of historic farm equipment at Waldron property, illustrating that the orchard and farm
activities conducted inside the BMAORHD during the period of historic significance occurred largely
without the use of internal combustion engines or electricity
(8) map and photos illustrating historic road network that served the orchardists inside the BMAORHD
during the period of historic significance
(9) Native American artifacts at Waldron property
(10) interview with Bent Mountain orchardists.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this addendum. We look forward to your response.
{1} Map of apple trees inside Bent Mountain
Please see Map 1, attached, illustrating the location of apple trees and significant apple-related
structures within the BMAORHD. It is estimated that the Waldron orchard currently contains more than
1,000 apple trees. Other orchard remnants shown on the map include (a) an orchard remnant near the
Argabright house with one remaining very large, old apple tree; (b) several clusters of apple trees that
are remnants of the William Hale orchard; (c) remnants of the Hollyfield orchard in the eastern part of
district; (d) remnants of orchard owned by the Terry family; (e) remnants of orchard owned and
operated by Lois Waldron's grandfather, Harry King, adjacent to the Waldron orchard; and (f) an old
apple tree near the Tazewell Price barn.
The Waldron property owner's daughter, Inky, harvests apples from the Waldron orchard each summer
and sells them at the Salem (VA) Farmers Market as "applesauce apples". She does not prune the trees
but instead, prunes the fruit so that only selected apple specimens grow to mature size.
(2) Map locations and photos of two apple barns within district; our discovery of
a distinct building design element in both barns used for cooling apples without
electricity
Please see Map 1, attached, showing the locations of the Fred Vest apple barn (center of district) and
the Hollyfield apple barn (east and slightly north of the Fred Vest apple barn), both located within the
bounds of the BMAORHD. Our photos below illustrate that, on each structure, there is an air space
between the top of the walls and the roof. This air space allowed hot air to escape to keep the stored
apples as cool as possible during the last weeks of summer following harvest. The photos of the two
Bent Mountain apple barns, below, provide evidence that we have discovered a distinct architectural
design element used by orchardists to keep the apples cool and dry without electricity.
Fred's barn is currently used as a garage in which Fred pursues his hobby of restoring old cars and
trucks. In 1978, Fred replaced the barn's flat roof, which was leaking, with a pitched roof. Other than
replacing the roof, Fred has not made any major changes to the structure's features. It retains its
original cinderblock walls, steel sliding front door, and distinctive wooden ceiling beams with gaps
allowing ventilation where the beams meet the walls.
Fred says that it's always 10 degrees cooler inside his garage than it is outdoors during the summer.
Photo 1: Fred Vest apple barn; there is a ventilation gap between the ceiling beams and the top of the
sliding steel door at the front of the barn
Photo 2 : Fred Vest apple born. Please note the ventilation gap between the ceiling and cinderblock walls.
Photo 3: Fred Vest apple born. The structure hos been unchanged except for replacement of the original
flat roof with a slightly pitched roof.
Photo 4 : Hollyfield apple barn. Note the ventilation gap between top of the wall and ceiling . This barn
has a large sliding front door constructed of steel, similar to that on Fred Vest's apple barn.
Photo 5: Hollyfield apple barn. This photo shows the distinctive ventilation gap between the top of the
wall and the roof.
Photo 6: Hollyfield apple barn, exterior. The ventilation gap between walls and roof is in evidence. As
with the Fred Vest barn, this structure was built of cinderblock and had a flat roof The roof on the
Hollyfield barn is leaking. The structure is built into the side of the hill, so that the back wall is cooled
through contact with the earth.
In the course of searching for ev idence of the apple orchard industry within the BMAORHD,
preservationists have gained awareness of a facet of agricultural life of the late 19th and early 20th
centuries : people got by without electricity. What these barns show is that if the barn walls are built
high enough, unwanted animals and insects do not gain entrance, even though there is a gap between
the walls and the roof as a way to cool the apples and prevent mold formation and decay.
On a car tour with Bent Mountain orchardists on August 20, 2017 (please see item 9 below, Interview
with Orchardists), we obtained a photo of another shed with the distinctive flat roof and air gap
between walls and roof, located on Bottom Creek Road, slightly outside the district. It has been
decorated with a sign that says, "The Wormy Apple". Please see photo, below.
Photo 7: apple shed on Bottom Creek Road, slightly east of the district, with sign, "The Wormy Apple"
(3) Photos of two apple picking ladders stored at Waldron property; historic
photos in collection of Lois Waldron showing apple ladders in use
Another exciting discovery made in the course of conducting research for th is Addendum was that of a
distinct type of ladder used to harvest fruit in apple orchards. There are two known examples of this
type of ladder inside the district, both now stored at the Waldron property. Below we provide a photo
from a 1995 Roanoke Times article about an orchardist in Giles County named Garnet Dawson. The
photo shows the distinctive size and shape of an orchard ladder. It is wider at the base to support the
weight of the climber, and narrower near the tip to allow easy insertion into the fruiting foliage of apple
trees. It is quite a beautiful artifact of the American orchard industry of the late 19th/early 20 th century.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1995
Garnet Dawson,
who has worked on
1he Levering apple
orchard since he
was a boy, knows
every Inch of land,
every tree on
property, says
owner Wanda
Urbanska.
Photo 8: photograph from an article by Mary Bishop published in the Roanoke Times in 1995, titled
"The embodiment of a good man"
Pictured below are two examples of this type of orchard ladder in storage at the Waldron property .
Photo 9 : two apple orchard ladders stored at Waldron property.
Photo 10: Lois Waldron with historic apple ladder #1
Photo 11 : Historic apple ladder #1 at Waldron property; please note distingu ishing size and shape
Photo 12: historic apple ladder #2 at Waldron property; please note distinguishing size and shape
In the photo collection of Lois Waldron, there are two histor ic photos showing hired workers using the
ladders to harvest apples .
Photo 13: Lois Waldron's photo of two apple ladders in use
Photo 14 : Lois Waldron's photo of an apple ladder being used during harvest
(4) Photo of apple storage shed at Waldron property; discussion of its non
electric method of apple cooling that is different from the Vest and Hollyfield
structures
Below please see a photo of an apple storage shed at the Waldron orchard . It was built around a spring
and functioned essentially as a spring house that accommodated bins of apples. This approach to the
structure 's use was corroborated by Lois Wa ldron .
Photo 15: Waldron apple storage shed built around a spring head and used for cooling off the apple crop
in late summer
(5) Photos of Waldron apple orchard and apples from 2017 crop
The Waldron orchard provides a breathtakingly scenic example of a wholly intact remnant of late 19th
century/ early 20t h century non -industrialized apple orchard landscape . We provide photos below .
Photo 16: Waldron orchard
Photo 17: Waldron orchard
Photo 18: Waldron orchard
Photo 19: Waldron orchard
Photo 20: early apple harvest at Waldron orchard. Lois Waldron said that the apples, picked in late July,
would need to be "mellowed " prior to eating or cooking. She said she uses them to make apple
dumplings . Her daughter, Inky, sells the apples at the Salem Farmers Market for applesauce making.
{6) Contemporary aerial photo of Waldron apple orchard
The contemporary aerial photo below (source: Roanoke County GIS} illustrates that the Waldron orchard
is intact as an orchard. Lois Waldron confirmed that the orchard currently contains at least 1,000 living
apple trees.
July 21, 2017 1:5,318
0 0.045 0.09 0.18ml
0 0.05 0.1 0.2 km
Photo 21: contemporary aerial photo of Waldron orchard
(7) Photos of historic farm and orchard equipment at Waldron property,
illustrating that the orchard and farm activities inside the BMAORHD during the
period of historic significance were conducted largely without the use of internal
combustion engines or electricity
Photo 22 : historic farm/orchard equipment at Waldron orchard. Photo courtesy Will Adams, Dancing
Mountain Media
Photo 23 : historic farm/orchard equipment at Waldron orchard. Photo courtesy Will Adams, Dancing
Mountain Media .
Photo 24 : historic farm/orchard equipment at Waldron orchard. Photo courtesy Will Adams, Dancing
Mountain Media.
Photo 25: historic farm/orchard equipment at Waldron orchard. Photo courtesy Will Adams, Dancing
Mountain Media .
Photo 26: historic farm/orchard equipment at Waldron orchard. Photo courtesy Will Adams, Dancing
Mountain Media.
(8) Maps and photos showing historic road network that served the BMAORHD
orchardists during the period of historic significance
The BMAORHD conta i ns an extant network of dirt and grave l roads that were used during the period of
historic significance to support the orchard ists' transportation of apple crops to the nearest apple barn
or market. We found evidence of the road network inside the district in a 1963 USGS topographic map .
~~ .
0 •
·! ~ .::::-.....
. . _____,.
I
~
iThe intersection
of present-day
221 is shown in
th is 1963 map as
part of the
di rt/gravel road
network se rving
he BMAORHD.
Map 2 : 1963 USGS topographic map showing network of unpaved roads serv ing BMAORHD
Lois Waldron has a framed picture of an aerial photo of her property taken in the 1970s. It clearly shows
the dirt "Buggy Road" leading from Bottom Creek Road into the Waldron orchard.
Photo 27: aerial photo showing orchard access road running through Waldron property
Much of the historic orchard access road network remains extant today.
Photo 28: segment of present day Green Hollow Drive
Photo 29: Remnant of "Buggy Road" that was used by Waldron Orchard
Photo 30: entrance to Edith Hale homeplace inside the BMAORHD, which is accessed via the now
gravelled historic road network within the district
(9) Native American artifacts at Waldron property
Lois Waldron has an extensive collection of arrowheads collected on her property during the period of
historic significance .
Photo 31: Native American arrowheads photographed at Waldron property in 2016
(10) Interview with orchardists
On August 20, 2017, preservationists interviewed two individuals who had spent many years working in
the Bent Mountain orchard industry: John Poff, whose personal narrative is quoted in the PIF, and
Bobby Woods. Both men, in their 60s, grew up on Bent Mountain and worked in the orchards during
much of their young adult lives. Here are some interesting facts gleaned from the conversation:
• Smaller apples would be sold for cider making to a cider plant in Winchester, VA. There was also
a cider plant off Starkey Rd. in Roanoke County.
• Jack Poff said that apple orchards were a combination of apple trees and hay fields. Orchardists
used tractors to mow down the hay between rows of apples, he said.
• Bobby Woods confirmed that Jack Poff, former owner of Fred Vest's property, stored apples in
Fred Vest's garage.
• The presence of an old hay wagon and tractor rig add to the district's integrity in light of Mr.
Poff's disclosure that apples were grown in hay fields. Photos of the hay wagon and tractor rig,
both located inside the district, appear below.
Photo 32: Tractor rig with steel wheels
Photo 33 : hay wagon
COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Matt Strickler
Secretary of Natu ral Resources
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23221
March 12 , 2020
Mr . Paul Friedman
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street NE , Room IA
Washington , DC 20426
Re : Mountain Valley Pipeline Project
Revised Final NRHP Nomination for the Coles-Terry Rural Historic District (080-5689)
FERC Docket No. CP16-10-000 ; DHR File No. 2014-1194
Dear Mr. Friedman :
Julie V. Langan
Director
Tel: (804) 367-2323
Fax: (804) 367-2391
wv,rw. dhr. virginia. gov
The Department of Historic Resources (DHR) has received the document referenced above prepared by SEARCH for
Mountain Valley Pipeline , LLC pursuant to Section 4 .2 .8 of the Revised Historic Property Treatment Plan for th e
Bent Mountain Rural Historic District (080-0322), Bent Mountain Apple Orchard Rural Historic District (080-5 731)
and Coles-Terry Rural Historic District (080-5689) (February 2018) . It is our opinion that the final National
Register of Historic Places (NRHP) nomination for the Coles-Terry Rural Historic District (DHR ID #080-5689 )
represents a good-faith effort to address previous comments on the nomination . By this letter we accept this
document as partial fulfillment of approved treatment plan.
According to Section 4 .2.8 of the Treatment Plan , MVP should provide the following :
• Three (3) hard copies and one (1) digital copy (Microsoft® Office Word format) of the completed final
nomination form and all accompanying material (in appropriate formats); and
• Two (2) sets of address labels for all current property owners within the proposed NRHP historic district at
the time of submission for use by the DHR in nomination-related correspondence .
Please work with Mike Pulice (michael.pulice @dhr.virginia .go\") in DHR 's Western Region Preservation Office to
determine what additional materials are necessary and how to prepare the address labels . Should you have any
questions concerning these comments , please contact me at roger .kirchen 'tz),dhr.virginia .gov .
s;ncerely, £
Roge . Kirchen , Director
Review and Compliance Division
c . Ms . Megan Neylon, EQT
Ms. Evelyn M . Tidlow , GAI
Western Region Office
962 Kime Lane
Salem , VA 24153
Tel: (540) 387-5443
Fax: (540) 387-5446
Northern Region Office
5357 Main Street
PO Box 519
Stephens City, VA 22655
Tel: (540) 868-7029
Fax: (540) 868-7033
Eastern Region Office
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
Tel: (804) 367-2323
Fax: (804) 367-2391
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This fo rn1 is for use in nominating or requesting determinati ons for in dividual properti es and districts. See instruction s in National Reg ister
Bulletin , How to Complete the National Register of H istoric Places Registration Form . If any item does not apply to th e property being
documented, ente r "N I A" for "not applicable." For fun ctions, architectural class ifi cation, material s, and areas of signific ance, enter only
categori es and sub cat egories from the instructi ons.
1. Name of Property
Historic name : Coles-Teny Rural Historic District
Other names/site number : Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) ID#: 080-5689
Name of related multiple property listing : _N_/A _________________ _
(Enter "NI A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing)
2. Location
Street & number : Poor Mountain Road, Honeysuckle Road
City or town : ________ State : -'-V-"-A=--------County : Roanoke
Not For Publication : D Vicinity : CK]
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended , I
hereby certify that this nomination I request for determination of eligibility meets the
documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places
and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60 .
In my opinion , the property meets / does not meet the National Register Criteria. I
recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of
significance : national statewide K__ local
Applicable National Register Criteria : LA B C D
Signature of certifying official/Title: Date
State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion , the property _ meets _ does not meet the National Register criteria .
Signature of commenting official: Date
Title: State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government
Sections 1--6 page 1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that this property is :
entered in the National Register ---
---determined eligible for the National Register
---determined not eligible for the National Register
---removed from the National Register
___ other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
(Check as many boxes as app!YJ._,
Private L2fJ
Public -Local
Public -State
Public -Federal
Category of Property
(Check only one box.)
Building(s)
District
Site
Structure
Object
Section s 1-6
D
[KJ
D
D
[KJ
D
D
D
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
Date of Action
page 2
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
Number of Resources within Property
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)
Contributing Noncontributing
23 6 buildings -------
1 3 sites
2 1 structures -------
-------objects
26 Total -------
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National RegisterN --'-/ A _____ _
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
(Enter categories from instructions .)
DOMESTIC, Single Dwelling, Secondary Structure
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE, Agricultural Field, Storage, Agricultural Outbuilding
FUNERARY, Cemetery
GOVERNMENT, Fire Tower
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions .)
DOMESTIC, Single Dwelling, Secondary Structure
AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE, Agricultural Field, Storage, Agricultural Outbuilding
FUNERARY, Cemetery
GOVERNMENT, Fire Tower
Sections 1-6 page 3
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
7. Description
Architectural Classification
(Enter categories from instructions .)
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
LATE 19m & 20m CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS, Bungalow/Craftsman
NO STYLE
OTHER : Log Cabin
OTHER : Fire Tower
Materials: (enter categories from instructions .) ________________ _
Principal exterior materials of the property : _W-'--o..C..o"-d""';~Sc._y'--'-n=t=h--'-et=ic=s=;--"'B'"""n-'-·c"-'k"---________ _
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe
contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable . Begin with a summary paragraph
that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style,
method of construction, setting, size, and significant features . Indicate whether the property has
historic integrity.)
Summary Paragraph
The Coles-Terry Rural Historic District (RHD) (DHR ID #: 080-5689) is a 2,560-acre rural and
agricultural landscape at the slope of Poor Mountain in Bent Mountain, Roanoke County,
Virginia. Its boundaries largely encompass the ancestral and present-day lands of the Terry
family, as well as old apple orchards . The mostly forested RHD starts approximately 0.4 miles
east of the intersection of Poor Mountain Road and Honeysuckle Road in Bent Mountain,
Roanoke County, Virginia, extending 3.25 miles southwest along the crest of Poor Mountain to
the Montgomery County line. It includes the headwaters of Laurel Creek and Bottom Creek,
where they emerge at the foot of Poor Mountain . The Coles-Terry RHD contains a collection of
nineteenth-and twentieth-century farm houses and associated buildings, agricultural fields/apple
orchards, rural cemeteries, and a fire tower, all of which were built or established in response to
the growth of agriculture in the region . The most common building types are vernacular-style
farm houses and associated farm-related outbuildings such as barns, stables, kennels , sheds, and
secondary residences. The historic integrity and physical character of the Coles-Terry RHD
remains largely intact. The Coles-Terry RHD has been subjected to very little intrusion from
outside of the area/period of significance and retains its overall integrity of setting and feeling .
As some resources are still associated with the agricultural industry, they retain integrity of
association . While individual resources have undergone changes, as a whole, the Coles-Terry
RHD still conveys its nineteenth-and twentieth-century agricultural roots .
Sections 7 -8 page 4
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Landscape and Setting
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
The Coles-Terry RHD is located in extreme southwest Roanoke County, which straddles both
the Ridge & Valley and the Blue Ridge provinces of southwestern Virginia. Roanoke County
encompasses 251 square miles, with elevations ranging from 880-3,960 feet above mean sea
level (amsl). Surrounding counties include Montgomery, Craig, Botetourt, Bedford, Franklin,
and Floyd counties. Situated between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and south, and the
Allegheny Mountains to the west, is the Roanoke River valley. This broad and rolling valley
fans out around the headwaters of the Roanoke River, which flows southeast through the
Virginia piedmont before emptying into the Albemarle Sound of North Carolina. The valley is
located at the southern end of the Shenandoah River valley, also known as the Great Valley of
Virginia, which runs roughly north-south through the western part of the state .
The Coles-Terry RHD is located in the vicinity of Bent Mountain, an unincorporated community
located on a broad plateau southwest of the City of Roanoke, at an elevation of approximately
2,700 feet amsl. Bent Mountain is a rural agricultural community composed of farms that
typically consist of a main house and outbuildings, such as barns and sheds, and sometimes small
family cemeteries, surrounded by agricultural fields and woodlands . Bent Mountain Road (US
Route 221) passes in a north-south direction through the community and is lined with many older
homes and roadside businesses.1
Narrative Description
The Coles-Terry RHD is a 2,560-acre rural and agricultural landscape at the foot of the slope of
Poor Mountain in Bent Mountain that encompasses the ancestral and present-day lands of the
Terry family, including old apple orchards . Dominated by forested lands, the RHD starts
approximately 0.4 miles east of the intersection of Poor Mountain Road and Honeysuckle Road,
extending 3.25 miles southwest along the crest of Poor Mountain to the Montgomery County
line . It includes the headwaters of Laurel Creek and Bottom Creek, where they emerge at the
foot of Poor Mountain . Settlement intensified in the early decades of the nineteenth century as
the area's advantageous setting for agriculture became widely recognized. Indeed, agricultural
opportunities afforded by the fertile and relatively level ground of the area were the foundation
for pioneer settlements and, until the late 1960s, continued to greatly influence the lifeways of
the RHD residents . The resources of the RHD are typical of a rural area where agriculture drove
settlement and influenced the built environment: mainly vernacular-style architecture with
various types of secondary buildings, such as barns, sheds, and kennels; associated family
cemeteries; and agricultural fields . The Coles-Terry RHD has been subjected to very little
intrusion from outside of the area/period of significance and retains its overall integrity.
The architectural resources of the Coles-Terry RHD display the early settlement and agricultural
growth of the region, with one resource from ca . 1820 dating to the very early European
American settlement of the area. The majority of the contributing resources are clustered into
family farms along Poor Mountain Road, while the fire tower is accessed by Honeysuckle Road.
1 Ellen Turco, David Price, and Robbie Jones . "Phase I Reconnaissance Architectural Survey for the Mountain
Valley Pipeline , Roanoke County , Virginia (VDHR File #2014 1194)." Richmond, Virginia: Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, 2016.
Sections 7 -8 page 5
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
The most common building types are vernacular-style farm houses and associated farm-related
outbuildings. Four of the six primary residences were constructed during the nineteenth century
from the earliest in ca. 1820 to the latest in ca. 1890. The two twentieth-century primary houses
were constructed in ca. 1900 and ca. 1910. A secondary residence was built in ca . 1930 . Like
the primary residences, the outbuildings/secondary buildings are from both the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries, with the earliest outbuilding dating to ca. 1875 and the most recent
contributing resource dating to ca. 1930. Similar to the houses, the two cemeteries were also
established in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with the first in ca . 1877 and the second in
ca. 1901. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the lone fire tower in ca. 1933.
The Coles-Terry RHO includes a dwelling dating to very early European-American settlement of
the area. The ca. 1820 Janet Wynot House (DHR ID#: 080-5689-0002) at 8701 Poor Mountain
Road was built on a tract of a George Washington land grant and is presently owned by a Terry
descendant. Its builder and original inhabitants are unknown. The Terry family arrived in Bent
Mountain ca. 1835 and acquired the house in the nineteenth century . The Janet Wynot House is
set on a 111-acre property that is located north of Poor Mountain Road, as shown on the 1982
Radford US Geological Survey (USGS) quadrangle map. The farmstead is adjacent to Bottom
Creek near the Roanoke County-Montgomery County boundary and consists of the 1820 private
residence primary resource, with approximately 10 secondary resources that include a ca. 1877
cemetery with 15 graves, a ca. 1930 kennel, machine shed, stable, and shed. A ca. 1990 garage
is also present on the property .
The farmhouse, currently owned by Terry family descendant Janet E . Wynot, is a two-story,
vernacular style central passage house with an asphalt-clad gabled roof.2 The rear (northwest) of
the residence includes a two-story gabled roof addition and multiple one-story shed roof
additions. According to DHR, the house was constructed with heavy timber frame, and the rear
two-story addition and four sheds were built using light timber framing . The exterior of the
building is clad with vinyl siding, and the building sits on a continuous masonry foundation .
Two brick chimneys are located along the interior ridge of the roofline of the residence. The
primary (southeast) favade features a centered two-story projecting bay window with a cross
gabled roof, with the main entrance located on the first story of the projecting bay. A one-story
shed roof porch spans the width of the favade, is supported by square wood columns, and
features a balustrade. Fenestration includes both wood-and metal-sash replacement one-over
one-light windows, both paired and independent, with decorative shutters. The northwest favade
features the two-story gabled addition, with a one-story shed roof addition to the south, and two
one-story shed roof additions to the north . The north favade of the two-story addition also
features a pyramidal addition on the upper story, connecting to the shed roof additions below .
The secondary resources that comprise Terry Place include agricultural and livestock buildings , a
shed, and a non-historic garage . The agricultural and livestock buildings include a pole barn and
wood frame buildings that were constructed ca. 1930. They feature vertical wood siding and
metal-clad gabled roof A shed on the property has a shed roof and vertical wood siding. The
non-historic garage was constructed ca. 1990 and is located to the west of the Janet Wynot
2 The property , particularly the secondary resources , were not accessible during the architectural survey conducted
by SEARCH in July 2018. The description of the Janet E . Wynot farmhouse and Teny-Coles Cemetery rely on
previous survey descriptions available on DHR Cultural Resource Information Sy stem (V-CRlS) and corroborated
with the limited observation from the July 2018 field survey .
Sections 7 -8 page 6
Un ited States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
house . The side-gabled roof garage features vinyl siding, two garage bays , and a one-over-one
light vinyl-sash window in the gable peak.
The farmstead (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0002) was established on a tract of a Washington land
grant, was retained by the Coles-Terry family throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
and became a center of apple farming in Bent Mountain . The ca. 1820 farmhouse and its ca.
1930 associated outbuildings remain on the 111-acre agricultural parcel. John Coles Terry
inherited the property from his parents, Captain Joseph Motley Terry and Elizabeth Coles Terry ,
and operated an apple orchard that was foundational in the area 's apple farming industry in the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He also operated Terry's Sawmill (not extant) on the
property . 3
Another farmstead from the first half of the nineteenth century is the Elijah Henry House (DHR
ID #: 080-5689-0009). The original builder and inhabitants are unknown , but the hom e's
namesake, Elijah Henry , is a late nineteenth-century occupant. Elijah 's parents moved into the
area by 1887 and became one of the principal farmers of the Bent Mountain area, along with the
Coles , Terry , and Woodrum families . Elijah , born in 1877 , remained in the area into the 1940s.
Set on a 3-acre parcel located along Poor Mountain Road north of Bottom Creek, the Elijah
Henry House is a ca . 1840 two-story vernacular side-gabled 1-house.4 The building consists of
V-notched log construction with exterior wood clapboard siding, a metal clad roof, and is on a
continuous . stone foundation . Exterior brick chimneys are located on both gable ends of the
dwelling . The primary southeast-facing fa9ade has three bays with six-over-six-light double
hung windows and features a full-width , one-story shed roof porch. Along with the house are
several outbuildings . Located immediately northwest of the residence is a one-story outbuildin g
with gabled roof and constructed of saddle-notched round logs . In addition , there are two one
story shed buildings on the property . Each building has a shed roof and vertical wood board
siding, while one shed features two open bays and flanking shed-roof additions .
Settlement in the Coles-Terry RHD continued after the Civil War with the Baker House (DHR
ID #: 080-5689-0006) constructed in ca . 1875 . The house is associated with the farmstead and is
located at 8873 Poor Mountain Road . The residence features a side-gabled roof with asphalt
shin gles and wood clapboard siding .5 An incised , open porch with vertical wood board siding is
visible on the east fa9ade and is supported by wood piers . The Baker House is surrounded by the
remainder of an apple orchard and appears in good condition .
Secondary resources associated with the Baker House include two ca. 1875 vernacular barns and
a corncrib , which are considered non-contributing due to loss of integrity . One barn is partiall y
collapsed , and the other barn is in a state of ruin. The partially collapsed barn has a metal-clad
side-gabled roof and vertical wood board siding . Metal sheeting also is used as exterior sidin g
on the gable end . The side fa9ade consists of a sliding barn door centered on the fa9ade . Th e
ruin remains of the other barn indicate it also had a metal-clad side-gabled roof and wood bo ard
sidin g.
3 Turco et al., "Phase I Reconnaissance ."
4 The resource was not visibl e or acc essible by SE ARCH fr om the public right-of-w ay durin g th e July 20 18
architec tura l survey . The fo llow ing description is based upon info rmation and photographs avail able on the V-CRIS
and Turco et al., "Pha se l Reconnai ss ance ."
5 During th e 20 18 survey , the resi dential buildin g was obscured by heavy vegeta ti on an d was only p artially visible.
Sections 7 -8 page 7
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
Families continued to build residences and associated secondary buildings in the Coles-Terry
RHD throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century in response to the agricultural growth
of the region . John Coles Terry and family may have resided in the dwelling at what is now
known as the Grace Terry Moncure Farm (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0004) at 8701 Poor Mountain
Road . The dwelling was built ca . 1890, a period when the Terry family prospered .6 The later
owner, Terry 's daughter Grace Terry Moncure, also came to be the owner of much of his
acreage . The farmhouse has undergone numerous alterations and additions since its original
construction in ca. 1890, reflecting the growing domestic needs of the residents throughout the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries . The building was originally a one-story cross
gabled residence clad with board-and-batten siding . A six-over-six-light single-hung wood-sash
window with functioning shutters is located in the cross-gable dormer. The gabled roof has fish
scale asbestos shingles , and a one-story porch on the east fa9ade has a metal-clad shed roof The
porch was subsequently enclosed and features board-and-batten siding and a ribbon of si x-li ght
paired windows that are located on either side of the centered entrance . The entry consists of a
metal and screen door beneath a metal awning . The cross gable extends to the northwest (rear)
of the farmhouse , with shed roof appendages on the north and south fa9ades .
A one-story gabled addition was constructed of round logs on the south-facing fa9ade of the
farmhouse . This addition features board-and-batten siding in the gable peaks and a six-over-si x
li ght single-hung wood-sash window . Other fenestration on the addition consists of replacement
one-over-one-light vinyl-sash windows .
Around 1920, Grace Terry Moncure built a two-story addition on the north-facing fa9ade of the
farmhouse . This v ernacular-style dwelling addition features a cross-gabled roof that mirrors the
farmhouse . The building has a fish-scale asbestos shingle-covered roof, an exterio r brick
chimney on the east gable end , vinyl siding, and is on a continuous stone foundation . Window s
on this building consist of one-over-one-light vinyl-sash , both paired and independent, and fi x ed
single-light vinyl-sash windows. The northeast fa9ade features a two-story porch with a gabled
roof supported by square columns . The second story of the porch features a wood balustrade .
Extending southeast from the ca. 1920 addition is a ca . 1945 addition . This addition is two
stories with a side-gabled metal roof Exposed rafter tails are visible along the side eaves . Vinyl
siding covers the exterior of the wood frame construction . The southwest fa9ade of this addition
features a large exterior brick chimney , while the northeast fa9ade features a projecting one -and
one-half-story addition . This addition appears to have originally been a one-story shed roof
enclosed porch , but has a subsequent enclosed shed roof addition . Fenestration on the addition
includes one-over-one-light vinyl-sash windows .
A separate building is located northwest of the main farmhouse and served as a second ary
dwelling . This dwelling i s a one-story ca. 1930 Craftsman style building . It features wood
fr ame construction , board-and-batten siding, an asphalt shingle-clad side-gabled roof, and a
continuous brick foundation . Other buildings and structures also ex ist on the Grace T erry
M oncure Farm , including a log barn that was constructed ca. 1875 which predates the prim ary
6 Turco et al., "Phas e T Reconnaissanc e."
Sections 7-8 page 8
United States Department of the Interior
Nat ional Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
house along with a stone wall that was built in ca . 1900 .7 Two non-contributing resources on the
property include the ruins of a ca. 1900 dwelling and an associated shed (DHR ID #: 080-5689-
0003). The log construction dwelling had collapsed by 2015 , and the associated shed was
partiall y collapsed by 2017 . The shed building had a metal covered shed roof
The house at 8566 Poor Mountain Road (DHR ID#: 080-5689-0001) is a one-and-one-half-story
vernacular res idential building constructed in ca. 1900 on a 3-acre parcel. The side-gabled roof
and the roof of the additions are covered with standing seam metal. There is a shed roof addition
on the primary (south) fayade , and a gabled roof ell extends to the north of the building. The
original portion of the building is constructed of square-notched logs with exposed plaster infill
between the logs . The foundation of the original portion of the building is obscured by
vegetation . A brick chimney is located in the center of the roofline of the original portion of the
house . The east and west fayades are identical with wood clapboard above the exposed log
construction in the gables , and a replacement six-over-si x -light single-hung vinyl-sash window
centered on the first story and eave . The replacement windows appear to be within their original
wood surrounds .
The south fayade consists of a shed-roof addition that spans nearly the full width of the fayade .
The addition has board-and-batten siding and a one-over-one-light single-hung vinyl-sash
wi ndow on the east and west fayades . The south fayade of the addition features a single entrance
and a fi x ed 16-light vinyl-sash window to the south of the entrance . The entry consists of a
wood panel door with a screen and wood exterior door.
Extending to the north of the original building is a one-story ell with gabled-roof and shed-roof
covered porches on the east and west fayades . The addition has wood weatherboard siding . Th e
foundation is not visible . The west fayade of the addition features a centered entry consisting of
a wood panel door and six-light vinyl-sash windows . The east fayade of the ell is only partiall y
visible through the vegetation and a wood fence . The shed-roof ex posed porch on the east
fayade is supported by square posts . An entrance and replacement vinyl-sash windows with si x
ov er-si x inserts are partially visible on this fayade .
In addition to homes , the dawn of the twentieth century also witnessed the establishment of the
Henry-Waldron Cemetery (DHR ID#: 080-5689-0005) near 8443 Poor Mountain Road west of
Bottom Creek. The family cemetery dates to the earl y to mid-twentieth century . This small
fam ily cemetery contains graves of families associated with agricultural activities within the
RHD . There are at least nine graves visible within the unenclosed cemetery .8 Three graves hav e
gran ite markers , three are marked by unadorned fieldstone headstones and footstones , two are
shallow depressions in the ground without a marker, and one grave is marked with a marble
headstone . The oldest observable marked grave dates to 1901, with others dating to 1930
through 1975 .9 The visible graves include :
7Neither th e barn n or the wall was accessible during the 20 18 survey , and the ir existence is based up on the DHR
database and prev io us surveys.
8 The follow in g descrip ti on is b ased upon info rmati on and ph otograph s av ail able on V-CRIS and prev iou s survey s.
9 Previous surveys did not determ ine the n umber of burial s contain ed within the cemetery , as it can be presumed
there are unm arked graves in addi tio n to th e nine vis ibl e graves.
Sections 7 -8 page 9
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Serv ice I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
• A marble headstone inscribed: Arenah/Wife of/B.R. Henry/April 2, 1851/Died/Mar. 17,
1901 . This grave also includes a fieldstone marker and marble footstone .
• An unmarked grave, visible by a depression in the ground surface.
• A double granite gravestone inscribed : Issac M Waldron/Aug. 10, 1856/Mar. 19,
1930/Lucy A. Waldron/Dec. 26, 1857/July 31, 1954. At the bottom of each grave are
fieldstone markers, and one granite footstone is inscribed Father.
• A small granite headstone inscribed: Zeke/5-23-74/2/27/75. This grave also features
three rectangular rock slabs arranged in a row .
• Another unmarked grave, visible as a depression in the ground surface .
• An uninscribed headstone .
• Two graves with fieldstones at the head and foot of each grave .
The newest primary house in the Coles-Terry RHD was established by the Coles-Terry family in
ca. 1910 at 8741 Poor Mountain Road (DHR ID#: 080-5689-0008). The Coles-Terry family
purchased the property following their relocation to the area after 1865 . The family originally
farmed tobacco on the land and moved to apple orchard cultivation in the late nineteenth century .
A remnant of this orchard remains on the property near the dwelling . The one-and-one-half
story ca. 1910 Folk Victorian-style dwelling features a cross-gabled roof and wood weatherboard
siding. The primary favade features a partial-width open porch with a shed roof supported by
Doric columns . Decorative vergeboard is visible in the gabled dormers. Fenestration on the
residence includes paired four-over-four-light double-hung windows with louvered storm
shutters. A large brick chimney is located on the roof ridgeline .
The last of the primary contributing resources to the Coles-Terry RHD is the fire tower (DHR ID
#: 080-5689-0007) at 8744 Honeysuckle Road . The tower is located at the highest point of Bent
Mountain at 3,926 feet along Honeysuckle Road . The tower site was within a 160-acre tract
originally owned by John Coles Terry Sr .10 The ca. 1933 fire tower is accessed by a cobblestone
road and a network of CCC jeep roads and foot trails. The tower consists of a small platform
constructed atop a skeletal metal frame. A one-story concrete block building is located at the
foot of the tower on the parcel. Because of its views of the surrounding area, locals would take
Sunday drives up the mountain to climb the tower and enjoy the scenery .
Two small-scale landscape features are also present within the RHD : a USGS Survey
Benchmark and a steel road sign. The USGS benchmark, dated 1962, is located on Honeysuckle
Road at latitude 37 .1869, longitude -80.1607, at an elevation of 3784 feet amsl. The steel road
sign is deteriorated and no longer displays markings. It is mounted to a tree located at the
bottom of the access road leading to the fire tower from Honeysuckle Road . 11
Two previously identified archaeological sites (DHR ID #s: 080-5689-0010 and 080-5689-0011)
are located within the boundaries of the Coles-Terry RHD . Both sites date to outside the period
of significance and are considered non-contributing resources to the RHD .
10 It is assumed that the War Department leased the fire tower site . Roanoke County Circuit Co urt, "Deed from
Grace Moncure Teny to Frank H. Terry Sr. (Trustee for Grace Minor Teny)" (November 29, 1963 ), Deed Book
730 , Page 113 , Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk's Office, Salem, Virginia .
11 Comments provided by Ann Rogers , Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, in a letter to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission dated October 1, 2019.
Sectio ns 7 -8 page 10
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
Much like nearby, adjacent, and/or overlapping RHDs such as the Bent Mountain RHD (DHR ID
#: 080-5677) and the Bent Mountain Apple Orchard RHD (DHR ID#: 080-5731), the Coles
Terry RHD (DHR ID #: 080-5689) consists of properties associated with the apple orchard
industry that flourished in Bent Mountain during the second half of the nineteenth and the first
half of the twentieth century . What distinguishes the Coles-Terry RHD is that it is largely
defined by the buildings and/or ancestral or present-day lands owned by the Terry family .
The Coles-Terry RHD is significant under Criterion A for Agriculture as a well-preserved rural
district reflecting important agricultural practices in the region, namely the cultivation of apples
(discussed further in Section 8). As adapted from the National Register Bulletin How to
Complete the National Register Registration Form, in addition to historic significance, the
property must maintain its historic integrity .12 Historic integrity is the authenticity of a
property's historic identity, evidenced by the survival of physical characteristics that existed
during the property's prehistoric or historic period. Integrity includes the seven traits of location,
design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association . Additionally, to retain historic
integrity a property will always possess several, and usually most, of the aspects . The retention
of specific aspects of integrity is paramount for a property to convey its significance . The Coles
Terry RHD retains sufficient integrity to convey significance under Criterion A: Agriculture .
Location, setting, feeling, and association are the primary aspects of integrity for the Coles-Terry
RHD , as the district is predominantly composed of vernacular buildings set upon an agricultural
landscape within the Bent Mountain rural community that grew organically --as opposed to
developed from a master plan --during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The RHD retains
integrity of location as it is located on lands that were historically used for the cultivation of
apples . As a whole, the RHD has been subjected to relatively little intrusion from outside of the
area/period of significance and retains its overall integrity of setting and feeling . The resources
of the RHD are typical of a rural area where agriculture drove settlement and influenced the built
environment. The RHD retains its arrangement of houses, farm buildings, agricultural areas, and
natural/wooded areas across the landscape along with the associated historic
circulation/transportation patterns. Residences are mainly vernacular-style architecture with
various types of secondary buildings, such as barns, sheds, and kennels; associated family
cemeteries; and agricultural fields. Some buildings, as discussed individually below, have
undergone alterations or have modern materials. As a whole, however, the buildings within the
RHD retain integrity of design, workmanship, and materials . A number of resources within the
RHD are still used for agricultural purposes; therefore, the resources retain integrity of
association . As a whole, the Coles-Terry RHD continues to embody the historic agricultural
development/activities of the region and visually conveys the historical development and rural
lifeway of Bent Mountain .
lNVENTORY OF RESOURCES AND JUSTIFICATION
12 N ational Park Service . Guidelines for Completing National Register of Historic Places Forms. Part A: How to
Complete the National Register Registration Form. Washington, DC: US Department of the Interior , National
Park Service , Cultural Resources, 1997, 4.
Sections 7 -8 page 11
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Fo rm
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
The following inventory lists contributing and non-contributing primary resources and their
associated secondary resources located in the Coles-Terry RHD. The entries are organized first
alphabetically by street name and numerically by address number, with the associated DHR ID
number. If the property has more than one DHR ID , then both are noted . The resources are
keyed to Figure 5 of the Additional Map Figures included under Additional Items. All resources
have been considered either contributing or non-contributing based upon the area of significance
as listed under Criterion A : Agriculture, based upon the period of significance from 1840 to
1969 , and based upon their retention of each resource 's physical integrity.
Honeysuckle Road
8744 Honeysuckle Road
DHR ID#: 080-5689-0007
Other DHRJD#: N IA
Primary Resource: Fire Tower (Building), Stories 8, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1933
Contributing Total : 1
Secondary Resource: Road/Road Trace (Structure) Contributing Total: 1
Honeysuckle Road
DHR ID#: 080-5689-0010
Other DHRJD#: 44RN0391
Primary Resource: Archaeological Site (Site)
Poor Mountain Road
8443 Poor Mountain Road
DHR ID#: 080-5297
Other DHR JD#: 080-5689-0009
Non-contributing Total : I
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1840
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Secondary Resource: Shed (Building)
8443 Poor Mountain Road
DHR ID#: 080-5690
Other DHR ID #: 080-5689-0005
Contributing Total: 1
Contributing Total: 1
Contributing Total: 2
Primary Resource: Cemetery (Site), Style: No discernible style, 1901
Contributing Total: I
8566 Poor Mountain Road
DHR ID#: 080-0488
Other DHR Id#: 080-5689-0001
Sections 7 -8 page 12
Un ited States Department of the Interior
National Park Serv ice / Nationa l Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Ru ral H istoric District
Name of Prope rty
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
Pr imary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1900
Secondary Resource: Garage (Building)
Secondary Resource: Pump House (Structure)
870 1 P oor M ountain Road
DHR ID#: 080-5679
Other DHR Id#: 080-5689-000 4
Contributing Total : I
Contributing Total: l
Non-contributing Total: l
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style , Ca 1890
Secondary Resource : Barn (Building)
Secondary Resource : Garage (Building)
Secondary Resource: Secondary Dwelling (Building)
8701 Poor M ountain Road
DHR ID#: 080-0490
Other DHR Id#: 080-5 689-0002
Contributing Total: l
Contributing Total: l
Contributing Total: 1
Contributing Total : 2
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: Vernacular, Ca 1820
Secondary Resource: Animal Shelter/Kennel (Building)
Secondary R esource: Barn (Building)
Secondary R esource : Secondary Dwelling (Building)
Secondary Resource: Shed (Building)
Secondary Resource: Shed , Machine (Building)
Secondary Resource : Stable (Building)
Secondary R esource: Shed (Building)
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building)
Secondary Resource: Cemetery (Site)
Secondary Resource : Garage (Building)
Secondary Resource: A nimal Shelter/Kennel (Building)
874 1 Poor Mountain Road
DHR ID#: 080-5689-0008
Other DHRid#: N IA
Contributing Tota l: 1
Contribut ing Tota l : I
Contribut ing Total : 1
Contribut ing Total : 1
Contr ibuting Total: 1
Contribut ing Total : 1
Contributing Total: l
Non-contributing Total: 1
Non-contributing Total: l
Non-contributing Tota l : 1
Non-contributing Total: I
Non-contributing Total : 1
Primary Resource: Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 1.5 , Style: Folk Victorian , Ca 1910
Contributing Total : 1
Secondary Resource: Barn (Building) Contributing Total: l
8741 P oor Mountain Road
DHR ID#: 080-5677-0007
Other DHR Id#: 080 -5 689 -00 03
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Un ited States Depa rt ment of the Interior
Nati ona l Park Service I Nat ional Register of Historic Places Reg istration Fo rm
NPS Form 10-900 0M B No . 1024-00 18
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property Count y and St ate
Primary R esource : Agricultural Bldg. (Building), Style: No discernible style, Ca 1900
Non-contributing Tota l: l
Secondary R esource: Shed (Building) Non-contributing Total: l
8873 Poor Mountain Road
DHR ID#: 080-5735
Other DHR Id#: 08 0-568 9-000 6
Primary Resource : Single Dwelling (Building), Stories 2, Style: No discernible style, Ca 1875
Secondary Resour ce: Barn (Building)
Secondary Resource: Corncrib (Structure)
West of Bottom Creek
West of Bottom Creek
DHR ID#: 080-5689-0011
Other DHR Id#: 44RN04 08
Primary R esource: Archaeological Site (Site)
Sections 7-8
Contributing Total: l
Contributing Tota l: l
Contributing Tota l: l
Non-contributing Total: l
page 14
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register
listing .)
[RJ A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the
broad patterns of our history.
D B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.
D C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of
construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values,
or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D D . Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history .
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.)
□ A Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes
□ B . Removed from its original location
□ C. A birthplace or grave
□ D. A cemetery
□ E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure
□ F . A commemorative property
□ G . Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years
Sections 7 -8 page 15
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 Ol\/1B No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Areas of Significance
(Enter categories from instructions .)
Agriculture
Period of Significance
1840-1969
Significant Dates
1840, 1969
Significant Person
(Complete only if Criterion Bis marked above .)
Cultural Affiliation
NIA
Architect/Builder
Unknown
Sections 7 -8
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 16
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes
level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any
applicable criteria considerations .)
The Coles-Terry RHD is significant under Criterion A in the area of Agriculture . Criterion A of
the National Register establishes significance for resources "associated with events that have
made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history." In the case of the Coles
Terry RHD, the history of agriculture in the RHD ties in with the broader pattern of agricultural
development in Virginia, where, until the early twentieth century, the majority of inhabitants
were involved in agriculture. More particularly, the history of apple cultivation in the RHD is
significant under Criterion A. Along with tobacco, residents of the RHD undertook a multitude
of agricultural pursuits that broadened the agricultural picture, from raising swine and livestock
to cultivating cabbage and other vegetables. None of these pursuits, however, had the impact on
local history that apples did.
The period of significance begins in 1840 with the construction of the Elijah Henry House (DHR
ID #: 080-5689-0009), and ends in 1969 with the cessation of the 100-year boom in apple
orchards on Bent Mountain that began during the Reconstruction period . The date of 1969 was
selected as the closing date for the period of significance in accordance with National Park
Service (NPS) National Register Bulletin 16A, which states that fifty years ago (1969) should be
used for the closing date for periods of significance where activities begun historically continued
to have importance, and no more specific date can be defined to end the historic period.13 The
bulletin goes on to state that events and activities occurring within the past 50 years must be
exceptionally important to be recognized as "historic" and to justify extending a period of
significance beyond the limit of 50 years ago .14 The 1840-1969 period of significance reflects
the RHD's full agricultural development. The Coles-Terry RHD's significance is at the local
level.
Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of
significance .)
CRITERION A: AGRICULTURE
In Fruitful Legacy: A Historic Context of Orchards in the United States, Susan A. Dolan
provides a nationwide context for identifying and evaluating orchard landscapes that may be
eligible under Criteria A through D of the National Register. Concerning Criterion A, Dolan
identifies three sub-categories for significance:
(1) The orchard or fruit trees have played an important role in prehistory, in the settlement
history, or in the subsequent history of development of an area;
(2) The orchard or fruit trees are associated with a historic horticultural innovation, practice,
or event; and
13 National Park Service , 1997: 42.
14 Ibid .
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
(3) The orchard or fruit trees are associated with a historical event not directly related to
horticulture . 15
For the Coles-Terry RHD, Dolan's first sub-category is appropriate . Apple cultivation, as the
historic context will illustrate, spread across the RHD landscape in the decades after the Civil
War and prospered around the turn of the twentieth century . The cultivation of apples brought
the Bent Mountain area renown well beyond Virginia. Apple cultivation was the most prevalent
feature of the local economy for decades . The resources of the RHD are representative of a rural
area where settlement was driven by agricultural activities, particularly apple cultivation: mainly
vernacular-style architecture with various types of secondary buildings , such as barns, sheds, and
kennels; family cemeteries; and orchards/agricultural fields . The RHD has been subjected to
very little intrusion from outside of the area/period of significance and retains its overall
integrity . The historic dwellings, family cemeteries, barns, apple orchards, roads, and pastures
are physical reminders of the agricultural history of southwestern Virginia.
HISTORIC CONTEXT
The Coles-Terry RHD, located in the Roanoke County community of Bent Mountain, is
associated with the lives and activities of the Coles and Terry families , as well as with other
historical RHD residents . This historic context discusses the people, places, and events
associated with the history of the RHD and its surroundings. While the RHD was home to
numerous small-scale farmers throughout history , much of the land tenure history was dominated
by the Coles and Terry families who held extensive tracts of land that encompass much of the
present RHD . As antebellum tobacco planters, the Coles and Terry families, and also the
enslaved persons who labored for them, shaped the evolution of agriculture in the Bent Mountain
area. Following the Civil War, tobacco suffered a decline, and the Coles and Terry families were
among several Bent Mountain farmers who transitioned to a new staple crop that would
ultimately flourish across the RHD: apples . Apple cultivation, which had an ideal setting in the
Bent Mountain area, strongly influenced local history in that it provided a livelihood for
inhabitants of the area and, for orchardists like the Coles and the Terrys , it brought wealth.
Early Inhabitants of the Bent Mountain Area
Until the early nineteenth century, the Coles-Terry RHD was a frontier area with agricultural
possibilities unknown to European Americans . Native American habitation of the present-day
RHD dates to approximately 9900 Before Current Era (BCE). Archaeologists have traced more
recent occupations through ceramics and linguistic traditions . 16 During the Late Woodland
period (AD 1200-1550), as Robert F Maslowski posited, the Siouan-speaking Tutelo and the
15 Susan A. Dolan, Fruitful Legacy: A Historic Co ntext of Orchards in the United States, with Technical Information
for Registering Orchards in The Na tional R egister of Historic Places (Washington DC: National Park Service ,
2009), 54 .
16 Robert F. Maslowski , "Cultural Affiliation Statement: New River Gorge National River and Gauley River
National Recreation Area" (Boston, Massachusetts: Northeast Region NAGPRA Program, National Park
Service, 2011); Stuart J. Fiedel , "Are Ancestors of Contact Period Ethnic Groups Recognizable in the
Archaeological Record of the Early Late Woodland?" Archaeology of Eastern North America 41 (2013): 221-
29.
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
Saponi inhabited southwestern Virginia .17 The Tutelo and Saponi hunted deer, bear, and turkey,
and also small game such as beaver, raccoon, opossum, rabbit, squirrel, grouse, and waterfowl.
The forest provided nuts, berries, grapes, plums, and various tubers . They also cultivated
gardens of squash, com, and beans .18 The presence of the Tutelo, with whom the Saponi likely
merged, persisted into the Early Contact period (1550-1671) when European goods entered into
the extensive trade networks of eastern North America . Gorgets, glass beads, and other artifacts,
including some derived from the early European settlements of the Gulf of Mexico and the
Atlantic coast, have featured in the archaeological record of southwestern Virginia.19 The main
village of the Tutelo is thought to have been located at contemporary Roanoke. In Salem, the
present-day county seat of Roanoke County, a small Tutelo village known as the Sawyer Site
(DHR ID #: 44RN39) was excavated in recent years . Archaeologists determined that the site
dated to the 1621-1635 timeframe and had been continuously occupied during that time .20
When the first European expeditions journeyed through southwestern Virginia, they encountered
the Tutelo. The Batte and Fallam expedition, which reached the region in 1671, conferred with
them regarding the geography of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the headwaters of the Roanoke
River .2 1 Over the next half century, the Tutelo drifted northward from Virginia, likely as a result
of repeated invasions by the Iroquois . By 1744, the Iroquois claimed to have conquered many
tribes in Virginia, including the Tutelo . Ten years later, the Tutelo joined the Cayuga in New
York. 22 While the Iroquois, Cherokee, Shawnee, and Delaware claimed current-day
southwestern Virginia in the mid-eighteenth century, archaeological evidence for their presence
has not been discovered.23
As the eighteenth century progressed, Shawnee based in the Ohio River valley raided the initial
white settlements of southwestern Virginia during Lord Dunmore's War (1774) and the
American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). These wars, as well as the later Treaty of Greenville
(1795) that pushed the Shawnee into northwestern Ohio, signaled the end of their presence in
southwestern Virginia and further opened the region to new settlers .24
Down former Native American pathways such as the Great Wagon Road and the Traders Path,
new settlers came into southwestern Virginia . The pioneers often ventured from the course of
these roadways to settle upon former Native American fields or undeveloped land along creeks
17 Maslowski , "Cultural Affiliation Statement: New River Gorge National River and Gauley River National
Recreation Area," 42.
18 Jay Hansford C. Vest, "An Odyssey Among the Iroquois: A History ofTutelo Relations in New York," American
Indian Quarterly 29 , no . 1/2 (2005): 124-25 ; Michael B. Barber and Michael F. Barber, "Emergency
Excavations at the Sawyer Site (44RN39), Area B : A Protohistoric Site in Roanoke County, Virginia" (Virginia
Department of Historic Resources , 2004), 48 .
19 Maslowski, "Cultural Affiliation Statement: New River Gorge National River and Gauley River National
Recreation Area," 57--64.
20 Barber and Barber, "Emergency Excavations at the Sawyer Site (44RN39), Area B: A Protohistoric Site in
Roanoke County , Virginia."
21 Maslowski , "Cultural Affiliation Statement: New River Gorge National River and Gauley River National
Recreation Area," 45.
22 Ibid , 36 .
23 Ibid , 65-75.
24 Ibid , 65-75.
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / Nat ional Register of Historic Places Registration Fo rm
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-00 18
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
and ri vers . Newcomers were predominantly Scots-Irish and Germans of Quaker, German
Baptist, and Presbyterian faiths .2 5
Bent Mountain , east of the Coles-Terry RHD , was the most prominent landmark in the vicini ty
of the RHD for mid-eighteenth-century European-American settlers and w ould be the namesake
of the community to come . The RHD lay within an extensive county called Augusta . Alexander
Ingraham and John Mills were early Bent Mountain settlers who acquired tracts ca . 1753 . The
French and Indian War (1754-1763) disrupted new and existing settlements in southwestern
Virginia.26 Afterwards , the flow of newcomers in southern Augusta County influenced the
fo rmation of a new county called Botetourt. With the frontier in relatively stable condition , the
is ol ated settlements of earlier years evolved into famil y farms . Commercial establishments such
as tav erns and inns appeared .27 Place names for streams , peaks, mountains, and other natural
featur es became established , including Bent Mountain , which may have been named for earl y
land surv eyors James and William Bent, and Poore Mountain (later known as Poor Mountain ),
which was named for Major Poore .28
The Lewis Tract
Lord Dunmore 's War (1774) and the Revolutionary War (1775-178 3) took place far from the
RHD , yet influenced future events . The peace that came after these wars ushered a new period
of settlement in Botetourt County where abundant land , including the RHD itself, remained
available . The land encompassing the RHD became part of the so-called Lewis Tract in th is
peri od . The Lewis Tract was a 20 ,000-acre parcel of land that belonged to General Andrew
Lew is (1716-1781), a veteran of Lord Dunmore's War (1774) and the Re volutionary War
(1 77 5-178 3). According to local lore, George Washington granted Lewis the tract in return for
military service .29 The tract included much of present-day Roanoke and Floyd counties . Lewis
res id ed at Richfield Plantation, his "home place " near the emerging town of Salem. 30
Aft er Lewis 's death in 1781 , his grant passed to his heirs , including his fourth son , Andrew, Jr .
The y ounger Lewis (1758-1844) had come of age during times of frontier warfare.
Remembered as "a valiant Indian fighter ," he rose to the rank of colonel. A resident of Salem
acquainted with Col. Lewis described him as :
A man of commanding figure and appearance .. . He was upwards of six feet high,
of uncommon strength and agility , and his form of the most exact symmetry . He
25 Turco et al., "Phas e I Reconn a iss ance ," 13-1 5.
26 Deedie Dent Kagey, When Pas t I s Pro lo gue : A Hi s tory of R oanoke County (Ro anoke , Virgini a: Ro an oke County
Sesquicentenn ia l Co mmi ttee , 1988), 36.
27 N elson Harris, A H istory of Back Cree k (Ch arl eston , South Carolina: Arcadia, 20 18), 18-19.
28 Grace Terry Moncure, "Recollection s of Bent Mounta in, Virginia," J ourn al of the Roanoke H istorical Soci ety
Winter, no. 2 (1967): 30-3 1.
29 Moncure, "Recollections of Bent Mountain, Virg inia ," 30 .
30 George S. Jack and E.B. Jacobs, Histm y of R oanoke County (Ro an oke, Virgin ia: Stone , 1912), 76.
Section s 7 -8 page 20
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 Ol\/18 No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
had a stern countenance, and was of a reserved and distant deportment, which
rendered his presence more awful than engaging.31
Col. Lewis, who developed a "primitive" log home called Longwood atop Bent Mountain in the
early nineteenth century, was a prominent early settler of the area. The mountain in this period
was a wilderness, described in a later biography of Lewis as "the home of the panther, the wolf,
and the bear."32 As his family expanded, Lewis and his wife Agatha Madison, a cousin of James
Madison, moved into a new home on the mountain called Bent House. The Lewises resettled at
Longwood after Bent House was lost in a fire.33
The Lewis family was widely known in Virginia, and interest in the Bent Mountain area of then
Botetourt County spread . A number of well-known Virginians reportedly visited Col. Lewis and
his family when they lived at Bent House, such as Light Horse Harry Lee and John Randolph.34
Along with these genteel exchanges, there were more vicious encounters for the Lewises of Bent
Mountain. The mountain was the setting of a duel between Col. Lewis's brother, Thomas, and a
Mr. McHenry. The two apparently disagreed over an election. Both were killed in the duel that
involved rifles at 30 paces.35
After Col. Lewis 's death in 1844, Longwood passed to his heirs, Joseph R. and Catherine King.
The Kings remained at Longwood until the late nineteenth century. 36 Longwood was
uninhabited by 1910 and later burned in the 1920s.37 New settlers purchased swaths of the
extensive Lewis Tract acreage throughout the antebellum period . In 1838, new settlers also
influenced the formation of Roanoke County from Botetourt County . The RHD lies within the
southwestern portion of the new county.38
The RHD includes a dwelling dating to this early period. The ca . 1820 Janet Wynot House
(DHR ID #: 080-5689-0002) is presently owned by a Terry descendant . Its builder and original
inhabitants are unknown, but the longevity of the structure testifies to the opportunity Bent
Mountain afforded in this period .39 The Terry family arrived in Bent Mountain ca. 1835 and
acquired the house in the nineteenth century.
The Price Lands
By the 1840s, the majority of the RHD and many thousands of adjoining acres became the
property of John M. Price, his wife Eliza, Alexander Eskridge, and Joseph R. Glasgow. The
31 Frederick Peyton quoted in J. Lewis Peyton , History of Augusta County, Virginia (Staunton, Virginia : Samuel M .
Yost & Son , 1882), 334-35.
32 Jack and Jacobs, History of Roanoke County , 76 ; Harris , A History of Back Creek , 19-20 ; Jack and Jacobs , History
of Roanoke County , 76-77; Delia Agnes McCullock, "The Pioneer John Lewis and His Illustrious Family ," The
West Virginia Historical Magazine Quarterly 4 , no . 2 (1904): 85.
33 Harris , A History of Back Creek, Jack and Jacobs, History of Roanoke County ; Delia Agnes McCullock, "The
Pioneer John Lewis and His Illustrious Family," 81 -94 ; J . Lewis Peyton , History of Augusta County, Virginia
(Staunton , Virginia : Samuel M . Yost & Son, 1882) ..
34 McCullock, "The Pioneer John Lewis and His Illustrious Family," 85.
35 Jack and Jacobs , History of Roanoke County , 76.
36 Jack and Jacobs, History of Roanoke County , 76 ; Peyton , History of Augusta County, Virginia , 335.
37 Harris , A History of Back Creek, Jack and Jacobs , History of Roanoke County , 76.
38 Jack and Jacobs, History of Roanoke County , 76 ; McCullock, 'The Pioneer John Lewis and His Illustrious
Family ," 107 .
39 Turco et al., "Phase I Reconnaissance ."
Sections 7 -8 page 21
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 OIVIB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
12 ,800-acre tract was the bulk of the so-called Bent Mountain Estate, and this acreage later
became the property of the Coles family .40 Glasgow's background is unknown; however , the
Prices were residents of Fincastle in neighboring Botetourt County, and Eskridge was a Roanoke
County lawyer. Their use of the land is unknown .41 In the same period, Price retained a
3,460-acre segment of the Bent Mountain Estate, a tract later belonging to the Terry family .42
The Elijah Henry House (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0009)
The first half of the nineteenth century in southwestern Roanoke County was a time of change as
the rustic, subsistence farms carved from the wilderness became established operations passed
down for generations. Settlers of considerable means also invested in the area by developing
plantations reliant on indentured and enslaved labor. The Elijah Henry House (DHR ID#: 080-
5689-0009), a modest dwelling built ca . 1840, is a remnant of this early period that represents an
early homestead in the Bent Mountain agricultural community .43 The original builder and
inhabitants are unknown. Its namesake, Elijah Henry, is a late nineteenth-century occupant
discussed below.
The Coles and Terry Families Establish Roots
The Coles and Terry families, the most prominent historical figures in the RHD, became
associated with the land in the antebellum period. Previous studies have poorly documented
their story, which is central to the evolution of the RHD . A precise chain-of-title connecting
their antebellum land acquisitions with present-day tracts is difficult to establish for a number of
reasons. Historical deed, tax, and estate records from Roanoke County often described tracts of
land in vague terms and assigned landmarks that are impossible to presently identify , such as
specific trees, fences, poles, and adjoining tracts of land . Similarly, historic plat maps, at least
for the Coles and Terry lands, are few and, when available, merely illustrate ephemeral features .
Nevertheless, the various land records indicate the RHD, more or less, began as the extensive
Lewis Tract (20,000 or more acres) and afterwards became the Price Family's Bent Mountain
Estate (more than 15,000 acres). The land then became the property of the Coles and Terry
families . Through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Coles and Terry land was whittled
down into successively smaller tracts, via estate inheritances, sales, or other transactions, leaving
remnants owned by descendants as well as unrelated parties.
The long history of the Coles and Terry families within the RHD begins in 1846 when John
Dabney Coles (1799-1847) of Pittsylvania County acquired 12,800 acres of the Bent Mountain
Estate from John M . Price . 44 Coles, described as 6 feet, 7 inches tall and "a man of energy and
ability,"45 was the son of Col. Isaac Coles, a Pittsylvania County planter and Revolutionary War
veteran, and Catharine Thompson Coles . In 1825, John Dabney Coles married Louisa Payne
40 Roanoke County Circuit Court, "Deed from John M. and Eliza Price to John Coles" (1855), Deed Book E, Page
316 , Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk's Office, Salem , Virginia.
41 Kagey , When Past Is Prologue : A History of Roanoke County, 106.
42 Roanoke County Circuit Court, "Deed from Executors of John M. Price to Warfield Price and Tazewell Price"
(1863), Deed Book G, Page 57, Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk's Office , Salem , Virginia.
43 Turco et al., "Phase I Reconnaissance."
44 The 1846 transaction is recorded within a deed dated 1855. Roanoke County Circuit Court, "Deed from John M.
and Eliza Price to John Coles."
45 Moncure, "Recollections of Bent Mountain, Virginia," 36.
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United States Department of the Interior
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NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
(1807-1852), a native of Campbell County, and they lived on a plantation in Pittsylvania
County.46 By the time Coles purchased the land at Bent Mountain, he and Louisa had four
children: Catherine (1826-1844), Elizabeth (1828-1884), Louisa (1831-1906), and Mary (1835-
1860). A son, John, Jr., was born in 1837. John, Jr. and Elizabeth would have a close
association with the Bent Mountain tract in the years to come .47
The Coles and Terry families united through marriage in the antebellum period when a young
lawyer named Joseph Motley Terry (1810-1888) of Pittsylvania County married John Dabney
Coles' eldest daughter, Catherine, in 1844 .48 The Terrys, like the Coles, were an old Virginia
family of the planter class. Terry was a well-known leader. When the United States went to war
with Mexico in 1846, Terry spoke strongly in favor of sending men to fight.49 At least once, he
ran for office as a Democrat. 50 He also partnered a law firm with Jubal Early who later became a
celebrated Confederate General.51 Soon, Terry assumed a paternal position within the John
Dabney Coles family.
The Coles' Bent Mountain Plantation
The Coles family remained in residence in Pittsylvania County while John Dabney Coles
developed some of the extensive Bent Mountain land as a tobacco plantation. The exact location
of the plantation within his large tract is undetermined, but a Civil War-era map suggests the
plantation may have been located near the present-day intersection of Poor Mountain Road
(Route 612) and Tinsley Lane (Route 711). The plantation tract likely extended into the RHD.52
Family lore tells that Coles developed and operated his plantation with a combination of slaves
and white tenant farmers from Pittsylvania County. 53 An overseer managed this biracial,
working settlement at Bent Mountain. 54 The names of the tenant farmers and slaves have largely
been lost to history . Local historian Nelson Harris speculated that one tenant farmer who came
to Bent Mountain from Pittsylvania County to work the Coles plantation was named Vincent
Simpson.55 Similarly, a post-Civil War Roanoke County court document mentions Nimrod, a
slave who worked on the Coles plantation at Bent Mountain in the antebellum period . 56
Joseph Motley Terry became deeply involved in Coles family affairs, including the Bent
Mountain tobacco plantation, after the sudden death of his father-in-law, John Dabney Coles, in
46 William Coles, The Coles Family of Virginia: Its Numerous Connections , from the Emigration to America to the
Year 1915 (New York , New York , 1931).
47 "1850 Federal United States Census Slave Schedules : Louisa Coles , Northern District , Pittsylvania County ,
Virginia" (Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1850), Ancestry .com , www.ancestry .com ; Coles, The Coles Family of
Virginia.
48 Coles , The Coles Family of Virginia.
49 "The Virginia Volunteers," Richmond Enquirer , December 29, 1846.
50 "Candidates at the Spring Election," Richmond Enquirer , February 28 , 1839.
51 Moncure, "Recollections of Bent Mountain , Virginia."
52 Walter Izard, W. Hutchinson, John M . Coyle , Jeremy Francis Gilmer, Louisa Porter Minis, and Confederate
States of America , Map of Roanoke County, Va. (Southern Section) (Richmond, Virginia: Confederate Chief
Engineer's Office, n.d.), Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2012589690/.
53 Moncure, "Recollections of Bent Mountain, Virginia."
54 Ibid, 32-33.
55 Harris , A History of Back Creek, 21 .
56 Roanoke County Circuit Court, "Deed from Joseph M. Terry to John Coles" (1869), Deed Book G, Page 593 ,
Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk's Office, Salem, Virginia.
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Name of Property County and State
1847 . While visiting the Bent Mountain tobacco operation in 1847, Coles fell ill with typhoid
fever.57 He remained in recovery at Bent Mountain for a week until he decided to journey back
to his home in Pittsylvania County to see his doctor. When he reached home, his condition
deteriorated further, and he died. 58
Historical documents indicate Joseph Motley Terry took over management of Coles' extensive
estate, which included plantations in Pittsylvania County and Bent Mountain . Terry auctioned
more than 2,000 acres of Pittsylvania County landholdings . 59 However, he maintained the
family 's Bent Mountain plantation. Terry stated years later that he became familiar with the
Bent Mountain area in 1848, the year after his father-in-law 's death. Terry remained involved in
managing the Coles plantation into the Civil War period .60
Along with his occupation as a planter, Terry was a merchant throughout the nineteenth century.
Several ledgers beginning in 1848 in Bent Mountain, or in his original home in Pittsylvania
County, document some of his day-to-day merchant activities. Prior to the war, he sold rye,
com, and general merchandise.61
Terry also was invested in the general development of the Bent Mountain area . Since 1832 , the
Bent Mountain Turnpike Company had been venturing to develop a road from Jacksonville (the
seat of neighboring Floyd County) through the Bent Mountain area and to points beyond . The
transportation corridor promised to create a new market connection for the region's agricultural
products . Work on the road finally began in 1849. During the next 10 years, the road was
gradually completed. Later maps from the Civil War period (1861-1865) indicate that the
turnpike bisected the Bent Mountain area in a roughly southwest-to-northeast fashion and
certainly touched the Coles and Terry lands.62 Terry was the largest Jacksonville and Bent
Mountain Turnpike Company stockholder in the Bent Mountain area throug~ the 1840s and
1850s .63
.Another death shaped the future of the Coles' emerging agricultural estate at Bent Mountain. In
1852, Louisa Coles, the widow of John Dabney Coles, passed away .64 Her death placed her
minor children, including her 15-year-old son John Jr. (b . 183765 ), under the legal guardianship
of her son-in-law, Joseph Motley Terry .66 John Jr., as historical records suggest, inherited his
father's Bent Mountain plantation; however, as a minor, the management of the plantation, as
well as other elements of the estate, was in the hands of his older brother-in-law, Joseph Motley
57 Jack and Jacobs, History of Roanoke County.
58 Moncure , "Recollections of Bent Mountain, Virginia," 36.
59 "Large Sale of Valuable Real Estate ," Richmond Enquirer , November 22 , 1853.
60 Roanoke County Circuit Court, "Tazewell Price vs. Warfield Price and Others (No. 743)" (1875), Chancery
Records , Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk's Office, Salem , Virginia .
61 Joseph Motley Terry, "Ledgers, 1848-1894" (n.d.), Library ofVirginia.
62 Harris , A History of Back Creek, 22-23.
63 Virginia Board of Public Works, "Jacksonville and Bent Mountain Turnpike Company Records, 1849-1858"
(n .d.), Record Group 57 , Library of Virginia.
64 Coles, The Coles Family of Virginia .
65 "1850 Federal United States Census Slave Schedules: Louisa Coles , Northern District, Pittsylvania County ,
Virginia"; Coles, The Coles Family of Virginia ; Jack and Jacobs , History of Roanoke County.
66 Pittsy lvania County Circuit Court of Law and Chancery , Wills , Inventories , and Accounts Current, 1809-1 865 ,
1888-1906: John Coles in Account with Joseph M. Terry His Guardian (Pittsylvania , Virginia: Circuit Superior
Court of Law and Chancery , 1856).
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Roanoke County, VA
County and State
Terry. According to family lore, Terry's wife, Catherine Coles-who was John Dabney Coles'
daughter-also received some of the Bent Mountain land upon her father's death. 67
A Pittsylvania County chancery court record contains an expense account that Joseph Motley
Terry managed in the mid-1850s on behalf of John Jr. Expenses included clothing, cash , and
tuition for the University of Virginia, which John attended in 1856. In 1858, the account paid
$300 to a person named Baldwin "for building a house on Bent Mountain Plantation ." In the
same year, John Coles Jr. turned 21 years old and began to manage his estate . 68
John Coles Terry
John Coles Terry (1844-1926), one of the most well-known RHO residents, was the son of
Joseph Motley Terry and wife Catherine Terry . Though only seven years apart in age, he was
the nephew of John Coles Jr. Aside from sharing namesakes, the two also lost their mothers as
children. Catherine died when John Coles Terry was born, leaving him the estate she received
from John Dabney Coles.69 While he spent most of his life at Bent Mountain, John Coles Terry
was born in Pittsylvania County at the home of his grandfather, John Dabney Coles .70 The 1850
population census indicates that Joseph Motley Terry and his son, John Coles Terry, lived in
Pittsylvania County.71 Joseph remarried to Elizabeth Payne in 1851 and had a son , James
Whittle Terry (1852-1866).72
John Coles Jr. was the first of the Coles and Terry families to permanently settle in Roanoke
County. He appears in the 1860 census as a resident of the Miles and Catherine Gibson
household in Salem. His real estate, the census noted, had an estimated value of $20,000, a
fortune at the time.73 John also appears on the historic county tax rolls in 1860, 1861, and 1862
as the taxpayer on the 12,800-acre Bent Mountain property .74 Whereas John had settled in
Roanoke County by the end of the antebellum period, Joseph Motley Terry remained a resident
of Pittsylvania County as late as 1860.75
Antebellum Landscape
The built environment of the RHO in the antebellum period is evident in Coles and Terry family
lore as well as an exceptionally detailed historic map of southern Roanoke County. Family lore
67 Moncure , "Recollections of Bent Mountain , Virginia," 36 .
68 Pittsylvania County Circuit Court of Law and Chancery , Wills, Inventories , and Accounts Current, 1809-1865,
1888-1906: John Coles in Account with Joseph M Terry His Guardian.
69 Coles , The Coles Family of Virginia.
70 "1 850 Federal United States Census Population Schedule : Louisa Coles, Northern District, Pittsylvania County ,
Virginia" (Pittsylvania County, Virginia , 1850), 1860, Ancestry.com, www.ancestry.com; "1860 Federal United
States Census Population Schedule: Joseph M. Terry" (Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1860), Ancestry.com ,
www.ancestry.com; "John Coles Terry," Richmond Times Dispatch , February 28 , 1926.
7 1 "1850 Federal United States Census Slave Schedules: Louisa Coles, Northern District, Pittsylvania County ,
Virginia."
72 Coles, The Co les Family of Virginia.
73 "1860 Federal United States Census Population Schedule: Miles Gibson" (Roanoke County , Virginia, 1860),
Ancestry .com , www.ancestry.com.
74 Roanoke County Tax Collector, "Roanoke County Tax Rolls , 1860-1899" (n .d. ), Roanoke County Circuit Court
Clerk's Office, Salem , Virginia.
75 "1860 Federal United States Census Population Schedule: Joseph M . Terry."
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Name of Property County and State
tells that the Coles ·plantation included an overseer cabin where John Dabney Coles stayed during
trips from his home in Pittsylvania County and tobacco barns .76 Slave or tenant quarters must
have been present, as the Terry and Coles families were recorded among Roanoke County slav e
owners in this period . John Coles owned 23 slaves , and Joseph Motley Terry owned 18 slaves .77
An undated , Civil War-era map of southern Roanoke County illustrates what can be interpreted
as the late antebellum-period setting of the Coles-Terry RHD and the surrounding area
(Figure 1). The map identifies "Bent Plantation." A barn and cabin also are noted at this site ,
which represents the plantation that John Dabney Coles owned beginning in 1846 and the same
one that John Coles Jr . inherited after his father's death .78 The location of the plantation
corresponds with the present-day vicinity of Poor Mountain Road (Route 612) and Tinsley Lane
(Route 711). Although the exact boundaries of the plantation are undetermined, it is plausible
that it extended into the RHD . The map indicates buildings and /or structures in the RHD : toward
Poor Mountain, the map identifies a building as "Terry " and another building as "Terry 's Saw
Mill."79 The Terry-related locations in the map appear to correspond with the present-day 8701
Poor Mountain Road parcel. Specifically , the structure depicted as "Terry " is likely the Jane t
Wynot House (DHR ID#: 080-5689-0002) built ca . 1820 .
The Civil War
Similar to Lord Dunmore's War and the Revolutionary War, the Civil War (1861-1865)
influenced RHD history . In particular, the Terry family had war experiences that became
legendary to their descendants . Another consequence of the war-the dismantling of slavery
was a watershed event that impacted agriculture and the lives of the enslaved and their former
masters . Both the Federal and Confederate armies passed near the RHD as they waged war.
Confederate deserters used the mountainous terrain to conceal themselves and to prey upon area
farms and plantations , including the Coles' home.
The calls for secession in Virginia and the South escalated after the 1860 election of Abraham
Lincoln to the presidency . Many in the South viewed Lincoln's ascendancy with great anxiety as
they believed him to be an abolitionist. The Bent Mountain area, according to local history ,
avidly supported the Confederate cause and "furnished their full quota of troops. "80 Several
members of the Coles and Terry families joined the Confederate Army .
John Coles, Jr. was in his early 20s when the Civil War erupted . He joined Company H of the
38111 Virginia Infantry Regiment, a unit raised in Pittsylvania County , as a l51 Lieutenant.8 1 He
briefly stayed at Bent Mountain before joining a cavalry unit that fought its way across western
Virginia in the later years of the war. 82
76 Moncure, "Recoll ecti ons of Bent Mountain , Virginia," 34.
77 Kagey , When Past Is Prologue: A Histo ry of R oanoke County , 73 9----43 .
78 "Bent Mountain Plantation" is mentioned in Pittsy lv ania County Circuit Court of Law and Chancery , Wills,
In ventories , and A ccounts C urrent, 18 09-1 8 65 , 1888 -1906: John Coles in A ccount with Jos eph M. Terry H is
G uardian.
79 Izard et al., "Map of Roanoke County , Va. (Southern Section)."
80 Jack and Jacob s, History of R oanoke County, 74 .
8 1 "C onfederate Pen sion s: Emma E . Coles " (Richmond , Virg inia: Library of Virginia , 1928).
82 Jack and Jacobs, Histo ry of Roanoke County , 78.
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Joseph Motley Teny was in his early 50s when the war began. He served as a Captain in
Company H of the same infantry regiment his brother-in-law, John Coles, served-the 38th
Virginia Infantry Regiment.83 Joseph served as late as 1864 and received a severe wound to the
hip . While recovering, he settled at Bent Mountain , but did not immediately bring his wife and
son , James, to the property .84 A letter written on January 3, 1864, by Joseph's wife , Elizabeth ,
gives a brief glimpse of their war experience and also indicates Terry 's presence in the Bent
Mountain area. The letter was addressed to "J. M. Teny Esq., Bent Mountain." She wrote the
letter from Chatham , Pittsylvania County, Virginia . She described that she was ill with a sore
ey e and was concerned as she had not heard from Joseph. "I hope you will get home this week
and if you cannot please write to me and let me know what is the matter ," she wrote, "and ifl get
well I can go up to the Bent [,] that is if the roads get better." 85
John Coles Teny , the son of Joseph Motley Teny , also fought in the Confederacy during the
Civil War. He had attended Virginia Military Institute just prior to the Civil War. In 1862, he
enlisted in the Confederate Army at the age of 17 . He joined Company E of the 17th Virginia
Cavalry, formed at Bent Mountain . As his granddaughter, Grace Terry Moncure , recalled a
century later, he served under General Stonewall Jackson and then under General Jubal Early .
As a cavalryman, Teny rode in campaigns from Maryland to Gettysburg on horses named Mary
and Raleigh .86 His wartime records are the first to refer to him as "J . Coles Terry ," a name he
was known by throughout the remainder of his life . The styling likely helped differentiate him
from his similarly-named relatives.87
When the Civil War began , many observers believed the conflict would be quickly resolved . As
months became years, the once-high passion for the war deteriorated into exhaustion, particularly
in the Confederacy . The Confederate Army suffered high desertion rates in the later years of the
war. Many deserters simply wanted to return to their pre-war lives, but some aggressively
evaded their captors or raided farms and plantations to survive . John Coles, Jr . became a victim
of the deserters . They are said to have burned his home during the war. 88 This may have been
the house that Baldwin had built at "Bent Mountain Plantation" in 1858.89 The presence of
deserters was evident upon the Coles and Terry lands . Writing in the 1960s, Moncure described :
On the Coles-Terry lands , near Street's Entry [i.e . the highest point of Poor
Mountain], were two squatters' cabins, rumored to have been built by deserters
from the Confederate Army-"conscientious objectors "-who had no sympathy
for those who fought through to Appomattox . They were unoccupied when I
remember them, but most interesting as samples of the crudest of abodes . In their
structure was neither an inch of metal, nor a piece of glass, nor any sawed timber.
They were rock underpinned , clay daubed , with log pens, log sills and joists,
83 "Compiled Serv ice Record s of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organi z ation s from the State of Virginia :
Joseph M. Terry ," Record Group 109 (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration , n .d.).
84 Moncure , "Recollections of Bent Mountain , Virginia," 36 .
85 The letter is enclosed in the nineteenth century ledgers kept by Joseph Motley Terry. Elizabeth D. T erry , "Letter
from Bettie D. Terry to J.M. Terry Esq ." (January 3, 1864), Joseph Motley Terry Ledgers, L ibrary of Virgini a .
86 Moncure , "Recollections of Bent Mountain, Virginia," 36-37.
87 "Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organiz ations from the State of Virgini a:
John C. Terry," Record Group 109 (Washington , DC: National Archives and Records Administration , n.d.).
88 Jack and Jacob s, Hist01 y of Roanoke County , 78 .
89 Pittsy lvania County Circuit Court of Law and Chancery , Wills , Inventories, and Ac counts Cu,re nt , 18 09-1 865,
1888-1906: John Coles in A ccount with Jo seph M . Terry Hi s G uardian .
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Roanoke County , VA
County and State
supporting floors of split logs with the flat side up and the underneath notched to
fit the sills .90
In the latter years of the Civil War, Federal forces pressed upon Roanoke County . Under Major
General William W . Averell , they raided around Salem in late 1863 , destroying the Tennessee
and Virginia Railroad . Their raids spilled into the countryside , including the Bent Mountain
area. One of the most significant events near the RH1) during the war period was in April 1865
when the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry traveled along the Jacksonville and Bent Mountain Turnpike
en route for Salem . The soldiers made their way across the turnpike and over Bent Mountain .9 1
In 1863 , the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in areas in rebellion, including Roanoke
County . There were more than 50 slaves in Bent Mountain during the war who attained freedom
in 1863 . Among them were the men , women , and children who lived on the Coles plantation .
Some of these newly freed people likely made up the droves that fled to the Union Army when it
marched into Roanoke County . While marching from Lynchburg through Salem in 1864 ,
William B. Stark of the 34th Massachusetts Volunteers wrote: "The negroes have had no chance
to escape until now . We have an army of them on our hands , nearly all of them carrying great
bundles of clothing hastily packed . Old men and women , children and babies all going fo r
freedom . "92
Reconstruction
During Reconstruction (I 865 -1877), the RH1) remained agricultural and rural although
remarkable changes were underway . The abolition of slavery changed the status of the vast
majority of African Americans in Roanoke County , including those who once were the property
of the Coles and Terry families . Tobacco remained a dominant agricultural product, but by the
end of the period, the crop had lost its dominance as farmers transitioned to apples . Both small
and large-scale farmers continued to grow traditional crops such as rye and oats and raised
livestock. The once expansive Coles and Terry lands began to be divided as new settlers came to
the area in search of farm tracts and new homestead sites . Meanwhile, the Coles and Terry clans
grew in size as new generations came of age and started their own families .
The largest farms in terms of acreage in the Cave Spring Magisterial District, a broad jurisdiction
that included the Bent Mountain area and several other communities, belonged to the Coles and
Terry families. In 1870, John Coles, Jr . whose home was torched by Confederate deserters
during the Civil War, had a farm of 3,950 acres , indicating that much of his once extensi v e
property (12 ,800 acres) had been transferred to other owners. His nephew, John Coles Terry ,
had a larger farm at 4,900 acres , a tract that may have been an inheritance from his mother,
Catherine Coles Terry, and his grandfather, John Dabney Coles .93
Joseph Motley Terry Acquires Land
90 Moncure, "Recollections of Bent Mountain , Virginia," 34-3 5 .
9 1 Ib id , 30.
92 Stark quoted in K agey , When Pas t I s Prolog ue: A Hi story of R oanoke Cou nty , 204.
93 Kagey , 226-27 .
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Name of Property
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
Joseph Motley Terry, who had managed the Coles' Bent Mountain plantation and land since
1848 and often stayed in the Bent Mountain area, settled himself and his family permanently on
the Bent Mountain land soon after the Civil War . An indication of their residence is a notation in
the 1866 death register for Roanoke County. It noted the passing of his and Elizabeth's son,
James Whittle Terry, who died at the age of 13 after accidentally shooting himself. The record
noted the boy lived at Bent Mountain .94 The Terry 's immediate postwar residence is further
evidenced by a marriage announcement in the Bristol News, which reported Robert McClelland
of Chattanooga and Mollie C. Payne of Roanoke County, a relative of Elizabeth Terry, were
married "at the residence of Jos. M. Terry Esq ., in Roanoke County" on October 22, 1868 .95
The late 1860s were significant to the Terry family , as Joseph Motley Terry purchased a very
large tract of land in the Bent Mountain area. During the Civil War, the executors of John M .
Price sold their 3,460-acre portion of Price's Bent Mountain Estate to brothers Tazewell Price
and Warfield Price . The tract was described in a period document as having a dwelling, a barn ,
"a tobacco farm," and cleared land. There also was a site on the tract known as Puncheon Camp
that had a "log hut" in poor repair and overgrown fields.96 By the end of the Civil War, Warfield
Price had fallen into debt to the extent that he sought to sell his share of the tract. The 1867 sale
was to Joseph Motley Terry, who had for many years managed Coles plantations in the Bent
Mountain area, but apparently did not own any land. The plantation described in historical
documents included not only the acreage, but sheep, hogs, mules, and cattle; "plantation
utensils"; household furniture; and a standing crop of wheat and rye .97
The John Coles Jr. Fami1y in Reconstruction
In 1868, John Coles, Jr . married Emma Shelor, a native of Floyd County .98 Together they had
three sons, John Calhoun (1869-1951), William (born and died 1869), and Douglass (1871-
1938). William, a twin of John, died as an infant in 1869 .99 The Coles household appears in the
1870 population census for Roanoke County . The 33-year-old farmer's estate was valued at
$8,000 , making him one of the wealthiest in the county. Along with his wife Emma, the
household included his infant son, John. Maria Jones, an African-American domestic servant,
and her four children, Charles, Dennis, Lorenzo, and Malissa, were also included in the
household.100
John Coles Terry in Reconstruction
John Coles Terry, a young Confederate veteran with extensive acreage in Roanoke County,
permanently settled in the Bent Mountain area sometime just after the war. He had likely been
familiar with the area for many years, as his father managed the Coles plantation since the
94 Ro anoke County Circuit Court, "Death Register, 1853-1881 " (n.d.), 32, Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk 's
Office , Salem , Virginia.
95 "McClelland-Payne Married," Bristol News , October 30, 1868 .
% Roanoke County Circuit Court, "Deed from Executors of John M . Price to Warfield Price and Tazewell Price."
97 Roanoke County Circuit Court, "Deed from Warfield Price to Joseph M . Terry" (1867), Deed Book G, Page 307,
Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk's Office , Salem, Virginia.
98 "Confederate Pensions: Emma E. Coles"; "1870 Federal United States Census Population Schedule: John Coles ,
Cave Spring , Roanoke County , Virginia" (Roanoke County , Virginia , 1870), Ancestry.com ,
www.ancestry .com .
99 Jack and Jacobs , History of Roanoke County , 78.
100 "1870 Federal United States Census Population Schedule : John Coles , Cave Spring, Roanoke County, Virginia ."
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1840s . 10 1 John Coles Terry 's household appears in the 1870 census for Roanoke County. He
was a 25-year-old bachelor. The value of his estate ($7 ,000) was one of the hi ghest in the area .
His household listed two African-American individuals : Spotswood Scott (12 years old) and Ann
Scott (10 years old). Their significance to the Terry household is unclear. The John Scott
household , an African-American family that may have been related to the Scotts of the Terry
household , was also listed in the area.102
John Coles Terry married Elizabeth Whittle in 1873 .103 She came from a very well-known
N orfolk, Virginia, family . Her father was Commodore William Conway Whittle (1805 -1878).
Commodore Whittle was a v eteran ship commander who served in antebellum conflicts such as
the Second Seminole War in Florida and the Mexican War. He commanded the sloops D ecatur
an d Dale in the decade prior to the Civil War. As a Confederate naval commander, he oversaw
naval defens es of the York River and fought the Union on the upper Mississippi River and New
Orle ans .104 Seve ral years after his daughter's marriage to John, Commodore Whittle died. As
noted in an 1878 newspaper article , he died "at the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. Coles Terry ,
in Roanoke county."105
John Coles Terry and Elizabeth had several children : Joseph Dandridge (1874-1897), who was
born "on hi s fath er 's estate" on Bent Mountain;106 Elizabeth Beverley (1876-1911 ); John Coles
Jr. (1879-1927); and Grace Fortescue (1882-1977), who also was born on Bent Mountain.107
His children came of age listening to tales of their father 's wartime experiences as a
cav alry man . 108
The Decline of Tobacco
In the early 18 70s, th e Bent Mountain area and neighboring Back Creek remained , in the words
of the Richmond Wh ig, "very large tobacco growing sections," as they had been in the
antebellum period . 109 However, challenges befell cultivation of the crop. The abolition of
slav ery necessitated new labor arrangements for plantation owners . While the specifics for the
Bent Mountain area are unknown , elsewhere in Virginia, arrangements such as sharecropping
where families worked on farms for a share of the crop 's value-existed in the absence of
slavery . In addition to the labor issue, pests attacked plants. In May 1874 , flies descended on
tobacco fields and weakened the crop for the season .11 0 Tobacco worms also posed a perennial
101 "John Coles Terry ."
102 "1870 Federal United States Census Population Schedule : J Coles Terry , Cave Spring, Roanoke County,
Virginia" (Roanoke County , Virginia, 1870), An cestry .com, www .ancestry .com .
103 Histori cal Records Survey of Virg inia, Index to Ma rri age No ti ces in th e So uthern C hu rc hman, 1835-19 41
(Richm ond , Virginia : Histori ca l Record s Surve y of Virgini a, 1942 ), 269 ; "1900 Fe deral United States Ce nsu s
Population Schedu le: J. Cole s Terry , Ca ve Spring, Roano ke County, Virg inia" (Roanoke Co unty, Virg inia,
1900), Ancestry .com , www.ancestJy .com.
104 Lyon Gardiner Ty ler , ed., Encyclopedia of Virg ini a Biography , vol. 3 (New York , New York : L ewis Hi storic al
Publi shin g Comp any, 1915 ), 93-94 .
105 "Death of Commodore Wm. C . Whittle," S taunton Sp ectator, March 12, 1878 .
106 "Jo seph Dandridge Terry," The Roanoke Ti mes , March 17, 1897 .
107 Moncure , "Recollection s of Bent Mountain , Virginia," 30 .
108 Ibid , 36-37.
109 "More Bad N ews About Tobacco ," R ichm on d Whig , M ay 22 , 1874.
11 0 Ibid.
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problem . As tobacco waned, local farmers, such as the Coles and Terry families, repurposed
their old barns as storage or as shelter for sheep and cattle. 111
The Rise of Apple Cultivation
With tobacco in decline, farmers developed apple orchards beginning in the decade after the
Civil War. Apples had been cultivated in Virginia since the early days of the colony . John
Richerson developed one of the first orchards in the Bent Mountain area. Richerson 's apples, a
newspaper reported in 1832, were "of the mammoth species, and in color and flavor resembled
the delicious New York Pippin." Richerson dubbed them "Richerson's Virginia Winter
Pippin."112 Local farmers and planters in the antebellum period did not follow Richerson's lead
and instead cultivated tobacco as a cash crop. The decline of tobacco in the postwar era,
however, revived interest in apple cultivation . One of the pioneers of apple cultivation was
Jordan Woodrum, who settled in the Bent Mountain area after the Civil War. Woodrum , a
newspaper publisher and lawyer, set out a Pippin orchard in 1870 .113 The Coles and Terry
families also set out orchards in the post-Civil War period. As the century progressed, apples
proved to be an incredibly profitable farm product, and orchard owners became the most
prominent farmers in the area . 114
Late Nineteenth Century
In the late nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, the Bent Mountain area was lauded for
its agricultural advantages as well as its output. Among the advantages were its well-watered
lands, which featured Mill Creek, Bottom Creek, Little Bottom Creek, and Camp Creek. The
soil remained particularly fertile . It was reported farmers in the area did not have to use
fertilizers to produce impressive results . Strawberries, tomatoes, and root crops such as potatoes
produced well. One writer familiar with the area reported cucumbers of "mammoth" size,
cabbages "weighing twenty pounds," and rye that grew "to the height of eleven feet."115
In 1885, John Coles, Joseph Motley Terry, and John Coles Terry were counted among the
primary farmers in Bent Mountain . Other prominent farmers were Tazewell Price, Joseph R .
King, Thomas King, Charles W . Price, Benjamin Price, and Mary Shelor.116 An 1897 tally that
listed John Coles, John Coles Terry, and E. D . Terry (Elizabeth Dandridge Terry), widow of
Joseph Motley Terry, as among the primary farmers in Bent Mountain .117
The Elijah Henry House (DHR ID#: 080-5689-0009) at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Aside from the Coles and Terry families, others feature in RHO history, such as Elijah Poage
Henry. Henry, local lore tells, inhabited the ca. 1840 dwelling presently known as the Elijah
11 1 Kagey , When Past Is Prolog ue: A History of Roanoke County, 232-36 ; Moncure, "Recollections of Bent
Mountain, Virginia ," 32-34.
112 "John Richerson of Amherst ," Lynchburg Virginian , March 5, 1832 .
113 Harris, A History of Back Creek , 35 .
11 4 Jack and Jacobs, History of Roanoke County , 74-79 .
11 5 Gilberta Whittle, "Up on Bent Mountain ," The Tim es, November 21 , 1892 .
11 6 Ibid , 232-36.
11 7 Harris , A History of Back Cre ek , 39 .
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Henry House (OHR ID#: 080-5689-0009).118 Elijah Poage Henry (1877-1959) was the son of
Benjamin Miles Henry (1848-1916) and Rena Flora Henry (1861-1901). Benjamin was born in
Franklin County . The date of his settlement in Roanoke County and the Bent Mountain area is
unknown.11 9 He was in residence in the area by 1887 when a Virginia State directory listed him
as one of the principal farmers of the Bent Mountain area, along with John Coles, Jordan
Woodrum, John Coles Terry, and Elizabeth Terry .120 Benjamin and his wife had at least three
children (Elijah, born in 1877 ; Ellen, born in 1881 ; and Emma, born in 1883), and this family
likely was the first to occupy the dwelling . The Benjamin Henry household appears in the 1900
federal census as residents of the Cave Springs Magisterial District, a district that encompassed
the RHD. Benjamin is listed as a farmer .121 Benjamin died in the Cave Springs Magisterial
District in 1916.
11 8 This information was provided by a local informant who contributed to Turco et al., "Phase J Reconnaissance ."
119 "Benjamin Henry Certificate of Death (1916)," Virginia Death Records , 1912-2014 , Virginia Department of
Health (Richmond , Virginia , n .d .), Ancestry.com , www.ancestry.com.
12° Kagey , When Past Is Prologue : A History of Roanoke County , 402.
12 1 "1900 Federal United States Census Population Schedule : Benjamin Henry , Cave Spring, Roanoke County ,
Virginia" (Roanoke County , Virginia, 1900), Ancestry .com, www.ancestry.com .
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Elijah Poage Henry remained a resident of the Bent Mountain area into the 1940s.122 He appears
as a resident of the Cave Spring Magisterial District in the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses
as a "farmer." In World War I and World War II draft registration records, his permanent
address is listed as "Air Point," a community that encompassed the RHD.123 Elijah married
Nellie Gray Waldron (1879-1971) and had 15 children between 1900 and 1918 . Henry retired to
Floyd County by the time of his death in 1959 . Nellie Waldron Henry died in Salem in 1971.124
The Henrys had kinship ties with other area families . Elijah Henry married Nellie, who was
from the Waldron family of the area. One of Elijah Henry's sons, Patrick Miles Henry (1902-
1985), married Katherine Lee Coles (1902-1993), a granddaughter of John Coles.125 Arenah
(Rena) Henry, the wife of Benjamin Henry, and several Waldron family members are buried in
the RHD's Henry-Waldron Cemetery (DHR ID#: 080-5690) on Poor Mountain Road .126
The Coles F amity in the Late Nineteenth Century
In the late nineteenth century, the Coles family continued to have extensive land holdings in the
Bent Mountain area and remained prominent farmers. John Coles ' sister, Elizabeth Coles
(1828-1884), an unmarried woman, resided in Salem, but owned a vast acreage in the Bent
Mountain area near the tracts of her brother and the Terrys . She wrote her will in 1884, stating
that her real estate included 4,500 acres on Bent Mountain that formerly belonged to her brother,
John Coles, but had been sold to Joseph Motley Terry ; however, Terry had not yet paid for said
land .127 She ordered that, upon her death , her executor should sell her land at auction . Elizabeth
died in 1884 .128 In 1887, the Salem Times Register advertised the land for sale . The land, which
"adjoined the lands of Messrs. J.C. Terry, T.M. Price and others," was to be offered in separate
tracts. The advertisement noted that about 750 acres were "open and partly under cultivation"
while the remaining acreage was "in original growth." The tract as a whole contained "about
33 Cabins and a large number of tobacco barns." The advertisement further described "the lands
under cultivation produce Blue Grass spontaneously, and are naturally adapted to grazing and the
production of the usual crops in this part of the State, besides their superior location for health
and abundance of pure water, giving purchasers an unusual opportunity to raise cattle, horses or
sheep and the usual crops ; or to capitalists seeking investments in mineral lands ."129
122 United States, "U.S ., World War 11 Draft Registration Cards (1942): Elijah Poage Henry," 1942, FamilySearch ,
www.familysearch .org.
123 United States, "U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards , 1917-1918 : Elijah Poage Henry," 1917,
Ancestry .com , www.ancestry.com.
124 "Elijah Poage Henry Certificate of Death (1959)," Virginia Death Records , 19I2-2014 , Virginia Department of
Health (Richmond , Virginia, n.d.), Ancestry.com, www.ancestry.com; "Nellie Gray Henry Certificate of Death
(1971 )," Virginia Death Records , 1912-2014, Virginia Department of Health (Richmond , Virginia , n.d.),
Ancestry .com , www.ancestry.com.
125 "Patrick Miles Henry Certificate of Death (1985)," Virginia Death Records , 1912-2014, Virginia Department of
Health (Richmond , Virginia , n.d.), Ancestry.com, www.ancestry .com .
126 Tom Klatk.a, "Architectural Survey Form: Henry-Waldron Cemetery" (Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Department
of Historic Resources , 2016).
127 Roanoke County Circuit Court, "Will of Elizabeth D. Coles" (1884), Will Book 1, Page 310 , Roanoke County
Circuit Court Clerk's Office , Salem, Virginia.
128 Coles , The Coles Family of Virginia.
129 "Executor's Sale of 4,552 3/4 Acres of Valuable Land!," Salem Times-Register and Sentinel , September 2, 1887.
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John Coles continued to be a-:>-p,osperous farmer in the late nineteenth century . His household,
consisting of himseif, his wife Emma, and his sons John and Douglass, appeared in the 1880
census for Roanoke County in the Cave Spring Magisterial District.130 Information on his farm
appears in the 1880 agricultural census for Roanoke County. Coles had 190 acres "tilled,
including fallow and grass in rotation"; eight acres of "permanent meadows, permanent pastures,
orchards or vineyards"; and 2,000 acres of unimproved "w oodland or forest." The agricultural
census also provided valuations of the farm. The land , fences, and buildings of the Coles farm
were valued at $4 ,500. In terms of farm value, this figure placed the Coles ' farm in the upper
half of farms in the Cave Spring Magisterial District.131
Joseph Motley Terry in the Late Nineteenth Century
Joseph Motley Terry's business activities in the late nineteenth centmy are detailed in his
postwar ledgers and provide a glimpse into the thriving Bent Mountain community. His sales of
merchandise and farm products appear to have been steady and his inventory diverse . For
example, in the late 1870s , he sold coffee, corn, seed, bacon, butter, meal, and salt to his
customers, including William Shaver, John Lumpkin, and R. W. Reid. "Dried apples" appeared
for sale in 1880 . His products diversified through the 1880s . Following his death in 1888, his
son, John Coles Terry , took over the store, selling items such as eggs, envelopes, wood screws,
brown sugar, shoes, turpentine, black pepper, and silverware in the 1890s. 132 The Terry store
suffered a major fire in 1889 after manager N. C. Powell left a lit stove unattended , but the store
reopened. 133
In October 1888, Terry unexpectedly died . Salem's Times-Register newspaper reported on the
event. "Col. Joseph M. Terry, one of the oldest and most widely known citizens of this county,
died suddenly at his home on Bent Mountain last Tuesday morning, aged about 80 years."134 In
his will, written several years prior, he had left his residence to his wife, Elizabeth, as well as any
crops on his farm, his carriage, horses , and harnesses , and also all hogs and sheep, and also "the
plantation tools and utensils ," wagon, yoke, oxen , kitchen, and furniture . 135
John Coles Terry in the Late Nineteenth Century
John Coles Terry had one of the largest farms in Roanoke County, extensive real estate, and a
prominent position in the Bent Mountain community in the late nineteenth century . Terry had
one of the largest acreages in the Cave Spring Magisterial District, if not the entire county of
Roanoke , by 1880. Through the 1880s and 1890s , he oversaw the development of this acreage
into an agricultural empire where apple cultivation played a central role . At the end of the
nineteenth century, newspaper writer John Francis described the prosperity Terry had attained.
Terry's orchard, planted ca. 1870 , grew from 70 trees in 1880 to 1,000 at the time of Francis's
130 "1 880 Federal United States Census Non-Population Schedule : John Coles , Cave Spring, Roanoke County ,
Virginia" (Roanoke County , Virginia, 1880), Ancestry.com , www.ancestry.com.
131 "1 880 Federal United States Census Non-Population Schedule: John Coles , Cave Spring, Roanoke County ,
Virginia."
132 Terry, "Jo seph Motley Terry Ledgers , 1848-1894."
133 "Store House and Contents Destroyed by Fire," Salem Times-Register, January 11 , 1889.
134 "Death of a Well-Known Citizen (Col. Joseph M. Terry)," Sa lem Times-Register, October 5, 1888 .
135 Roanoke County Circuit Court, "Will of Joseph M. Terry " (October 29, 1885), Will Book 1, Page 351 , Roanoke
County Circuit Court Clerk's Office, Salem, Virginia .
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writing in 1897. At Terry's farm, Francis described, "y ou find horses, fat cattle and big hogs,
and hospitality for man and beast."136
The 1880 Agricultural Census provides specific details of Terry's usage of the land at this date .
Some 3,800 acres was unimproved woodland . His improved acreage was 1,200 acres, including
800 acres of tilled land . The value of his farm was $15,000, a number that far surpassed his
neighbors in the Bent Mountain area. Terry had fields of hay, clover, com, wheat, oats, and
grass; ten horses ; four mules; two oxen; ten milk cows ; and 130 other livestock. His farm had
produced 400 pounds of butter in 1879 . Terry still cultivated tobacco; in fact, he had 13 acres of
the crop and had harvested 13,000 pounds in 1879 . The shift toward apples can be noted in that
Terry's 400 acres of "permanent meadows, pastures, orchards, and vineyards" included 12 acres
of apple orchards and about 70 bearing trees . Another resident of the RHD-John
Cunningham-actually had an orchard double the size of Terry's; however, Terry's 1879 harvest
had brought an equal value. In all, the estimated value of Terry's farm products for 1879 was
$6,495.13 7
Terry's large agricultural operation required an unknown, but certainly large, number oflaborers.
Indeed, census records from the late nineteenth century list many "farm laborers" residing in the
Cave Spring Magisterial District. The 1880 Agricultural Census notes that Terry's labor
expenses for 1879 were $1,200. Terry's laborers were both African American and white in the
late nineteenth century . An 1889 newspaper article, which reported on a stabbing incident
involving two laborers on Terry's farm, indicates as much . The young white man named Terry
and an African-American man named Coles had quarreled over a mechanical thresher, leading to
a knife fight. Terry "completely disemboweled" his opponent.138
Newspapers, deed records, and other sources from the late nineteenth century demonstrate that
Terry was extensively involved in buying and selling real estate in Roanoke County .
Newspapers indicate he was a frequent visitor to the county seat of Salem where he attended to
property matters . He sold tracts of varying sizes. One of the purchasers was McH . Booth , a
merchant from Vinton. Booth bought "an excellent valley farm" on Mill Creek from Terry in the
late 1890s and settled there. The farm was considered one of the more valuable in Roanoke
County . Booth farmed and raised stock on the tract, as Terry had before him.139
The extent of the Terry lands and also the Coles lands attracted mineral interests in this period .
In 1889, a mineral speculator from Chicago, C . S . Cleaver, secured an option to purchase land
owned by John Coles Terry and John Coles in the Bent Mountain area, which Cleaver believed
was rich in iron and lead ore deposits. Cleaver envisioned building a railroad into the ore
mines . 14° Cleaver's plans never came to fruition.
136 John Francis , cited in Harris , A History of Back Creek , 41-45 .
137 "1880 Federal United States Census Non-Population Schedule: John Coles Ten-y , Cave Spring , Roanoke County ,
Virginia" (Roanoke County, Virginia, 1880), Ancestry.com , www.ancestry.com .
138 "Stabbed to Death," Salem Times-Register, March 29 , 1889 .
139 Jack and Jacobs, History of Roanoke County, 79.
140 "Options Taken on Valuable Mineral Properties in This County ," Salem Times-Register, October 25 , 1889 .
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Along with farming and real estate, Terry also owned a sawmill. This sawmill may have been
the same one that his father apparently operated by the time of the Civil War. Also like his
father , Terry had a store. Known as "J.C. Terry & Company ," the store served the Airpoint and
Bent Mountain communities . His competitors were Mills & Perdue and Bowman &
Company .14 1
Terry 's wealth allowed him to send his children to prominent schools . John Coles Terry Jr.
attended Hampden-Sydney College in central Virginia in the late 1880s . His youngest sister,
Grace , attended a private school in the vicinity .142 Joseph Dandridge Terry was a student at the
U S Naval Academy at Annapolis in the 1890s; his life, however, was cut short . While traveling
in El Paso , Texas, in February 1897, he died at the age of 23 . His mother, Elizabeth, retrieved
his body and returned to Bent Mountain where Joseph was buried in the Terry-Coles Cemetery
(DHR ID#: 080-5689-0002).143
A businessman and a farmer, John Coles Terry also held an important role in the community as
postmaster and also donated property for a church . Terry was appointed postmaster of the Bent
Mountain post office in 1881 and served in this capacity for many years .144 This appointment
reflected his status for, in this period, postmasters were politically-appointed and represented a
position of trust in the local community .145
In September 1896, the Salem newspaper reported that "the largest crowd ever assembled on
Bent Mountain" recently had met for the dedication of the Bent Mountain Methodist Church ,
located on a one-acre parcel near Terry 's store. Terry donated the land for the church. Area
residents contributed funds and work to raise the chapel , "a neat frame building, ample for the
accommodation of the neighborhood." The new chapel replaced a small , older structure that had
served multiple purposes in the community's history.146
John Coles Terry and family may have resided in the dwelling at what is now known as the
Grace Terry Moncure Farm (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0004). The dwelling was built about 1890 , a
period when the Terry family prospered .147 The later owner, Teny's daughter Grace Terry
Moncure, also came to be the owner of much of his acreage .
14 1 Harris, A History of Back Cree k, 39.
142 "Ma ster Joseph Terry and Miss Terry ," Roanoke Daily Times , December 25 , 188 9.
143 "Joseph Dandridge Terry."
144 Post Office Department, "Bent Mountain (1881)" (Reports of Site Locations , 1837-1950. Record Group 28 :
Records of the Post Office Department, 1773-1 971 , 1881 ).
145 Claire Prechtel-Kluskens , "The Nineteenth-Century Postmaster and His Duties ," N ational Genealogical Society
M agazine, 2007 , 33-37.
146 "Will Worship in a New Church ," Salem Times-R egister , October 2, 1896.
147 Turco et al., "Phase T Reconnaissance ."
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County and State
Prosperity from Apples
In the late nineteenth century, the cultivation of app les is said to have brought hundreds of
thousands of dollars to the Bent Mountain area.148 Prosperity was visible across the landscape .
"Anyone familiar with this section thirty years ago would be astonished at the improvement of
the place and people ," read an 1897 account by writer Gilberta Whittle that praised the influence
of the apple growing industry in the Bent Mountain area .149 "The old-time double log houses
have been tom down ," the article continued , "and in their places have been erected substantial ,
neat six to eight-room cottages , tastefully designed and painted."150 Prosperity , however, did not
reach every sector of local society . African Americans , in particular, suffered from poverty
des pite their contribution to the area's agricultural bounty as laborers. Their homes in the area
were de scribed by Whittle as being "of the most wretched character."151
Agriculture in the Early Twentieth Century
Agriculture continued to thrive in the RHD in the first half of the twentieth century , and apples
took center stage in production . While specific data for the RHD have not been found , the
general agricultural trends in the Bent Mountain community likely applied to the RHD . Orchard
owners remained the leading businessmen of the area . Fertilization and pest control became
important aspects of cultivating marketable apples . Production increased on Bent Mountain and
Roanoke County in this timeframe, and in addition to the larger orchards , most families had their
own smaller ones .152 Frosts damaged the regional apple crop significantly in the late 1910s and
early 1920s . Heavy frost caused the Bent Mountain area to produce only 10 percent of a full
crop in 1919 .153 In 1922 , Roanoke County produced only 30 percent of a full crop .154 In the
193 0s , howev er, Roanoke County and Bent Mountain continued to produce a significant amount
of the state 's apples , and many new trees were planted .155 The Works Progress Administration
(WPA) reported that in 1940 , Roanoke County had 153 ,113 apple trees of bearing age and
28,539 immature trees . Also, 739 farms reported having harvested 280 ,402 bushels of apples in
1939 .156 In addition to apples, farmers in Bent Mountain grew wheat, rye, com , buckwheat,
cabbage, and potatoes . As they had for decades, many farmers raised cattle , sheep, horses, and
hogs .157
Although apples remained the primary crop of Bent Mountain , cabbage emerged as a crop of
commercial interest in the early twentieth century .158 Cabbage had been grown by Bent
Mountain farmers for decades , although not on a commercial level until the early twentieth
century . George W . Shelor, a Bent Mountain farmer who was known primarily as a stock raiser,
148 Jack and Jac ob s, Hi story of Roan oke Co un ty , 74-79 .
149 Whittl e, "Up on Bent Mountain ."
150 Ibid .
151 Ib id .
152 Kagey , When Pas t Is Pro logue : A Hi s tory of R oanoke Cou nty , 302-5 .
153 "Apple Crop Report," New Yo rk State Fruit Growe r 3 , no . 7 (19 19): 7 .
154 "Virginia Apple Crop Is Es tim ated at 1,066 ,000 Barrels," Richm ond Tim es Dispatch , June 25 , 1922 .
155 Virginia Writers' Program , Roa noke : S tory of Co unty and City (Roanoke , Virgini a: Stone , 1942 ), 167 .
156 Ibid ., 16 5.
157 Jack and Jacob s, Hi s tory of Roanoke County , 76; McCullock , "The Pioneer John Le wis and His Illu strious
Family ," 7 5.
158 "Good Talks By Demonstrators ," The Tim es Disp atch , July 6, 19 13 .
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grew vegetables on the side, including cabbage, as was reported in an 1893 article in The
Roanoke Times . In September 1893, he yielded an impressive cabbage crop with some
specimens weighing as much as 12 pounds .159 Shelor's success may have inspired commercial
efforts that arose in the early twentieth century .
By the early 1910s, the cabbage crop of Roanoke County, specifically Bent Mountain, was
celebrated by local boosters. They pointed to the great size and sweetness of Bent Mountain
cabbage . Some observers believed that it was "doubtful if any section of the United States grows
larger or sweeter cabbage."160 While the cabbage of Bent Mountain may have had exceptional
size and taste, other states and regions of Virginia led in production. In the 1920s, the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) determined that Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia,
California, New York, and Wisconsin were the major commercial producers . Virginia was the
smallest producer of the southern states . Within Virginia, the leading regions for commercial
cabbage production were Norfolk, Nansemond Princess Anne, Northampton, Smyth,
Washington, and Wythe counties. Much of this crop was marketed in the urban areas of the
northeastern United States .161 Absent from this list was Roanoke County, and thus it appears
that commercial cabbage production, while notable, did not hold a central place in the agriculture
of the Bent Mountain area. Indeed, Bent Mountain cabbage seems to have had a fairly regional
reputation in the twentieth century . Advertisements frequently appeared in Virginia newspapers.
In 1922, an advertisement in a Charlotte, North Carolina, newspaper sought a buyer for a railroad
car of cabbage and apples. 162
Similar to apple production, cabbage production required physical labor from the preparation of
fields to the final shipment of product. In the South, laborers cut cabbage from the field, placed
them in crates or hampers at harvest time, and immediately sorted them by federally standardized
criteria . In some cases, cabbage was briefly stored in barns or cellars at the farms before being
shipped to market in refrigerated railroad cars . Motor truck transport was increasing in the
l 930s .163
Cabbage, like other crops produced in Virginia, was susceptible to pest and diseases. In the early
twentieth century, cabbage farmers in Virginia were battling a disease that caused their plants to
wilt and inadequately form. The roots of the plants were noted to be swollen and contorted.
Researchers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University determined the cause to be
a fungus known as Cabbage Club Root. The fungus was spread through the introduction of
infected soil to new cabbage fields. Farmers were advised to apply lime to their field before
planting and to avoid the introduction of infected soil that might be carried in on equipment,
horse hooves, and other farming implements . 164
In the 1930s, cabbage was grown in 30 states. Cabbages were marketed under various names
Danish, Domestic, Painted, Red, and Savoy. The specific variety in Bent Mountain is unclear,
159 "A Fine Sample from His Farm," The Roanoke Times , September 30, 1893.
160 Jack and Jacobs, History of Roanoke County, 75.
161 Alexander E. Cance and George B. Fiske, Marketing Cabbage (Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture ,
1924), 7.
162 "Apples and Cabbage," The Charlotte Observer, November 9, 1922 .
163 Raymond L. Spangler, "Preparation of Cabbage for Market," Farmers Bulletin , Vol. 1423 (1938), pp.1-12.
164 Howard S. Reed , Cabbage Club Root in Virginia (Blacksburg, Virginia: Virginia Polytechnic Institute , 1911), 11.
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but may have been known simply as "Bent Mountain." Cabbages were marketed fresh and for
sauerkraut production. One-eighth of the national crop was grown to supply companies that
made sauerkraut.165
In the post-World War II period, cabbage production in the United States declined along with
demand . The decline was evident in Virginia. Some 3,400 acres of cabbage had been planted in
1960. By 1970, the extent of acreage declined to 2,550 and continued to do so. In the 1990s, the
acreage was approximately 1,800 .166
The Last Years of John Coles Jr.
John Coles Jr. continued to hold a large estate and be involved in apple cultivation into the early
twentieth century. By this point, he could look back on half a century as a farmer in the Bent
Mountain area . Some of the most lucrative days of his life were in his later years. Coles stated
in 1901 that the apple crop on Bent Mountain that season was exceptionally good for all
farmers .167 His economic success through real estate and agriculture had allowed him to build, at
an undetermined date, a dwelling described as "one of the richest" in the Bent Mountain area.
A fire engulfed their home in April 1904, completely destroying the structure and most of its
contents.168
In his later years, Coles struggled with arthritis, and his sons, John Calhoun Coles (1869-1951)
and Douglas Coles (1871-1938), managed the family's agricultural and real estate interests.169
Coles died in March 1922 at the age of 84.170 He was, in the words of a contemporary history of
Roanoke County, "perhaps the best known citizen of the Bent Mountain district."171 His wife,
Emma, lived with her sons in the Bent Mountain area and collected her deceased husband's Civil
War pension until her death in 1931.172 Both John and Emma Coles were buried in Terry-Coles
Cemetery.173
165 Spangler, "Preparation of Cabbage for Market," 13.
166 Charles S. Plummer and Wynnice P. Napper, U.S. Cabbage Statistics , 1960-1994" (Washington, DC: US
Department of Agriculture , 1995), 38.
167 "Fine Apples on Bent Mountain," Salem Times-Register , September 13 , 1901.
168 "Fire Destroys Nice Home ," Salem Times-Register and Sentinel , April 7, 1904.
169 "Large Deals in Timber," Salem Times-Register and Sentinel , March 29 , 1906.
170 "Confederate Pensions: Emma E. Coles."
17 1 Jack and Jacobs, History of Roanoke County , 78.
172 "Confederate Pensions: Emma E. Coles"; "Emma E Coles Certificate of Death (1931 )," Virginia Death Records,
1912-2014 , Virginia Department of Health (Richmond , Virginia, n.d.), Ancestry.com , www.ancestry .com.
173 "John Coles Certificate of Death (1922)," Virginia Death Records, 1912-2014 , Virginia Department of Health
(Richmond , Virginia, n .d.), Ancestry .com , www.ancestry.com ; Thomas S. Klatka, "Cultura l Expressions of
Nature in Sacred Contexts: Documentation of Family & Community Cemeteries in Roanoke County , Virginia"
(Richmond , Virginia: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2000), 216-17.
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John Coles Terry in the Early Twentieth Century
Terry 's prominence in agriculture , particularly apple cultivation, continued into the earl y decades
of the twentieth century . His success with apples was attributable to the broad popularity of the
Albemarle Pippin . Terry and his father, Joseph Motley Terry , planted some of the first
Albemarle Pippins in the Bent Mountain area . Albemarle trees took up to 15 years to mature ,
but the profitability of their fruit justified the investment. 174 The Albemarle was popular among
consumers to the extent that even the Queen of England favored them .175 Most of the Terry 's
crop, in fact, was sent to foreign markets.176 "We learn that Mr. J. Coles Terry , one of the largest
growers of apples on Bent Mountain, this county , shipped his crop of pippins this year to
Li v erpool, England , and that his returns from them , received a few days ago, showed these
famous apples netted him $6 per barrel ," described a 1901 newspaper report. "Who wouldn 't
raise such apples? Hurrah for Bent Mountain!"177 Terry also sold his apple harvest to brokers in
New York. In 1902, for example, he sold his entire apple crop for $5 per barrel to the New York
firm of Austin , Kimball and Company, which also purchased apples from Bent Mountain 's
Woodrum orchard.178 The Terrys also grew other varieties of apples, including the Winesap and
York Imperial.179 Aside from his orchard and other crops , Terry continued to operate "a busy
saw and gristmill" on his property in 1908 . 180 Into the 1910s, he also raised sheep .18 1
In November 1911 , Terry 's wife , Elizabeth, died from complications of a stroke. 182 Their
daughter, also named Elizabeth , died several months earlier.183 Several years later in 1913 , John
Coles Terry Sr. remarried in Washington DC to Adelaide Coleman Duerson of Roanoke .184 He
died of pneumonia in 1926 at the age of 82 while visiting Norfolk. His body was returned to
Bent Mountain and buried in the Coles-Terry family cemetery (DHR ID#: 080-5689-0002).185
Almost a year later, Terry 's son, John Jr., died of pneumonia as well.186
The Terry-Coles Cemetery (DHR ID#: 080-5689-0002)
The Terry-Coles Cemetery is a family plot containing the burials of members of the namesake
families .187 The cemetery contains about 15 graves, including some that are not marked . The
earliest known burial is that of Catherine Coles (born and died 1877), a daughter of John Coles
Terry Sr. and Elizabeth Terry . Some of the other burials include Joseph Motley Terry and his
son , John Coles Terry Sr. The latter 's sons , John Jr. and Joseph Dandridge , also are buried in the
174 Harri s, A Hi story of Back Creek , 46.
175 Gilberta S. Whittle , "Orchard Amid Beautiful Peaks ," Evening News , October 19, 1908 .
176 Ibid .
177 "Final Price for Apples ," Salem Tim es-R egister , Janu ary 4, 190 1.
178 "Bent Mountain Orchard Company ," Ti mes, November 8, 1902.
179 Whittle , "Orchard Amid Beautiful Peaks ."
180 Ibid.
181 "Ewes for Sale ," Wo rld Ne ws , September 13 , 19 13.
182 "Death of Mrs . J . Coles Terry," Sa lem Tim es -R egister and Se ntin el , November 23 , 19 11 .
183 "Death of Mi ss Terry (E liz abeth Beverly Terry)," Ev ening New s , Febru ary 3, 19 11.
184 "J . Coles Terry Weds Mrs . Adelaide Duerson ," Wo rld Ne ws , October 2, 19 13 .
185 "John Coles Terry."
186 "J. Cole s Terry Certificate of Death (1927)," Virginia Death Record s, 19 12-2 0 14 , Virgi ni a Department of Hea lth
(Richmond , Virgini a, n .d.), Ancestry.com , www .ancestry.com .
187 Roanoke County Historical Soc iety , Roanoke Coun ty G raveyards T hroug h 1920 (Ro anoke County , Virg ini a,
1988), 22 8-29.
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cemetery , as is his wife , Elizabeth . Grace Terry Moncure, another daughter of John Coles Terry
Sr., died in 1977 and is buried in Terry-Coles Cemetery .188
The Civilian Conservation Corps on Poor Mountain
The RHD abuts Poor Mountain, one of the highest points in Roanoke County . The larger early
land tracts from which the Coles-Terry RHD originates included Poor Mountain . The mountain
remained wilderness until the first half of the twentieth century, when the unrivaled view from its
heights attracted a CCC site . This outpost supported CCC efforts to conserve area forests .
The 1929 stock market crash and Great Depression had repercussions across the United States,
including rural Bent Mountain. The federal government's efforts to relieve unemployment
through various work project organizations left a signature in the local area . The CCC
established camps across the nation, largely to address conservation work and forestry
management.189 The men who joined had to be unmarried, unemployed, and aged 18 to 25. To
ensure order and productivity, the War Department ran most of the CCC camps. Half a million
men worked across 2,500 camps from the time the CCC began in 1933 until its end in 1942 . The
CCC was particularly active in Virginia. The federal government spent more than $100 million
in the state and opened at least 80 camps, figures that placed it among the top five states for CCC
investment and activity in the country . More than 100,000 men, both African-American and
European-American, were employed in Virginia . 190
The CCC in Virginia was largely concerned with erosion and flood control, as well as forest and
wildlife conservation . They planted millions of trees, built nearly 1,000 bridges , strung
telephone lines, and stocked waterways with fish. At Jamestown and other historic sites, they
completed restoration work. A prominent legacy of the CCC in the state was the development of
the state park system and federal projects such as Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge
Parkway . The beginning of World War II created an abundance of jobs, and thus the CCC ended
in 1942.19 1 The story of the CCC camps of Roanoke County is not well known, although there
were at least two based in Salem during the Great Depression : Camp S-52, established in 1933,
and Camp P-52, also known as Camp Triangle, established in 1935 .192 Camp P-52 may have
been a reactivated version of the earlier camp .
One of the Roanoke County CCC camps, perhaps, was the base camp associated with the fire
tower site that was completed in the RHD ca . 1933 . The tower site was within a 160-acre tract
originally owned by John Coles Terry Sr.193 The tower (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0007) stood at the
188 Moncure 's death has been erroneously documented as 1955 as opposed to 1977 . Klatka, "Cultural Expressions of
Nature in Sacred Contexts: Documentation of Family & Community Cemeteries in Roanoke County, Virginia,"
554-55 .
189 R.L. Heinemann, "Civilian Con servation Corps," Encyclopedia Virginia , 2014 , www .encyclopediavirginia .org/
The_ Civilian_ Conservation_ Corp s.
190 Ibid .
191 Ibid .
192 Civilian Conservation Corp s Legacy, "CCC Camps in Virginia," 2018 , http ://www.ccclegacy.org/
CCC_ Camp s_ Virginia.html.
193 It is assumed that the War Department leased the fire tower site . Roanoke County Circuit Court, "Deed from
Grace Moncure Tel1}' to Frank H . Terry Sr. (Trustee for Grace Minor Terry)" (November 29 , 1963), Deed Book
730 , Page 113 , Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk 's Office , Salem , Virgini a .
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highest point of Poor Mountain .194 Due to the incredible view the tower offered, it became a
local attraction during the CCC period and afterwards . Locals would take Sunday automobile
outings to drive up the mountain and climb the tower.195 The site was so ideal for towers that,
after the war, numerous communication companies constructed towers nearby on the Terry's
land .
Grace Terry Moncure Inherits the Terry Estate
Grace Fortescue Terry, who future generations would remember as Aunt Grace, was the
daughter of John Coles Terry Sr. and Elizabeth Terry . Born in 1882 at the Terry estate, Grace
came of age in the period when apple orchards were booming and her father's farm was one of
the largest in Roanoke County . 196 As a child, her family sent her to study in a private school in
Hampden-Sydney, Virginia .197 In 1915, she married Philip St. Leger Moncure (1867-1955), an
established physician in Norfolk who studied at the Medical College of Virginia and served as
the Head Surgeon at the city's St. Vincent's Hospital.198 Grace was interested in history. In the
1920s in Norfolk, she was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial
Dames, and the Association for the Preservation of Virginian Antiquities . 199
Grace Terry Moncure inherited her father's large estate in the late 1920s as her mother, two
brothers, and two sisters had all died.200 On the estate was a dwelling (ca . 1890), known today as
the Grace Terry Moncure Farm (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0004), thought to have belonged to her
parents . In the following decades , she remained connected to Bent Mountain, particularly in the
later years of her life. While she and her husband appear often in the census and city directories
in Norfolk up to the 1940s, they kept the home at Bent Mountain . In the 1920s and 1940s, Grace
altered and expanded the dwelling .201
The Coles-Terry RHD in the Late Twentieth Century
Bent Mountain remained rural and agricultural into the post-war decades, even as similar
landscapes elsewhere in Roanoke County were redeveloped as neighborhoods and shopping
plazas . 202 In earlier times, nearly every resident of Bent Mountain farmed to some degree;
however, in the post-World War II period, the number of farmers declined as residents drove
their automobiles to Roanoke for wage jobs or relocated nearer to cities for work. 203 Farm land
in Bent Mountain and other areas became more valuable to sell than to farm . Cabbage, a
commercial crop that emerged earlier in the century, continued to be produced on some farm
194 Ann M. Rogers , "Property Information Form: Coles -Terry Rural Historic District (VDHR 080 -5689 )"
(Richmond , Virginia: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2016), 3 .
195 Ibid., 3.
l% "Grace Fortescue Moncure Certificate of Death (1977)," Virginia Death Records, 1912-2014, Virginia
Department of Health (Richmond , Virginia, n.d .), Ancestry.com , www .ancestry.com.
197 "Master Joseph Terry and Miss Terry ."
198 American Historical Society , History of Virginia: Virginia Biography (Chicago: American Historical Society ,
1924), 584-85.
199 American Historical Society , 585.
200 John Coles Terry's second wife, Adelaide Duerson , does not appear to have received any of his estate.
201 Turco et al., "Phase I Reconnaissance ."
202 Harris, A History of Back Creek , 74.
203 Kagey, When Past Is Prologue : A Histmy of Roanoke County , 305.
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parcels in this period, but its success was not comparable to that of apples in prev10us
generations .204 In recent years, cabbage has not been extensively cultivated in Virginia as a
whole. In 2002, about 1,700 acres in Virginia were dedicated to cabbage . Of 15 states
producing cabbage, Virginia came in twelfth in terms of production or 2.18 percent of the
national crop . The principal centers of production in Virginia were Accomack, Carroll, Hanover,
Northampton, and Patrick counties .205
Following the general trend in agriculture, apple production declined in the Bent Mountain area
and Roanoke County after the mid-twentieth century. By this time, competition and the
production costs rose. These factors put pressure on commercial orchard owners. In the early
years, orchard owners largely competed with their contemporaries in the region; however, the
proliferation of improved highways and trucking alleviated the transportation challenges of the
past to the point that orchard owners in Bent Mountain competed on a national level. Moreover,
farmers who set out new orchards planned them as commercial orchards as opposed to the small
acreages of mixed fruit varieties that characterized Bent Mountain since the Reconstruction
period. Costs associated with apple production increased in the postwar period as well. Pruning,
fertilizing, spraying, and mowing had become fundamental to orchard management, and the
expense to perform these tasks fluctuated with wages, energy prices, and the cost of fertilizer and
pesticide. By the late twentieth century, as Susan A Dolan wrote in her context of US orchards,
"a highly competitive economic environment for commercial orchards created very small profits
margins for orchardists."206
Apple cultivation in Roanoke County underwent a dramatic drop through the 1950s. In 1950,
there were 148,735 apple trees in the county; by 1960, the number had decreased by more than
half to 66,609 .207 In the RHD, the extent of apple orchards is evident in aerial photographs from
1947 and 1960 (Figures 2 and 3).208 The same number is evident in the 1960 aerial photograph
(see Figure 3). This photographic evidence implies that the orchards of the RHD were not
declining as quickly as they were in other parts of the county.
Grace Terry Moncure had inherited her father's large, agricultural estate, which included the
Coles-Terry RHD, in the 1920s. The once thriving farm, which produced livestock, oats, rye,
com, butter, and apples into the mid-twentieth century, had dwindled in farming activity after
World War II. If historic aerials are an indication, she owned several orchard parcels within the
RHD. Roanoke County land and estate records demonstrate that Moncure sold some of her land
in small tracts as the years passed. In the late 1950s and through the 1960s, she transferred other
acreage, usually in tracts of several hundred acres, to her nieces and nephews.
Prior to her death in 1977, Moncure reflected on the story of her family's land and the area's
history in a brief memoir titled "Recollections of Bent Mountain, Virginia."209 Her vivid prose
204 Nicholas J. Linville, Interview with Deedie Kagey of Roanoke, Virginia, August 6 , 2018.
205 Therese N . Schooley , Crop Profile for Cabbage in Virginia (Blacksburg , Virginia: Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University , 2005).
206 Dolan , Froitful Legacy: A Historic Context of Orchards in the United States, 115.
207 Kagey , When Past Is Prologue: A History of Roanoke County , 511-12.
208 United States Geological Survey, "Aerial Photographs: Roanoke County, Virginia," 1947; United States
Department of Agriculture, "Aerial Photographs: Roanoke County, Virginia," 1960 .
209 Grace was buried in the Terry-Coles Family Cemetery. "Grace Fortescue Moncure Certificate of Death (1977)."
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illustrated her deep knowledge and pride in the people and places of the Coles-Terry RHD.
"Bent Mountain curves in the shape of an amphitheater where the encircling ranges might have
been seats for an audience of mythical Titans, who viewed the ceaseless colorama of storms that
moved the great oaks and pines and poplars in their ballet measures," she wrote . She told of the
Lewis Tract, the story of Bent Mountain's name, the rivers and creeks of the area, and how her
Coles and Terry ancestors, their slaves, and other residents built an agricultural community that
thrived for nearly 150 years. 210
210 Moncure , "Recollections of Bent Mountain, Virginia," 30-32.
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9. Major Bibliographical References
Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form .)
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"1860 Federal United States Census Population Schedule: Joseph M. Terry." Pittsy lvani a
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"1880 Federal United States Census Non-Population Schedule : John Coles Terry , Cave Spring,
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"1900 Federal United States Census Population Schedule : Benjamin Henry, Cave Spring,
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"1900 Federal United States Census Population Schedule : J. Coles Terry, Cave Spring, Roanoke
County , Virginia." Roanoke County, Virginia, 1900. Ancestry.com. www .ancestry.com.
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NPS Form 10-900 OI\/IB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
"Apples and Cabbage." The Charlotte Observer . November 9, 1922.
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
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NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic Distr ict
Name of Property
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
"John Coles Teny." Richmond Times Dispatch. February 28, 1926 .
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NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
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NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
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Roanoke County, VA
County and State
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Carolina : United States Forest Service, 1998 .
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Previous documentation on file (NPS):
--preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested
---previously listed in the National Register
--previously determined eligible by the National Register
---designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # ---------------
recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ---------------
recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ---------------
Primary location of additional data:
X State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency ---
---Federal agency
x Local government
---University
x Other
Name of repository : Library of Virginia; Roanoke County Circuit Court Clerk;
Roanoke City Library ; Salem Library
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): _______________ _
Secti on s 9---end p age 52
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property: 2 560
Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates ( decimal degrees)
Datum if other than WGS84 : NAD83
( enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)
1. Latitude : 37 .199492 Longitude: -80.147358
2. Latitude: 37 .198740 Longitude : -80 .141691
3. Latitude: 37.184244 Longitude : -80.140061
4 . Latitude: 37 .179555 Longitude: -80 .120342
5. Latitude : 37 .164757 Longitude: -80 .123796
6. Latitude: 37.159556 Longitude : -80 .139374
7. Latitude : 37 .167124 Longitude: -80 .170738
8 . Latitude : 37 .165332 Longitude : -80 .182170
9. Latitude : 37.175998 Longitude: -80 .183333
10 . Latitude: 37 .187546 Longitude : -80 .174114
11. Latitude: 37.184079 Longitude : -80.160947
Sections 9-end
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
page 53
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)
The boundary line is indicated on the accompanying USGS map (Figure 4).
Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected .)
The NPS provides guidance in defining the boundaries of rural historic districts in two bulletins :
Guidelines for Evaluating Rural Historic Landscapes (Rural Historic Landscapes) and Defining
Boundaries for National Register Properties (Defining Boundaries).211 The Rural Historic
Landscapes guidelines define a Rural Historic Landscape as "a geographical area that
historically has been used by people, or shaped or modified by human activity, occupancy, or
intervention, and that possesses a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of areas of land
use, vegetation, buildings and structures, roads and waterways, and natural features. The
Defining Boundaries bulletin notes that such a boundary should "consider the setting and
historically important landscape features" of a proposed district and that "a combination of
features," in addition to obvious boundaries such as county lines or property lines, may be
appropriate . This nomination takes a combination of features into consideration, including the
recommendations of Turco et al. and Ann Rogers , to justify the boundaries of the Coles-Terry
RHD_212
The Coles-Terry RHO is an approximately 2,560-acre rural and agricultural landscape at the
slope of Poor Mountain in Bent Mountain, Roanoke County, Virginia. Its boundaries largely
encompass the ancestral and present-day lands of the Terry family . The RHD boundaries, as
defined by the previous Property Information Form (PIF), encompass the various historic
resources within the Coles-Terry familial agricultural tract.213 Based on the 2018 architectural
field survey, SEARCH recommends retaining the general RHD boundaries delineated by
Rogers.214 Honeysuckle Road and Poor Mountain Road form the northern boundary. The
western boundary is formed by the Montgomery/Roanoke County line . The eastern boundary
follows property parcel lines and avoids non-historic development in the area located in the
vicinity of the intersection of Poor Mountain Road with Tinsley Lane and Willet Lane . The
southern boundary approximates the historic extent of Coles-Terry familial land holdings south
of the Grace Terry Moncure Farm (DHR ID #: 080-5679). These boundaries encompass all
contributing resources defined by Rogers (Figures 4 and 5).215
211 Laura Flint McClelland, "NationaJ Register Bulletin: Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Rural Historic
Landscapes" (National Park Service, 1999); Donna J. Seifert, "National Register Bulletin: Defining Boundaries
for National Register Properties " (National Park Service , 1997).
212 T urco et al., "Phase I Reconnaissance"; Rogers, "Preliminary Information Form: Bent Mountain Apple Orchard
Rural Historic District (080-5731)."
2 13 Rogers, "Preliminary Information Form: Bent Mountain Apple Orchard Rural Historic District (080-5731)."
2 14 Ibid .
2 15 lbid .
Sections 9--end page 54
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
11. Form Prepared By
Name/Title : Nick Linville/Historian; Geoffrey Mahlman/Senior Architectural Historian;
Travis Fulk/Architectural Historian; Jenna Dunham /Architectural Historian; Angelique
Theriot/ Architectural Historian; Ryan Shears/Geographic Information System (GIS)
Technician
Organization : =SE=-cAR=C=H=------------------------
Street & Number: 2800 Dorr Avenue Suites Hand I
City or Town: F=-=ai=rf.=a=x'-----
Email: michael@searchinc .com
Telephone : 904-3 79-8338
State : VA --'--=-=------Zip Code : =22~0~3_.cl ______ _
Date : August 2019
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form :
• Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7 .5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's
location .
• Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous
resources . Key all photographs to this map .
• Additional items: Check with the SHPO, TPO , or FPO for any additional items .
o Additional Map Figures
Section s 9-end page 55
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Coles-Terry RHO
Coles-Terry
Rural Historic District Boundary
Roanoke County
ESRf Streemflg Data
Sections 9-end
USGS Topographic Map
A NAO 83 UTM 17N 1-,0,000
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
--Highway
--Local Road
--Flowli ne (NH D)
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 56
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 Olv1B No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
0 600 0 2 ,000
I I I I I I
Meters
t I I I
-"' ..,
•-··1 Coles -Terry Rural
i. •• ..:ix, Historic District
Feet
l(JA Contributing Structure
)
1(/A ~ther Structur\
-High~y ~ 1 ~ Public Road (Ji
fl tn
_.;__ other Roads anc1 ~
ff Drives ::o
9 ' 0 $ 0 Photograph
Sections 9-end
Sketch Map
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
Martins Creek
,,,_,,,,.,,,/ _--..... ~6 \
;,,I .,,-.... _ 8 •
( /~~--.J. I Cl.,, -...__ .
.J l ,.-.---, \
\ .,, ~-. '-~ ...... .., _,.--1__ ,, ,., ,,,,,,, •
_r -,/ .,.,,•-,• ..
.,• . ,
:-..
Q,e,
..t'
page 57
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-00 18
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
ADDITIONAL ITEMS
ADDITIONAL MAP FIGURES
Section s 9--end page 58
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Izard. Walter, W. Hutchinson,
John M . Coyle, Jeremy Francis GIimer,
Louisa Porter Minis,
and Confederate States of America.
"Map of Roanoke County, Va.
(Southern Section ).•
Richmond, Virginia:
Confederate Chief Engineer's Office, n.d.
Source : Library of Congress
Roanoke County
ESR1 Su-um~ Deta
Sections 9-end
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Figure 1 of 5
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
t ...... .,..
page 59
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Fo rm
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-00 18
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Coles -Terry RHO
1960 USGS A er ial Ph ot ograph
Roanoke County
USOA-FSA~APFO Aeril!II Orthophoto 1960
ESRI Streammo Dela
Sections 9-end
WGS 184 UTM 17N
Coles -Terry Rural Historic District
--Highway
--Local Road
r ]Orchard
Figure 2 of 5
Figure 3 of5
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 60
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 Ol\/1B No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
North American
Datum of 1983
Latitude Longitude
1 37 .199492° -80 .147358 °
2 37.198740 ° -80 .1 41691 °
3 37.184244° -80 .140061°
4 37 .179555° -80 .120342 °
5 37 .164757° -80 .123796 °
6 37 .159556° -80 .139374 °
7 37 .167124° -80 .170738°
8 37.165332 ° -80.182170 °
9 37 .175998° -80 .183333 °
10 37 .187546° -80.174114 °
11 37.184079 ° -80 .160947°
Sections 9-end
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
c::J Coles -Terry Ru ral Historic District
0 Distri ct Vertex
1,000 0
--.-----, Meters
USGS National Map Ba sema p Service (2019)
Figure 4 of 5
5,000
Feet
N
A
page 6 1
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registrat ion Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Coles-Terry RHO
Coles-Ter ry
Rura l His toric District Bo undary
Roanoke Co unty
ESRI Streaming Dela
Photographs
Section s 9-end
NAO 83 UTM 17N 1:32,000
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
--Highway
--Local Road
--Flowtine {N HD)
Contributing Primary Resource
Non-Contributing Primary Resource
Figure 5 of 5
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 62
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 Olll1B No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
Submit clear and descriptive photographs . The size of each image must be 1600xl200 pixels
(minimum), 3000x2000 pixels preferred, at 300 pixels per inch (ppi) or larger . Key all
photographs to the sketch map (included previously under Additional Documentation). Each
photograph must be numbered, and that number must correspond to the photograph number on
the photo log . For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo date, etc. may be listed once
on the photograph log and does not need to be labeled on every photograph .
Photo Log
Name of Property: Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
City or Vicinity:B =-"e=nt-'--'M=oc..ccu=n=ta=in=------------------------
County : Roanoke State : ...,_V-"-A"'-------------------
Photographer: .:::;SE~AR=C=H~------------------------
Date Photographed : "-'Ju=l.J.-=2..:::..0=18"------------------------
Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of
camera:
1 of 11. Cabin at 8566 Poor Mountain Road (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0001 ), facing
northeast.
2 of 11. Janet Wynot House at 8701 Poor Mountain Road (DHR ID#: 080-5689-0002),
facing north.
3 of 11. Terry Place barns at 8701 Poor Mountain Road (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0002),
facing northeast.
4 of 11. Terry Place shed at 8701 Poor Mountain Road (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0002),
facing northeast.
5 of 11. Overview of Janet Wynot House/Terry Place/Terry-Coles Cemetery at 8701 Poor
Mountain Road (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0002), facing northeast.
6 of 11 . Baker House at 8873 Poor Mountain Road (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0006), facing
east.
7 of 11. Terry Barn at 8873 Poor Mountain Road (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0006), facing
west.
8 of 11 . Terry Barn ruins at 8873 Poor Mountain Road (DHR ID #: 080-5689-0006),
facing southeast.
9 of 11. Overview of Poor Mountain Road in Coles-Terry RHD (DHR ID #: 080-5689),
facing south.
Sections 9-end page 63
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
10 of 11 . Overview of Coles-Terry RHD (DHR ID #: 080-5689), facing east.
11 of 11 . View of the southern boundary of the Coles-Terry RHD (DHR ID #: 080-5689),
facing northwest.
Due to restrictions, certain Coles-Terry RHD resources could not be fully accessed for
photography. Per DHR instruction, photographs of the following resources, as available, were
provided by Michael Pulice, Architectural Historian, Western Regional Office, DHR, or
collected from the Virginia Cultural Resource Information System (V-CRIS) and have been
included as supplemental photographs:
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0002
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0003
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0004
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0005
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0006
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0008
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0009
Janet Wynot House/Terry Place/Terry-Coles Cemetery (8701 Poor
Mountain Road). Minimal views of Janet Wynot House, Garage,
and barns
Ruins (8741 Poor Mountain Road)
Grace Terry Moncure Farm (8701 Poor Mountain Road)
Henry-Waldron Cemetery (8443 Poor Mountain Road)
Baker House (8873 Poor Mountain Road)
Coles-Terry House/Orchard and Barn (8741 Poor Mountain Road)
Elijah Henry House (8443 Poor Mountain Road)
The following resources could not be accessed for photography and no photos are available on
V-CRIS :
DHR ID#: 080-5689 -0007 Fire Tower (8744 Honeysuckle Road)
Sections 9-end page 64
---------------------------------------------------------
Un ited States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Ru ral Historic District
Name of Prope rty
Sections 9-end
Photo 1 of 11
Roanoke Coun ty, VA
County and State
page 65
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 ONIB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
Photo 2 of 11
Section s 9-end page 66
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
Photo 3 of 11
Sections 9-end page 67
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0!\11B No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
Photo 4 of 11
Sections 9-en d page 68
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Fo rm
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Na me of Prope rty
Section s 9-end
Photo 5 of 11
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 69
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Na me of Prope rty
Sections 9-end
Photo 6 of 11
Roanoke County , VA
County and Stat e
page 70
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Name of Property County and State
Photo 7 of 11
Sections 9-end page 71
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 Ol\t1B No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
Sections 9-end
Photo 8 of 11
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 72
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Registe r of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 Q\116 No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
Photo 9 of 11
Sections 9-end page 73
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Serv ice / National Register of Historic Places Registration Fo rm
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-00 18
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Prope rty
Sections 9-end
Photo 10 of 11
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 74
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0M B No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Prope rty County and State
Photo 11 of 11
Section s 9--end page 75
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Reg ister of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Co les-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
ADDITIONAL ITEMS
SUPPLEMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHS
Sections 9-end page 76
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0M B No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0002 . Source : DHR .
Secti ons 9-end
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 77
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Reg istration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0M B No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0002 . Source : V-CRIS .
Sections 9-end page 78
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / Nationa l Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0\-18 No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
OHR ID #: 080-5689-0002. Source: OHR .
Section s 9-end
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 79
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0003. Source : V-CRIS .
Sections 9-end
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
p age 80
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0004 . Source : DHR .
Sections 9-end
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 81
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Serv ice / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
DHR ID #: 080-568 9-0004 . Source : DHR .
Sections 9-end page 82
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
DI-IR ID#: 080-5689-0004 . Source: DI-IR .
Secti ons 9-end page 83
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Serv ic e / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County , VA
Name of Property County and State
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0004 . Source: DHR .
Sections 9-end page 84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service/ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0004 . Source: DHR .
Section s 9-end
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 85
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
DHR ID#: 080-5689-0005 . Source : V-CRIS.
Sections 9-end
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 86
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Serv ic e I National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No . 1024-00 18
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0006. Source : DHR .
Sections 9-end
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 87
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
DHR ID#: 080-5689-0008. Source : DHR .
Sections 9--end
Roanoke County, VA
County and State
page 88
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Se rv ice / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
NPS Form 10-900 0M B No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District
Name of Property
DHR ID #: 080-5689-0009 . S urce: V-CRIS .
Section s 9-end
Roanoke County , VA
County and State
page 89
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service / National Register of Histo ri c Places Registration Fo rm
NPS Form 10-900 0MB No. 1024-0018
Coles-Terry Rural Historic District Roanoke County, VA
Na me of Property County and State
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This informat ion is being collected for applications to the National Reg ister of Historic
Places to nominate properties fo r listing or determine eligibility for listing , to list properties , and to amend existing listings . Response
to this request is required to obta in a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act , as amended (16 U.S .C.460
et seq .).
Estimated Burden Statement: Publ ic reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time
for re v iewing instructions , gathering and maintaining data , and completing and reviewing the form . Direct comments rega rd ing this
burden estimate or any aspect of this fo rm to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior , 1849
C . Street, NW, Washington , DC .
Sections 9-end page 90
I·.
.,,,•11:'•l.:o MOUNTAIN rf 'J I VALLEY I PIPELINE
Table 10.4-1
Comparison of Proposed Swann Compressor Station Site and Alternative Sites
Feature Swann Swann Swann Swann
Alternative 1 Alternative 2 Alternative 3 Alternative 4
General
Construction footprint (acres) al 25.1 24 .2 1·5 .7 19.0
New access road length, approximate (feet) bl 3 ,600 3,455 100 1,130
Land Use
Land use Agricultural Forest Agricultural , Agricultural,
forest forest
Nearest NSA (feet/direction) cl 1,900ISW 850ISW 7001N 1,160INW
NSAs within 0.5-mile (number) c/ 9 8 95 52
Resources and Constraints
Forested land affected by construction (acres) 1.7 20.3 4.4 4 .5
Wetlands (NWI) within site (acres) di 0 0 0 0
Waterbodies within site (number) di 0 0 0 0
Prime Farmland or Farmland of Statewide Importance Yes Yes Yes Yes
present
Critical habitat for federally listed species No No No No
Within 0.5 mile of NRHP Historic District No Yes fl No No
Potential to encounter karst Moderate Moderate Moderate No
Predominant slope (percent) 5-20 5-20 5-25 15-35
10-8
Resource Report 10
Alternatives
Docket No. CP26--000
Proposed Swann
Compressor Station
25.0
0
Forest, scrub, barren
1,445INW
136
13.8
0
0
Yes el
No
Yes fl
Moderate gl
0-25
October 2025
Resource Report 10
Alternatives
Docket No. CP26--000
Construction of a compressor station at Swann Alternati ve Site 2 is technically feasible ; there are fewer
NSAs within 0.5 mile of the alternative site than the proposed site, and the site is surrounded by forest ,
which would potentially reduce visual and noise impacts on surrounding NSAs. However, use of the site
for a compressor station would require substantial cut and fill as well as about 0 .65 mile of new access road.
Compared to the proposed site, the nearest NSA is closer to the alternative site , and the site is located within
a historic district. Additional land would need to be acquired for the site, access, and construction
workspace . For these reasons, MVP does not consider Swann Alternative Site 2 to be environmentally or
technically preferable to the proposed site for the Swann Compressor Station.
10.4.2.3 Swann Alternative Site 3
Swann Alternative Site 3 is located at MP 234.7 of the MVP Mainline, approximately 0.9 miles north of
the proposed site off Thomas Drive in Montgomery and Roanoke Counties, Virginia (Figure 10.4-5). The
alternative site is located directly adjacent to the MVP Mainline . The site would require about 100 feet of
a new access road. Preliminary review of topography indicates that some cut and fill would be required for
this site and that disturbance area to accommodate the compressor station would be about 15.7 acres . An
additional 0 .5 acre would need to be cleared to route utility power to the site from the American Electric
Power (AEP) Kumis substation. Land cover is primarily hayfield and forest, and the site contains soil
classified as Farmland of Statewide Importance.
The nearest residence and NSA at Swann Alternative Site 3 is about 700 feet north of the site, compared to
1,250 feet for the proposed location. However, there are fewer NSAs within 0.5 mile of the alternative site
than the proposed site. While there is some forested area between the site and NSAs , the site is elevated
and the vegetation would likely provide minimal visual screening or buffering of noise.
Construction of a compressor station at Swann A lternative Site 3 is technically feasible , would require
construction of only about 100 feet of new access road, and there are fewer NSAs within 0.5 mile of the
alternative site than for the proposed site. However, compared to the proposed site , the nearest NSA is
closer to the alternative site, and because the alternative site is elevated above the NSAs , noise and visual
impacts are anticipated to be greater. Additional land would need to be acquired for the site , access , and
construction workspace. For these reasons , MVP does not consider Swann Alternative Site 3 to be
environmentally or technically preferable to the proposed site for the Swann Compressor Station.
10.4.2.4 Swann Alternative Site 4
Swann Alternative Site 4 is located at MP 243.8 of the MVP Mainline, approximately 6.4 miles southeast
of the proposed site in the Bent Mountain area of Roanoke County, Virginia (Figure 10.4-6). The alternative
site is located directly adjacent to the MVP Mainline. Approximately 1,130 feet of new access road would
be required to reach Alternative Site 4 from Bottom Creek Road . Preliminary review of topography
indicates that extensive cut and fill and slope stabilization would be required for this site and that
disturbance area to accommodate the compressor station would be about 19 acres . The nearest electric
utility connection point is the Bent Mountain Substation , owned by American Electric Power Company,
Inc ., located approximately 1.9 miles from the site . Therefore, an additional approximately 20 acres of tree
clearing would be required to install utility power to the site.
Land cover is hayfield and forested and the site contains soil classified as Prime Farmland. The surrounding
landscape is a mix of forest , agriculture , and scattered residential. The site lies approximately 300 feet from
Mill Creek located on the other side of the MVP Mainline to the southeast.
10-13 October 2025
.-
'Wl•
1
,.,,,. MOUNTAIN
-r6 'J , I' VALLEY
j • PIPELINE
Resource Report 10
Alterna t ives
Docket No. CP26--000
The nearest residence and NSA at Swann Alternative Site 4 is about 1,160 feet northwest of the site ,
compared to 1,250 feet for the proposed location. However, there are fewer NSAs within 0.5 mile of the
alternative site than the proposed site.
Construction of a compressor station at Swann Alternative Site 4 is technically feasible and within the
practical siting buffer based on hydraulic modeling of pressure support and pressure drop characteristics ,
and there are fewer NSAs within 0.5 mile of the alternative site than the proposed site . However, the
alternative site would require approximately 1,130 feet of new access road, new electric utility service, and
extensive cut and fill. Additional land would need to be acquired for the site, access , and construction
workspace. For the reasons described above, MVP does not consider Swann Alternative Site 4 to be
environmentally or technically preferable to the proposed site for the Swann Compressor Station.
10.4 .3 Compressor Station Site Alternatives Conclus ion
Following a detailed evaluation of four alternative compressor station locations against the proposed Swann
Compressor Station site, MVP concludes that no alternative site is environmentally or technically preferable
to the proposed site. Each alternative presents one or more critical deficiencies , including increased cut and
fill requirements , proximity to NSAs, and land acquisition.
By contrast , the proposed site is the only location that simultaneously satisfies all key technical ,
environmental , and regulatory considerations:
• It is located within the hydraulically optimal siting window, providing superior pressure support
and pressure drop perfonnance based on MVP modeling.
• lt is owned by MVP, eliminating the need for new land acquisition.
• It avoids floodplains, direct impacts to resources listed on the National Register of Historic Places ,
and mapped sensitive lands.
• It is accessible via existing infrastructure, with minimal road improvements or off-site utility
needed .
Under the National Environmental Policy Act and FERC's public interest review under Section 7(c) of the
Natural Gas Act, MVP has a responsibility to identify and pursue the most practicable alternative with the
least environmental impact. Based on the comprehensive analysis of siting, environmental constraints ,
permitting risk, stakeholder compatibility, and hydraulic performance , the proposed Swann Compressor
Station site clearly meets this thres hold.
10-14 Octobe r 202 5
COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Molly Joseph Ward
Secre tary of Natural Resources
Ann Rogers
6347 Back Creek Rd.
Boones Mill, VA 24065
Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23221
September 27, 2016
Re: Coles-Terry Rural Historic District, Roanoke, County
Dear Ms. Rogers:
Julie V. Langan
Director
Tel : (804) 367-2323
Fax: (804) 367-2391
www.dhr.virginia.gov
We are pleased to inform you that at its September 15, 2016, meeting, the State Review Board concurred with the
Department of Historic Resources (DHR) that the Coles-Terry Rural Historic District is recommended eligible for
nomination to the national and state registers, assuming that a more substantially documented nomination fully supports
the arguments presented in the PIP and/ or raised in the staff and board discussions. Approval at the Preliminary
Information Form level is not the formal .listing stage and not a guarantee that the nomination will succeed if the
documentation and argument made in the final formal nomination do not fully support the property's eligibility.
We caution you that if the smff or boards do not feel that a sufficient argument has been made for a resource, we may ask
for more information or make the recommendation that the resource no longer appears to meet the criteria for eligibility.
We strongly encourage you to work closely with the DHR staff as you work through the nomination process. Please feel
free to conract the Western Region Preservation Office at 540-387-5443 for any assistance.
The recommendation of eligibility is also subject to re-evaluation if the architectural and/ or archaeological resource is
significantly altered, remodeled, or partially demolished, or if further research reveals that the resource is less significant
than originally proposed.
Before making a final recommendation on the resource, the DHR staff, the State Review Board, and the Historic
Resources Board will need to see a fully developed nomination. The National Register of Historic Places form is used for
nominating resources both to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register. You may prepare the
nomination yourself or hire a consultant
Should the preparation of a nomination go forward, you will be notified prior to any formal action by the Department
Thank you for your interest in the register program.
Western Region Office
962 Kime Lane
Salem, VA 24 J S3
Tel : (540) 387-5443
Fax: (540) 387-S446
Sincerely,
~
James Hare
Director, Survey and Register Division
Northern Region Office
5357 Main Street
PO Box S19
Stephens City, VA 22655
Tel : (S40) 868-7029
Fax: (540) 868-7033
Eastern Region Office
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
Tel: (804) 367-2323
Fax: (804) 367-2391
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORIC RESOURCES
28 01 Ke n s ingto n Avenu e, Ric h mond, Vi rginia 2322 1
Telephone: (804) 367-2323 Fax: (804) 367-2391
PRELIMINARY INFORMATION FORM
HISTORIC DISTRICT
An historic district is defined as a significant concentration of buildings, structures, or sites that are united historicall y
and aesthetically by plan or physical development. The following constitutes an application for preliminary
consideration of eligibility for the nomination potential of a historic district for listing in the Virginia Landmarks
Register and the National Register of Historic Places. This does not mean that the district is being nominated to the
registers at this time. Rather, it is being evaluated to determine if it qualifies for such listings. Applicants will be
notified of the staffs and the State Review Board's recommendations.
Contact the Virginia Department of Historic Resources Archivist to determine if previous survey material for this
proposed district is on file, and if the district has been previously evaluated by DHR. Obtaining previously recorded
information could save a significant amount of time in preparing this Preliminary Information Form (PIF). The
archivist may be reached by phone at (804) 482-6102, or by email at Quatro .Hubbard@dhr .virginia .gov . The
archivist will also give you the address of the regional office to which you should send your completed PIF materials.
Please type this form and, if additional space is needed, use 8½" x 11" paper. If an electronic version of this PIF is
available, it would be helpful if it could be submitted on a disc, or via email to the archivist. Note: All submitted
materials become the property of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and will not be returned.
Photographs: P lease provide at least four (4) color or black-and-white (B&W) photographs of general streetscapes
and four ( 4) color or B&W photographs showing a sample of individual buil dings within the proposed district. The
inclusion of photographs is essential to the completion of this application. Without photographs, the application
can not be eval uated. Photographs should be labeled on the reverse side in soft pencil or china marker (not with
adhesive labels), and are not to be mounted or affixed in any way.
D igita l Im ages: In addition to the images printed on photographic paper, digital images, if available, should be
submitted in TIF or JPEG format and can be included on the same disc as the PIF.
Maps: P lease includ e two (2) maps sh owing the location of the proposed district:
• A copy of a USGS Quad map with name of county /city printed on the map and with the name of the
proposed district indicating its location (sections of USGS Quadrangle maps can be printed free of charge from
http://s t o r e .u sgs .go v and hand-labeled to mark property boundaries or location), and
• A map showing a closer picture of the proposed boundaries with street names and/or routes and possible
building footprints would also be helpful. Please include a "North" arrow, date, and ''Not to Scale" on this
map.
Before submitting th is form, please make sure that you have included the following:
• Section oflabeled USGS Quadrangle map
• Proposed district boundary map
• 4 labeled color or B&W general photos
• 4 labeled co lor or B&W individual building photos
• Completed Resource Information Sheet, including
o Applicant contact information and signature
o City or county official's contact information
Thank you for taking the time to submit this Preliminary Information Form. Your interest in Virginia's historic
resources is helping to provide better stewardship of our cultural past.
Pre lim inary Information Form
Revised September 2012
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
PIF Resource Information Sheet
This information sheet is designed to provide the Virginia Department of Historic Re sources with the necessary data to be able to
evaluate the significance of the proposed district for possible listing in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register
o f Historic Places. This is not a formal n omination, but a neces sary step in determining whether or not the district could be
considered eligible for listing. Please take the time to fill in as many fields as possible . A greater number of completed fields will
result in a m ore timely and accurate assessment. Staff assistance is available to answer any questions yo u have in regards to this
form.
General Property Information I DHRID#:
For Staff Use O nly
080-5689
District N ame (s): Coles -Terry Rural Historic District (CTRHD)
Di strict or Selected
Building Date(s):
1835-1970 ~Circa 0Pre 0P ost Open to the Public? No
Main D istrict
Streets and / or
Routes:
Poor Mountain Road, Honeysuckle Road City: Bent Mountain
Coun ty or Ind . City: Roanoke County USGS Quad(s): Bent Mountain
Physical Character of General Surroundings
Zip: 24059
Ac reage : 2,560 Setting (choose one): D e ity D urban □Town □suburban [8] Rural □Transportati o n
Corrido r
Site Description Notes/Notable Landscape Features/Streetscapes:
This rural , mostly forested district encompasses about 2,500 acres on the eastern slope of Poor Mountain. starting
4/10 mile east of the intersection of Poor Mountain Road and Honeysuckle Road in Bent Mountain, Roanoke
County, VA, extending 3.25 miles southwest along the crest of Poor Mountain to the Montgomery County line . It
includes the headwaters of Laurel Creek and Bottom Creek where they emerge at the foot of Poor Mountain , and
old apple orchards. The district contains a network of Civilian Conservation Corps forest roads and paths
connecting to a fire tower at the highest point of Poor Mountain at 3,926 feet elevation . Prehistoric
archaeological sites have been found along the creeks .
Ownership
Cate o ries :
[8JPrivate
General District Information
What were the historical uses of the resources within the proposed district? Example s include: Dwelling, Store, Barn, etc ...
Dwelling, tobacco growing and curing, timber harvest, sawmill industry, apple orch ards, apple sales, horseman ship ,
and rec reation, including h orseback riding and hiking along Honeys uckle Road and along the district's man y fire
roads and fire trails, and automob il e excurs ion s to the fire tower
What are the current uses? (if other than the historical Domestic
use)
Arc hitec tural style s or elements of
buildings within the proposed di strict: Ve rnacular (n o disc emable style) ------'-------------"----'-------------------'
Preliminary Information Form
Revise d September 2012
Archite cts , builders , or ori ginal
owners of buildings within the
propose d di stric t:
All buildings an d stru ctures h ave b een or are n ow ow n e d b y m emb ers
o f th e T erry family.
Are there any known threa ts to thi s di strict? Th e p ro pose d Mo untain Valley Pip eline an d o ther natural gas pipelin es
pro posed for con struction through ru r al areas and wildlands o f Virginia
Ge nera l Description of Di strict:
The CTRHD includes lands historically and currently owned by the Terry family . The boundary was
adjusted to exclude modem resources that would not be contributing to the district's significance.
Buildings and structures within the CTRHD are contained within the five properties listed below, four of
which are currently owned by the Terry family . Construction dates for dwellings are from the Roanoke
County GIS mapping system (http ://gisweb .roanokecountyva .gov).
1. Aunt Grace Fortesque 's house [aka . Terry Moncure Place , DHR 080-5679]
-current owner: Frank H. Terry , Jr . ET AL
-p arcel id : 102 .00-01-02 .00-0000
-contributing resources : house built ca. 1890-1940s; garage built ca. 1900 ; barn built ca . 1875 ; stone wall
built ca . 1890; Cook's house built ca . 1890 .
-un-delineated Archaic and Woodland period archaeological sites (extensive collection oflithics in
owner 's possession).
2 . Coles Terry's house [not surveyed]
-current owner : John Coles Terry III
-parcel id : 102 .00-01-0800-0000
-contributing resource : house built 1910 ; remnant of old orchard
3 . Baker House [not surveyed]
-current owner : Frank H . Terry Sr. Estate
-parcel id : 103 .00-02-01.00-0000
-contributing resources : house built ca . 1875 ; 2 Terry Barns built ca . 1875 and ca. 1890
4 . Janet Wynot house [DHR 080-0490]
-current owner, Janet Wynot
-parcel id: 103 .00-01-01.00-0000
-contributing resources: house believed built in first or second quarter 19th century and originally owned
by Terry family ; Coles and Terry Family Cemetery ; stone wall
5. Fire Tower [not surveyed]
-current owner : Elizabeth Terry Reynolds and PMTS , LLC (Terry family)
-parcel id : 093.00-01-46.00-0000 and 102 .00-01-01.00-0000
-contributing resources : fire tower built by Civilian Conservation Corps circa 1933 ; cobbled stone road
providing access to fire tower; metal sign at base of cobbled road; network of jeep roads and foot trails
prov iding access to fire tower
Pre limin ary Info m1ation Fom 1
R evised Se ptem ber 20 I 2
Significance Statement: Briefly note any significant events, personages, and/or families associated with the proposed
district. It is not necess ary to attac h lengthy articles or genealogies to this form . Please li st all sources of information .
Normally, only information contained on this form is forwarded to the State Re view Board .
The Coles-Terry Rural Historic District appears to be eligible under Criterion A in the area of Agriculture
and Criterion C in the area of Architecture. The period of significance begins in 1835 with the purchase of
15 ,000 acres ofland by John Dabney Coles, and ends in 1970, with the cessation of the 100-year boom in
apple orchards on Bent Mountain that began during Reconstruction.
Grace Fortescue Terry -chronicler of the Colesfferry family legacy
In 1957, Grace Fortescue Terry produced a typewritten history of her family , titled, "BENT MOUNTAIN
By Mrs . Philip StLeger Moncure (Grace Fortescue Terry) daughter of John Coles Terry, of Bent
Mountain, Va." Much of the information appearing in the 1957 document was subsequently published in
the Winter 1967 edition of the Journal of the Roanoke Historical Sociery, in an article titled,
"Recollections of Bent Mountain , Virginia."
In her 12-page typewritten narrative , Grace Fortescue Terry , whom we will refer to henceforward as
"Aunt Grace ," chronicles a sequence whereby the current heirs of the Terry family came to own hundreds
of acres of land on Bent Mountain . The story begins with General George Washington giving "some
hundred thousands of acres" to the "doughty" General Andrew Lewis . Aunt Grace's narrative does not
date this gift. However, we know that Lewis died in 1781, so we can date this gift sometime between
1770 and 1780.
The heirs of Andrew Lewis lost no time in selling their shares of this enormous tract of wilderness land
given by General Washington to General Lewis . The Lewis heirs sold :
• 15 ,000 acres to John Dabney Coles , Aunt Grace's great grandfather, in 1835, and
• 2,000 acres to an individual named William Dabney in the early 1800s, who sold the same land to
Capt. Joseph Motley Terry, Aunt Grace's grandfather, around 1850 .
It was through these two purchases that the Coles/Terry family obtained ownership of the land that is
contained within the CTRHD . Terry and Coles, both of whom lived in Pittsylvania County prior to the
Civil War, hired contract labor to grow tobacco on their land during the decades prior to the Civil War.
Aunt Grace's narrative states that Terry and Coles moved Caucasian families to Bent Mountain as tenants ,
"with contracts for clearing, building and crop-raising. This new ground of loose fertile loam was well
suited to tobacco growing, it being the cash crop . An overseer managed these settlements of white tenants ,
in addition to separate clearings by colored families, brought from the lower plantations ."
Coles' daughter, Catherine, married Terry . In 1845 , the couple had a son , John Coles Terry , who inherited
his mother's share of the Coles estate while a very young child , and also later inherited his father's land .
The fact that John Coles Terry inherited thousands of acres ofland comprising a significant portion of
what is, today, the community of Bent Mountain, and, through his ownership , kept these lands
unsubdivided through the early 20 th century, has helped to endow the Bent Mountain community with the
distinctively rugged appearance of a wild mountain frontier that has persisted to the present time.
John Coles Terry, who was Aunt Grace's father, had a brilliant military career. According to Aunt Grace,
a year before the start of the Civil War, he entered VMI as a cadet. At the start of the war, his father
organized a company of volunteers and became their captain, but soon suffered a severe wound , moved to
Bent Mountain to recover, and never re-entered battle.
Early in 1862, at age 17 , John Coles Terry joined the Confederate forces under the command of General
Stonewall Jackson. Later, at the death of Stonewall Jackson, Terry joined forces under General Jubal
Early and stayed with Early through the valley campaign . Early and Joseph M . Terry had been partners in
a law practice in Pittsylvania County prior to the start of war.
7/13/2026 4 of 8
Aunt Grace's recounting of her father's gallantry in the Civil War is both excruciatingly touching and
written in a brilliant literary style . She says, on page 11 of her typewritten narrative,
He [John Coles Terry] had an active career, on his alternating mounts "Mary" (Stuart) and
"Raliegh ." First with Jackson in his hound and fox forays against Milroy in and out of West
Virginia and Virginia, with weeks of brilliant maneuvering, swiftness and victories. These
adventurous years were a delight to a high spirited boy, and he relived it with many an anecdote to
his rapt audience (his children) through Maryland , into Pennsylvania to Gettysburg -sometimes a
dispatch carrier -or scouting-or in the thick of battle with dismounted cavalry . Those gallant
horses "Mary" and "Raliegh" spent their last years on Bent Mt. honored above all four footed
friends . "Mary'"s descendants remained in the Terry family for years . She herself was an eighth
generation foal in the equestrian branch of the family of thoroughbreds . The last one, Dainty
Di xie, was in the fourteenth generation . Alas that motors have banished so many noble creatures
to the green pastures of the haven where their great spirits are , we trust, forever young and fleet of
foot.
George S. Jacks' History o{Roanoke County
Several other history texts , made available to us at the Virginia Room of the Roanoke City Public Library ,
offer accounts of the development of the Coles/Terry family legacy . The principal among these is a text
that was rescued from obscurity by a reprinting commissioned by Wytheville, VA antiquarian bookseller,
Jim Presgraves . This text, titled History of Roanoke County, by George S. Jack, was copyrighted in 1912 .
It contains two sections pertinent to the CTRHD . The first section , bearing the heading "The Coles
Purchase ," says that John Coles Terry inherited all of Joseph M . Terry's land, and that this inheritance was
5,000 acres, which is much larger than the 2,000 acres cited in Aunt Grace's text. It also says that John
Dabney Coles owned 12 ,000 to 14 ,000 acres , which is 1,000 acres fewer than cited by Aunt Grace . The
following is an excerpt:
The Coles Purchase
As the years passed away , the great Lewis Tract was divided and most of the original boundary
passed out of the hands of the first owner or his immediate descendants . A man named Clark
became the owner of most of the mountain land and of a large boundary of the plateau land on top
of the mountain . This he afterwards sold to John M . Price of Fincastle, who in turn sold to John
Coles , a boundary of twelve thousand acres, more or less , which proved to be nearer fourteen
thousand acres, for the sum of $12 ,000 .00 . Some six or eight thousand acres of the original Lewis
Tract, near the Floyd County line, was purchased many years ago by Tazewell and Warfield Price .
In the years to come as this section became more thickly populated , these vast boundaries were
subdivided into smaller farms , with the exception of one large tract of nearly five thousand acres
which was purchased by the late Captain Joseph Motley Terry , and which at his death reverted to
J. Coles Terry, his son, all of which the latter still owns . On this beautiful plateau are now some of
the best homes in Roanoke County, and some of the most productive, as well as the largest apple
orchards of this section of Virginia.
History of Roanoke County also contains biographical sketches of the most prominent men in the county 's
history . It contains a sketch and photograph of John Coles which begins, "Perhaps the best known citizen
of the Bent Mountain district is John Coles , who was born in Pittsylvania County , in 1836, being the only
son of John Coles , Sr., also a native of Pittsylvania County , Virginia ." Thus , John Coles Jr. was Captain
Joseph M . Terry's brother-in-law, and John Coles Terry's uncle . John Coles Jr . is the grandfather of the
fa mily members who are present-day owners of the properties in the CTRHD .
Deedie Dent Kagey's When Past is Prologue: A History o{Roanoke County
7/1 3 /2026 5 of 8
Kagey's history of Roanoke County is useful in documenting economic activity of the Coles and Terry
famil y members .
Kagey provides a list of individuals' names listed in the "Productions of Agriculture" census of 1870 .
Among these are John Coles (i .e ., John Coles , Jr ., Joseph M . Terry's brother-in-law) and John Coles
Terry . John Coles is listed as having 3,950 acres under production in a farm valued at $8 ,000 . John Coles
Terry is listed as having 4 ,900 acres under production in a farm valued at $7 ,000 .
Kag ey states that the 1884-1885 Virginia Gazeteer and Bus iness Directory listed the principal farmers of
Roanoke by communities . Under the heading "Bent Mountain " were listed the names John Coles , John C.
Terry , and Joseph M . Terry . The same gazeteer listed J . M . Terry as an attorney doing business in Bent
Mountain/ Air Point. According to Kagey , the Virginia State Directory 189 7 listed persons who provided
goods or services in Roanoke County . Included on this list were "J .C . Terry & Co ." listed as "general
merchant" and "J. Coles Terry " listed as "mills (saw and planing)".
A Gilmer Collection Confederate Army map (1864) of Bent Mountain shows the location of a "Terry saw
mill " at a point inside the CTRHD along Bottom Creek. Thus we can surmise that the Terry famil y
sawmill business was active during the 30 year period from 1864 through 1897, if not longer .
Kagey's list from the 1897 directory also includes John Coles and J . C. Terry as having farm operations in
"Air Point", which is a location along U.S . 221 in Bent Mountain that was the center of the famous Bent
Mountain orchard industry which emerged during Reconstruction . Kagey includes the Terry famil y
among those who were stakeholders in the Bent Mountain orchard industry , stating, "By 1910, J . Coles
Terry ... [was] among those who ran successful orchards on Bent Mountain." Kagey adds , "Everyone [ on
Bent Mountain] had an orchard . Grace Moncure [i .e ., Aunt Grace] had six or eight."
A 1963 topographic map of Airpoint shows the prevalence of orchards , demonstrating the persistence of
the Bent Mountain orchard industry well into the 20th century .
Fire tower
The presence of the fire tower at the highest point on Poor Mountain (3 ,926 feet) is documented in Aunt
Grace's manuscript. She associates the location of the tower with a historic site called "Street's Entry," a
place that was used to enter the Bent Mountain area by military explorers prior to the construction of
roads . A sizeable network of fire roads and fire trails were built to provide access to the fire tower. Many
of these roads and trails are extant today and have been used for recreational horseback riding and hiking
by the Terry descendants .
Roanoke historian , Lee Pendleton's 1976 manuscript, "Poor Mountain ," discusses the fire tower. He
describes his first visit to the tower in the mid-1930s :
The Adult CCC men had worked the road and it pulled the hill well. We drove west out the ridge
as far as we could go. A fire tower with a telephone had been built. The custodian and wife were
glad to see us and some of our party climbed the tower. I went about half way . Men and women
had been going up on Sunday for years , in "T" model Fords, carrying an extra supply of water for
the radiator.
7/13/2026 6 of8
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Terry , Grace Fortescue . "Bent Mountain". 1957 . Virginia Room , Roanoke City Public Library , Roanoke,
Va.
Jack, George S. History of Roanoke County. 1910 . Virginia Room.
Kagey , Deedie Dent. When Past is Prologue : A History of Roanoke County . 1988 . Virginia Room .
Confederate Army Map of Bent Mountain , Gilmer Collection , 1864 . Virginia Room .
USGS Topographic Maps of Bent Mountain, 1963 . Virginia Room .
Pendleton , Lee . "Poor Mountain". 1976 . Virginia Room .
Sorrell , Robert . Blue Ridge Fire Towers . The History Press . 2015 .
Byrne, John P . "Civilian Conservation Corps in Virginia, 1933-1942 ." 1982 .
http ://scholarworks .umt.edu /cgi /viewcontent.cgi?artic1e=2824&context=etd
Forest History Society , 701 William Vickers Ave ., Durham , NC 27701-3162 . www .foresthistory .org .
The Society's historian offered valuable technical assistance in our research on the fire tower.
7/13/2026 7 of8
Applicant Information (Individual completing form)
Ann Rogers
6347 Back Creek Road
Boones Mill, VA 24065
540-312-3104
Date: 4-20-16
Applicant's Signature: flnn /YI· Roqers
Notification
In some circumstances, it may be necessary for DHR to confer with or notify local officials of proposed listings of properties
within their jurisdiction. In the following space, please provide the contact information for the local County Administrator or
City Manager.
Mr. D Mrs .O Dr. 0
Miss D Ms . D Hon.O
Roanoke County
(Loca lity)
Roanoke
(City)
Thomas C. Gates
(N am e)
VA 24018
(State) (Z ip Cod e)
Administrator
(P o sitio n)
5204 Bernard Dr.
(Address)
540-772-2004
(D aytim e telepho ne includ ing area code)
Please use the fo llowing space to explain why you are seeking an evaluation of this district.
To acknowledge, honor, and safekeep the Coles/Terry family heritage, and to protect the breathtakingly
beautiful landscapes and cherished historic structures contained within the district from being abused or
destroyed by inappropriate industrial development.
Would you be interested in the State and/ or the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits? Yes ~
Wo uld you be interested in the easement program? Yes ~
7/13/2026 8 of8
½
Data Zoom 12-4
Coles Terry Rural Historic District
Contributing resources include (east to west)➔ Baker House and two adjacent barns; Janet Wynot (formerly Terry) house; Coles and Terry Family
Cemetery; Coles Terry 's house and old orchard ; Grace Fortescue Terry 's house and stone wall; Fire Tower built during Civilian Conservation Corps
era, with connecting fire roads and trails ; cobbled stone fire road ; and , steel sign marking entrance to cobbled road area. Also of interest: USGS
Waypoint.