Whitethorn (Blacksburg, Virginia)
Whitethorne | |
 Whitethorne, 1898 | |
  | |
| Location | VA 685, 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the junction with US 460, Blacksburg, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°12′31″N 80°27′4″W / 37.20861°N 80.45111°WCoordinates: 37°12′31″N 80°27′4″W / 37.20861°N 80.45111°W |
| Area | 4 acres (1.6 ha) |
| Built | c. 1855 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Italian Villa |
| MPS | Montgomery County MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 89001879[1] |
| VLR No. | 150-5021 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 13, 1989 |
| Designated VLR | June 20, 1989[2] |
Whitethorne is a historic home located at Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia. It was built about 1855, by , who received the land from his father, Governor of Virginia, James Patton Preston. It is a two-story, "L"-shaped, five bay by three bay, brick dwelling with a shallow hipped roof in the Italian Villa style. It has Greek Revival style exterior and interior decorative elements. It features a wide, elegant, one-story, five-bay front porch supported by square columns of the Tuscan order. Also on the property is a contributing two-story brick office building.[3]
Preston, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point was a lawyer by trade. He was commissioned a captain in the 1st Regiment of Virginia Volunteers at the outset of the Mexican–American War in 1846. He served in Mexico from January 16th, 1847 to July 31st, 1848. Upon returning home from the war he resumed his law practice.[4]
When Virginia succeeded from the Union Preston commissioned into the Virginia Militia, and was subsequently transferred to the Confederate Army, on April 24 1861. He was promoted to colonel in the Confederate army and became the commanding officer of the 4th Virginia Infantry under brigade commander Stonewall Jackson. He commanded the 4th Virginia at First Manassas where he was wounded in battle. After several months of tending to his wound while in the army, including a brief two-week stint as a brigade commander, due to his health he was forced to resign his commission and returned home to Whitethorn. Preston did not live to see the end of the war. He died on January 20th, 1862 at age 49.[5]
Whitethorne remained in the Preston family until 1889 when it was purchased by Beverly Stockton Heth, a Radford Banker.[6] The majority of the 1,500 acre estate became the Hethwood development in the 1970s, a planned community that includes single family homes, townhomes, apartments and a shopping center. The home remained in the Heth family until 2001 when it and 326 acres of surrounding farmland were acquired by Virginia Tech.
Whitethorne was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.[1]
References[]
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ Gibson Worsham (June 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Whitethorne" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo
- ^ https://civilwar.vt.edu/james-f-preston-possible-author-of-the-rebel-yell/
- ^ https://civilwar.vt.edu/james-f-preston-possible-author-of-the-rebel-yell/
- ^ http://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/the-trial-of-professor-charles-vawter/article_c5608632-70a4-11e7-a377-a70b2a33ec85.html
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
- Greek Revival houses in Virginia
- Italianate architecture in Virginia
- Houses completed in 1855
- Houses in Montgomery County, Virginia
- Buildings and structures in Blacksburg, Virginia
- National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Virginia
- Montgomery County, Virginia Registered Historic Place stubs