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In Pictures: Life a century ago on a Southwest Virginia farm
By Tom Adkinson
November 4, 2022
ATKINS, Virginia – The Settlers Museum of Southwest Virginia provides a relaxing respite from the sometimes nerve-wracking traffic on I-81 near where Virginia comes to a point at Bristol, Tennessee. The open-air 67-acre museum, which sits on U.S. Forest Service land, details the westward movement of Scotch-Irish and German settlers who came into this part of the Blue Ridge Mountains starting in the mid-1700s. A two-story farmhouse and nine preserved outbuildings are the primary attractions. Nearby is a one-room schoolhouse from 1894. One route to the farmstead is along a piece of the famous Appalachian Trail, and another follows an official Virginia wildlife and birding trail. Admission is by donation to the nonprofit museum.
A farm family’s home
This well-preserved two-story farmhouse and its nine outbuildings are indications of a prosperous 1890s farm. Image by Tom Adkinson
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Rail fence
A split-rail fence separates a field from a one-lane driveway leading from the museum entrance to the farmstead. Image by Tom Adkinson
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Farm Wagon
This red and green wagon is one of many reminders of an unmechanized time in settlers’ history. Image by Tom Adkinson
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A schoolhouse dinner
Appalachian Trail hikers take advantage of the 1894 one-room Lindamood School building for an evening meal. Museum visitors get a bonus when they chat with AT hikers, some of whom are traveling the route’s entire 2,100 miles. Image by Tom Adkinson
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Blackboard discipline
Perhaps an Appalachian Trail hiker couldn’t resist the opportunity to relive a childhood punishment with this message on the schoolhouse blackboard. Image by Tom Adkinson |
The necessary
“The little house behind the big house” at the Settlement Museum is a reminder of the realities of times before plumbing and electricity. Image by Tom Adkinson |
Trip-planning resources: SettlersMuseum.com and VisitSmythCountyVA.com
(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available on Amazon.com.)
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