Nelson County was officially incorporated in 1807. Filled with historical sites, century farms, country roads, and ancient mountains; the cultural landscape provides a timeless charm.

Pharsalia is an 1814 plantation home with stunning views of The Priest Wilderness Area. Oak Ridge Estate is an 1802 mansion on 5,000 acres of rolling hills, forest, and streams. Swannanoa is an Italianate marble villa atop Afton Mountain. Visit the Walton’s Mountain Museum in Schuyler and Earl Hamner House, boyhood home of Earl Hamner, Jr., creator of The Walton’s TV Show. Oakland Museum is located in an old tavern; it houses exhibits on Rural Electrification, Historic Properties, Roads & Ancient Mountains, Nelson County Schools and Hurricane Camille remnants, a Category 5 hurricane that devastated Nelson County in 1969. The  Nelson Heritage Center has an African-American history exhibit and offers community events.

Historic Woodson’s Mill (1794) produces stone-ground grain products. Take a drive through the Historic Districts of Lovingston, Schuyler, Southern Rockfish Valley, Norwood-Wingina and Afton-Greenwood; or meander along the James River from Wingina to Norwood and view the area where some of the first settlers established homes along the river.  The Rockfish Valley Foundation Nature History Center  features exhibits from the Virginia Museum of Natural History.  Exhibits include an array of taxidermied native wildlife. Young visitors will have the chance to experience animal pelts, insects, rocks and other artifacts.  The Dodd Cabin is a restored historic log cabin open to visitors on a seasonal basis.

Additionally, two of Nelson’s craft beverage locations have museums on-site. The Virginia Distillery Museum is part of the walking tour of Virginia Distillery Company’s production distillery and includes fascinating historical distilling equipment and three video features. The Bold Rock Cider Museum offers cider artifacts for view and a unique opportunity to learn facts about the history and production of hard cider.

Oakland Museum

5365 Thomas Nelson Highway
Arrington, VA 22922
434-263-8400
website

The Oakland Museum is in a historic tavern with exhibits on Rural Electrification in Nelson County in the 1930s and Hurricane Camille and its devastation on Nelson County in 1969. Oakland’s exhibits were created to promote greater understanding of the county’s history and of the connections between the county’s history and that of the state of Virginia and the nation. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.  info@nelsonhistorical.org

Open Wednesdays 1-4PM and Saturdays 10AM to 4 PM.

Oak Ridge Estate

Oak Ridge Estate

2300 Oak Ridge Road
Arrington, VA 22922
434-263-8676
website

The mansion on this 5,000-acre plantation estate was first built in 1802 and acquired at the turn of the 20th century by Thomas Fortune Ryan, a Nelson County native who had become one of the 10 wealthiest men in the nation. He made impressive alterations to the building and grounds-adding a formal Italian garden, rotunda greenhouse and railroad station, among other features. In addition to the impressive house and grounds, Oak Ridge Estate is also available for weddings, meetings, corporate functions and private events. The total meeting spaces range from 700-8,000 sq. ft with maximum seating styles as follows: Classroom-775, Banquet-350, Reception-350 and Theater-775. Meeting spaces are handicapped accessible. For additional information or to make a reservation, please call 434-263-8676. (Currently not open for group tours.)

Pharsalia

2333 Pharsalia Road
Tyro, Virginia 22976
434-277-5231
website

Built in 1814 at the foot of dePriest Mountain in Nelson County, Virginia, by William Massie, Pharsalia commands stunning views and is surrounded by original outbuildings and lovely gardens. Pharsalia is rich in history with a picturesque setting like no other and is on the National Register of Historic Place and the Virginia Landmarks Register. Pharsalia, owned by descendants of the Massie family, continues to carry on the tradition of grace and eloquence along with a connection with the land. It is a working farm with orchards and extensive vegetable and flower gardens.

Pharsalia is not open to the public, but will schedule group tours with prior arrangement. Events such as weddings, family gatherings and corporate retreats may be arranged at Pharsalia. Workshops are scheduled throughout the year where you can learn, visit and tour Pharsalia.

Swannanoa

497 Swannanoa Lane
Afton, Virginia 22920
540-942-5201
website

Swannanoa was built in 1911 by Major James H. Dooley atop the Blue Ridge at Afton Mountain. It is an Italianate marble villa with commanding views of the Shenandoah and Rockfish Valleys. Extensive terraced gardens with statues and marble walls surround the palace. It has been used as a retreat, a clubhouse, and a philosophy institute and is presently under restoration by the owner.

It is only open to the public on selected weekends during the spring, summer and fall.  Schedule available at Nelson County Visitor Center: 434-263-7015.

Walton Hamner House

128 Treetop Loop
Schuyler, Virginia 22969
434-831-1384
website

The house was built in the early 1900s as a company house for the large soapstone company in Schuyler. From 1929 until 1940, the house was the boyhood home of Earl Hamner, Jr., novelist and scriptwriter and creator of the well-known television series, “The Waltons”. Many of the writings of Earl Hamner were based on life in the house, village and surrounding area. It is a white frame house with a soapstone foundation, a common feature of company homes in the village. The Hamners bought the house in 1936 from the company and it remained in the family until 2003. The next owner restored the house and placed it on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.  Now under new ownership:  The Walton Hamner House is open seven days a week and guided tours begin every half hour from 10am until 4pm.

Walton’s Mountain Museum

waltons-mountain-museum

6484 Rockfish River Road
Schulyer, Virginia 22969
434-831-2000
website

Walton’s Mountain Museum showcases the television show of the 1960s, “The Waltons”. Earl Hamner, Jr., creator of The Walton’s, grew up in Schuyler and many of the scripts were based on life as a boy in Schuyler, VA. The museum displays replicas of rooms on the TV show, such as John-Boy’s Bedroom, Ike Godsey’s Store, the kitchen and living room. A 30-minute video featuring Earl Hamner, Jr. and the stars of “The Waltons”, hundreds of photographs and pieces of memorabilia, and a gift shop are in the museum.

The Walton’s Mountain Museum is open daily except during the winter months. Check the Walton’s Mountain Museum website site for opening date and times of operation.

Woodson’s Mill

Woodsons Mill

3211 Lowesville Road
Roseland, Virginia 22967
804-803-1794
website

Woodson’s Mill has been owned and loved by a small handful of families since its construction in 1794, when Guiliford Campbell built the original four-story, 32 foot square building. The Fulchers improved it in the 1840’s, adding the two runs (mill stones), which are still in use today. Sixty-some years later, Dr. Julian B. Woodson expanded the mill into a thriving enterprise that included an icehouse, sawmill, and foundry while maintaining his duties as a medical doctor and State Senator. The rise of large industrial mills in the growing post-war America, along with Dr. Woodson’s death in 1963, brought a temporary end to the mill business. But, Huron T. Campbell, who owned the mill while it was not in operation, refused to sell any of the equipment or machinery in hope that someone would eventually be able to restore it. J. Gill Brockenbrough, Jr., who purchased Woodson’s Mill in the early 1980’s, did restore it and lived there until his death in 2001. All these people were passionate about Woodson’s Mill, and so are we.

Tours are available by appointment with the mill open for business on Saturdays during the spring through fall. Check the Woodson’s Mill website for opening date and hours of operation.

Lovingston-Historical-MarkerHISTORIC HIGHWAY MILE MARKERS

Virginia’s state historical highway markers are hard to miss on the state’s roadways. There are now more than 2,200 of them erected in Virginia to commemorate people, places, or events of regional, statewide or national significance.

Virginia Dept of Historic Resources

Historic Lovingston VAHISTORIC DISTRICTS & HISTORIC PROPERTIES

The Department of Historic Resources (DHR) administers two programs designed to recognize our resources and to encourage their continued preservation: the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register, established in 1966 and managed by the National Park Service, is the official list of structures, sites, objects, and districts that embody the historical and cultural foundations of the nation. The Virginia Landmarks Register, also established in 1966 and managed by the Department of Historic Resources, is the state’s official list of properties important to Virginia’s history. The same criteria are used to evaluate resources for inclusion in the state register as are used for the National Register

Nelson County Register (DHR) | Afton-Greenwood Historic District | Lovingston Historic District | Norwood-Wingina Historic District

Schuyler Historic District | South Rockfish Historic District

HURRICANE CAMILLE

Hurricane Camille arrived in Virginia on the night of August 19, 1969, one of only three category five storms ever to make landfall in the United States since record-keeping began. One of the worst natural disasters in Virginia’s history, the storm produced what meteorologists at the time guessed might be the most rainfall “theoretically possible.” As it swept through Virginia overnight, with Nelson County receiving the brunt of the storm. Communication networks were not in place or were knocked out, leaving floods and landslides to trap residents as they slept. Hurricane Camille cost Virginia 113 lives lost and $116 million in damages. It also served as a lesson that inland flooding could be as great a danger as coastal flooding during a hurricane.

Encylopedia Virginia | Hurricane Camille on Wikipedia | Oakland Museum

NELSON COUNTY CEMETERIES

The Nelson Memorial Library and the Nelson County Historical Society are both excellent resources for information on local cemeteries. You may purchase the Nelson County Cemetery Book at the Nelson County Visitor Center and the Oakland Museum. You may also want to consider contacting local churches for additional information on cemeteries.

Nelson County Historical Society | Nelson Memorial Library | Interment Cemetery Records Online | List of Nelson County Cemeteries

GENEOLOGY & RESEARCH INFORMATION

The Nelson County Historical Society research files are located in the Nelson Memorial Library in Lovingston. They can be accessed when the library is open. Research Committee members are in the library on Wednesday from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM to help with inquiries.

Nelson County Historical Society
P.O. Box 474, Lovingston, VA 22949
Inquiries to: info@nelsonhistorical.org

The following items may be found in the files:
Family genealogy – filed by surname,  Government and County History, Cemeteries, Churches, Communities, Homes, Post Offices, Schools, Transportation, Wars