Chapter 4 - Rockbridge County, Virginia
My GILMORE
ancestors settled in Rockbridge County, Virginia. This chapter has some background on this
lovely, rural county.
 |
| 1850 Virginia counties |
Where is
Rockbridge County, Virginia?
(See photos of 1850 Virginia
map, and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.)
|
Rockbridge County, Virginia is located at the southern end of
the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and is bordered on the East by the Blue
Ridge Mountains, and on the West by the Allegheny Mountains. The valley consists of gently rolling
farmland, interspersed with forested areas.
The 1850 map of Virginia counties (and West Virginia counties) shows the
location of Rockbridge County, Virginia.
On the map, Rockbridge County, Virginia, is colored yellow & outlined in red.
See it, near the center of the map?
In the 1800s, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia became the
destination for a large number of Protestant Scots-Irish immigrants, who were
seeking refuge from the oppression of both England and the Northern Irish
Catholics. These Scots-Irish were
looking for the freedom to do two things –
1) to practice their Presbyterian religion in a
country, which was located far away from the control of the British government,
and
2) to live in an area which was geographically
similar to their native lands of Ireland and
Scotland.
 |
| Shenandoah Valley of Virginia |
During the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763), Rockbridge
County, Virginia, was the scene of several brutal Indian attacks in the Kerr’s
Creek (pronounced Car's Creek) area.
None of my GILMOREs were involved in the Indian attacks;
none of my Gilmore family lived in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in the
1700s.
Rockbridge County, Virginia, was also the home of Civil War
soldiers, Robert E. LEE (born
1807 - died 1870) and Thomas J.
“Stonewall” JACKSON (born 1824 - died 1863).
I’ve been to Rockbridge County, Virginia, many times, and think it’s a beautiful place. No wonder most of my ancestors stayed in that area, rather than moving South or West!
 |
| Farm where War of the Worlds was filmed |
Movie
- "War of The Worlds" - starring Tom Cruise
If you want to see Rockbridge County, Virginia, but cannot
travel there, then you may want to Google for photos of the county. You might also want to watch the 2005 movie, “War of the Worlds,” starring Tom Cruise. The farm scenes were filmed in Rockbridge
County, Virginia. But watch carefully,
because the scenes are very brief. They
come after Tom Cruise and his children leave the city.
In the movie, you’ll see a long line of people walking
through the valley,
trying to escape the alien invasion.
(See the photo for what the valley looks like in the daytime, without a
bunch of actors on it.) Just over the
hill, to the right of the farmhouse, is where the huge battle scene (in the
movie) happened, in which dozens of people and vehicles charged up the hill and
confronted the aliens.
The farm in the movie is located in Rockbridge County,
Virginia, about 15 miles north of Lexington, Virginia, and a few miles South of
the Augusta County, Virginia border.
Natural Bridge (tourist
attraction) is located in Rockbridge County, Virginia
|
In 1778, Rockbridge
County, Virginia was formed from Augusta and Botetourt (pronounced
BOT-uh-tot) Counties,
getting its name from the natural rock bridge formation over Cedar Creek. George WASHINGTON surveyed the Natural Bridge, and Thomas JEFFERSON owned it for
several years. The natural rock
formation measures 215 feet high, 90 feet wide and is over 100 million years
old. It’s now a tourist attraction.
 |
| Natural Bridge in Virginia |
I first visited Natural Bridge, Virginia, with my parents
when I was 10 years old. I have a spooky
story to tell you about our Natural Bridge vacation, and my
great-great-grandparents. I'll include the story in an upcoming chapter.
The village of
Natural Bridge is located a couple of miles from this rock formation, and eleven
miles south of Lexington, Virginia, at the intersection of US Route
11 and State Route 130.
Many of
my ancestors lived their entire lives in the Natural Bridge area. It probably looked like the photo, back then.
My next
blog post will begin with my Irish-immigrant ancestor, Robert Gilmore and his
parents.
 |
| Rockbridge County, Virginia |
- - - - - - - -
(sources:
Library of Virginia archives; other photos taken by me on various visits
to Rockbridge Co, VA; A History of
Rockbridge County, Virginia, by Oren Frederic Morton; Historical Significance of Rockbridge
County, Virginia, by James W. McClung; Among These Ancient Mountains:
The story of Rockbridge County, Virginia, by Anne Drake McClung; "War of The Worlds Archive," by
Andrew Clem, 2004; History Lessons
from a Country Church Volumes 1 & 2, by Rev. Horace Douty
- - - - - - - -
Thank you for reading my blog! If you use anything from my blog, please give
me credit for publishing it, by saying that you found it here. Here's the format on how to give proper
reference to my blog post:
Blog :
TracingMyGilmoreRoots, Post 9, Chapter 4 - Rockbridge County, Virginia, by
Sandy Gilmore.
Sandy Gilmore
Gilmore Genealogist
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
No comments:
Post a Comment