A History of Back Creek: Bent Mountain, Poages Mill, Cave Spring and Starkey

by Nelson Harris

Overview

Since Europeans first settled along the banks of Back Creek in the 1740s, southwest Roanoke County's history has been as fluid as the creek itself. Local historian Nelson Harris details the eclectic history of the area.

The once dense forest with log cabins gave way to the sprawling suburbs of the present. The colonial-era Trader's Path that directed Scots-Irish homesteaders, the growth of the apple industry in Bent Mountain after the Civil War, a state highway built by convicts during the Depression and Cave Spring becoming a modern commercial center have shaped the region. The changing picture of daily life in Back Creek spanning two centuries emerges in stories of one-room schoolhouses, doctors on horseback, country stores, local baseball and NASCAR races at Starkey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625859709
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	01/22/2018
Series:	Brief History
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	1,050,366
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Local historian Nelson Harris is a native and former mayor of Roanoke. He has been the pastor of Heights Community Church since 1999 and is an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Western Community College. He holds degrees from Radford University and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a past president of the Historical Society of Western Virginia. He is the author of twelve books, including Downtown Roanoke, Roanoke Valley: Then and Now, Aviation in Roanoke and Hidden History of Roanoke.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

Acknowledgements 11

Chapter 1 Early History, 1740-1860 13

Chapter 2 The Civil War, 1860-1870 24

Chapter 3 When Apples Were King, 1870-1960 35

Chapter 4 A Changing Landscape, 1960-Present 74

Chapter 5 Religious Life 79

Chapter 6 Social and Recreational life 114

Chapter 7 Health and Public Safety 131

Chapter 8 Education 143

Chapter 9 Stores and Businesses 172

Chapter 10 Murder and Mayhem 202

Selected Bibliography 217

Index 219

About the Author 223