Historic Crab Orchard Museum & Pioneer Park

Learn about the history of Southwest Virginia from the Civil War through the early 20th century.

Crab Orchard Museum Permanent Gallery Exhibits, Pt. 2

Home woven and mill woven coverlets in a variety of patterns.

In the 19th century, women (and some men) of all social levels made coverlets.  These objects clearly served a useful purpose as bed coverings, but they became ornamental items.  In an era when people were constantly on the move, pushing west to settle new frontiers, bed coverings – necessary and easily portable items – might be one of the few decorative objects to be found in a home.

Coverlets were often made as gifts to celebrate a marriage or the birth of a child.  Coverlets were woven in many different patterns and colors.  Wool was usually handspun and dyed with natural dyes.  

These textiles were largely woven in the home by skilled weavers until the late 1800s when mills began producing them.  The black and white coverlet uses natural wool from black sheep and white sheep with no dyes to create an interesting pattern.

This bride’s blanket chest is painted poplar and has a Pennsylvania design.  The lid and base are replacements and the drawers originally had pulls.  It was owned by Barbara Spangler Fox, originally of Cripple Creek, Wythe County, Virginia.  She married Methias Fox on February 18, 1802 and lived in Burke’s Garden, Virginia.  Such a chest would have held linens, bedcoverings, quilts and items a bride would need to start and keep a household.

Textiles

Our newest gallery looks at the decorative arts in Southwest Virginia and the surrounding region.

In the 1800s, resourceful and talented craftsmen created furniture primarily from walnut and cherry woods, which were plentiful in the area.  These pieces from Southwestern Virginia and Eastern Tennessee represent the simplicity, the subtlety and the attention to detail necessary to create functional yet beautiful furniture for the home.  

The objects were collected by Jeff Higginbotham, founder of the museum, and loaned by his nephew, Rick Fisher.

Decorative Arts

Early settlers learned how to thrive on the frontier by making do or doing without.

Most early settlers were farmers, growing crops and raising livestock to support themselves and their families.  Many were spread out, with their nearest neighbors several miles away, so they learned to be self-sufficient and independent.

But when they needed items for their home or farm they could not make or grow themselves, they sometimes traded with other skilled craftsmen, like blacksmiths or carpenters to get what they needed.  Bartering and trading was common.  

Farm, Home, Craftsmen

The formation of Tazewell County, Virginia.

Tazewell County, which was named for Henry Tazewell, was founded in December 1799, when Virginia included what is now West Virginia.  

Early settlers built log cabins and churches, which were also used as schools.  The pioneers processed natural fiber to make their own clothes and blankets, growing flax to make linen and raising sheep for wool.  They also traded for cotton, which grew in hotter climates.  Seeds from flax were pressed to make linseed oil and wool was washed to remove lanolin, the natural grease from sheep.  Once fibers were cleaned and combed, they were spun, dyed, woven and either knitted, sewn, or felted to make cloth.  Most pioneers would have had only two sets of clothes, one for work and one for church, because it took so long to make pants or a dress with homespun fiber.

Birth of a County

The 1880s saw the beginning of coal mining and industrial advancements in Tazewell County.

The largest coal seam in the United States was discovered in Pocahontas, in Tazewell County, Virginia, in the 1880s and a mine was opened, providing jobs for area residents and many immigrants from Europe.  

With mining came the railroad because the coal had to be removed from underground and shipped elsewhere.  They used oxen, goats, mules, and every means necessary to get the coal out, in dangerous conditions.  Coal mining still has safety risks and air quality must be monitored, but many improvements have been made.  

Before the invention of the telegraph, messages had to be sent by stagecoach or riders and could take weeks or months to reach their destination.  The telegraph uses Morse code to send a message across the wires.  Someone would be at the other end of the line to decode the message.  The telegraph is the early equivalent of texting by cell phone today.

The industry provided access to new “store bought” items through the establishment of Company Stores.  Sometimes the miners were paid in scrip, made by a machine the company owned, which could be redeemed for items at the company store.  Musical records could be purchased and played on a Victrola or Silvertone phonograph, but families still made music with instruments like the fiddle and banjo.  

Old Time and Bluegrass music developed in this area from the Celtic traditions of the settlers and African influences of slaves and servants.  This banjo was made from a walnut stump, a groundhog hide and a spoon, showing the resourcefulness of its maker.

Coal Mining & Industrialization

The Civil War impacted Southwest Virginia and created a lasting legacy in the mountains.

During the American Civil War, the majority of the people in Southwestern Virginia sided with the Confederacy with a firm belief in strong local and state governments and opposition to powerful central government.  As a bordering state, however, many soldiers found themselves fighting against members of their own families. 

Tazewell County had several encampments of both Confederate and Union soldiers during the war.  The door on the wall was taken from a home in Cedar Bluff and still bears the indentations made by Burbridge’s Union soldiers when they knocked it open to take food.  In 1864, Burbridge and his 5,000 men marched through the county on their way to take the town of Saltville.  They failed in this attempt.

Captain William E. Peery and his family who lived at “Ben Bolt” in Tazewell owned this day bed.  During the Civil War, Confederate troops were encamped on Captain Peery’s farm.  Union troops invaded the area and planned to take the Confederates as prisoners.  A Confederate soldier was laying on the day bed pretending to be “very ill” with smallpox.  When his friend who was pretending to “care” for him told this to the Union troops, they left quickly to avoid catching the deadly disease.  The Confederate soldier pretending to be ill recovered miraculously upon their departure and resumed his duties.

This battle flag was made during the Civil War out of a silk wedding dress.  Mrs. Arthur Campbell Cummings made the flag from her dress for her husband’s Confederate unit from neighboring Smyth County.  

This pen features a pen point tied to a twig with coarse thread.  It was found behind a loose block of wood in the wall next to the fireplace in a brick kitchen in the Town House in Chilhowie, Virginia.  The pen was in a hand sewn bag that had almost entirely rotted away.  Because it was hidden, it may have been a slave artifact, as reading and writing were illegal for slaves before the Civil War.

Civil War

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Explore the Lynchburg Museum System's two sites ~ The Lynchburg Museum at the Old Court House and Point of Honor, Dr. George Cabell's 1815 house overlooking the James River and downtown Lynchburg.

Lynchburg Museum System

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The Salem Museum

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As you enjoy your visit, you will notice internationally renowned architect Randall Stout took special care to honor naturalistic elements of the Roanoke region.

Taubman Museum of Art

In 1818 the Lexington Arsenal was created in Lexington, Virginia to store weapons intended for use by the state militia. In 1839 the Virginia Military Institute was founded as the first state-supported military college in the nation. Small at first, the institute grew and is currently home to approximately 1,700 cadets. VMI offers four year undergraduate degree programs in liberal arts, science, engineering, and social sciences requiring its students to maintain an academically and physically rigorous schedule that is intended to prepare them for roles as citizen soldiers.

Virginia Military Institute

George C. Marshall: He won the war. He won the peace. Learn about the man known as World War II's "Organizer of Victory," and Nobel Peace Prize winner for the Marshall Plan. Marshall is the Virginia Military Institute's most famous graduate (Class of 1901) and its only five-star general. 

The independent, non-profit George C. Marshall Foundation preserves and perpetuates Marshall's legacy through the George C. Marshall Museum & Library and offers a wide range of programming and resources for use by the general public, amateur historians, scholars and students of all ages. We are located on the Parade Ground at VMI.

George C. Marshall Museum & Library

A National Register Historical Landmark and one of the oldest, most original operational grist mills in the country located in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. This water-powered grist mill was built in 1782 in an area that would become the quaint village of Millwood. 

The Burwell-Morgan Mill…come marvel at the unusual and immense interior water wheel..come see, feel, and listen to the power of the turning wooden gears, shafts, bins, and old millstones, while the dedicated miller explains the process of grinding wheat and corn just as it was done over 200 years ago. Freshly ground flour, corn meal , and grits are available for sale at the mill.

The Historic Burwell-Morgan Mill

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Point of Honor

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Merchandise Mart Brown Line

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Logan Square

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Gold Coast

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“The Insider's Guide” Of Where To Go And What To Do In Chicago

Decorative Arts

3663 Crab Orchard Road Tazewell

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Crab Orchard Museum Permanent Gallery Exhibits, Pt. 2

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3663 Crab Orchard Road Tazewell

History

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Crab Orchard Museum Permanent Gallery Exhibits, Pt. 2

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