Volume 12 , Issue 49

History of Highland County Virginia

There is a History of Highland County Virginia out there that was written by Oren F. Morton, B.L., 1911. Oren F. Morton also is author of "Under the Cottonwoods," "Winning or Losing," "Land of the Laurel," "A History of Pendleton County, West Virginia," "Pioneer Families of Preston County, West Virginia."


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Highland County, Virginia lies between the parallels of 38 degrees, 12 minutes, and 38 degrees, 35 minutes, in latitude. As to longitude, it lies between the meridians of 1 degree, 20 minutes, and 1 degree, 48 minutes, west from Washington. A second glance at the map shows that Highland lies almost in the very center of the Appalachian Uplift.

East and west Highland has natural boundaries. In the former direction the line follows the crest of the lofty Shenandoah, or Great North Mountain. In the latter direction it follows the backbone of the Alleghany system. North and south the boundaries are very artificial, being arbitrary lines drawn circuitously between the main Alleghany and the Shenandoah ridges. The bordering counties are Augusta and Bath in Virginia, and Pendleton and Pocahontas in West Virginia.

Between the bordering ranges four parallel elevations run entirely through the county, dividing it into five well-defined valleys. Passing from west to east, we may term these the Alleghany, the Bluegrass, the Monterey, the Bullpasture, and the Cowpasture valleys. Several minor elevations occur, the most conspicuous being Middle Mountain, Little Mountain, and Shaw's Ridge.

The Main Alleghany, or Alleghany Front, is fairly regular in altitude, the average being about 4,000 feet. Lantz Mountain, forming the eastern border of what we have called the Alleghany Valley, is known in the south as Little Mountain. It is very perceptibly lower than the Alleghany Front and is steeper on its western side. The eastern slope is slightly scalloped at very short intervals, and against the sky-line the evenness of the summit is broken only by slight prominences corresponding in number with the shallow depressions of which we have spoken.

The next of the principal ridges is known as Back Creek Mountain south of Vanderpool Gap, as Monterey Mountain between Vanderpool and Crabbottom gaps, and as Backbone Mountain north of the latter. It is higher and broader than Lantz Mountain and its crest has less of a saw-tooth appearance.

Jack Mountain, the next of the Highland ranges, is the most elevated of those lying within the county. In the south and likewise in the north it is a single ridge, but in the center it becomes complex. There are here two closely parallel heights, the western being the watershed, and opposite Monterey they connect by a low divide separating the sources of Crab Run and Straight Creek. In the main arm of Jack Mountain, four miles south of the county seat, is the commanding eminence of Sounding Knob, 4,400 feet above sea. It is the highest land within the county, and with a clear sky the view from the top is very extensive, even though much is screened by the ranges on either side. North and south the vistas are far-reaching, including even the distant Peaks of Otter. The name of the knob is derived from the hollow sound produced by footfalls on a certain limited spot, apparently the roof of a cavern. From Sounding Knob lateral spurs are thrown off, especially to the west and southwest. Immediately to the north is a very conspicuous depression in the main range, dividing the waters of Davis Run from those of Dry Branch.

Bullpasture Mountain, the fourth of the leading internal ridges of Highland, is quite high, yet is less a well-defined range than any of the others. It is a belt of table land, occupying almost the entire breadth between its bordering rivers and cut by deep ravines into a labyrinth of hills.

East of Bullpasture Mountain is Shaw's Ridge, a low, narrow, isolated eminence entering from Pendleton and terminating abruptly at the mouth of Shaw's Fork. Still further east is the massive Shenandoah Mountain, its lofty sky-line being quite uneven and showing toward the southeast corner of the county a deep depression. Short lateral spurs, nearly as high as the parent ridge, are thrown out toward the west and sink abruptly into the valley below. Along the flanks of both the main mountain and its spurs are shallow ravines scooped out of the steep slopes by the storms of uncounted years.

Chief among the minor ridges of Highland is Little Mountain, a western offshoot of Jack Mountain. It enters from Bath and runs northward until it meets and even passes Dickson Hill, a divide coming from the direction of Sounding Knob. Another of the minor ridges is Middle Mountain, lying between Lantz Mountain and the Alleghany. Redoak Knob, its culminating point, is 4,300 feet high.

Along the Jack and Back Creek ranges are hills of varying length and moderate height. These are sometimes broken into knob-like prominences by transverse ravines. The conical knob is infrequent in Highland, although a few such projections are thrust up from the eastern face of Back Creek Mountain opposite the mouth of Bolar Run. Another is the isolated hill just south of Monterey.

A striking feature of the Appalachian system is the water gap, cleaving a mountain wall to its very base and causing a stream to leave one valley and flow into another. Several of the Highland ridges are interrupted by these narrow clefts. Lantz Mountain is thus broken by Mill Gap and Lower Gap, which are only a few miles apart. The Back Creek Range is interrupted by the Crabbottom Gap, near the north of the county and by Vanderpool Gap near the center. In Little Mountain is Bolar Gap and in the eastern arm of Jack Mountain are a few more, particularly the narrow pass on Crab Run. As passages for highways such gaps are very convenient and are nearly always thus used.

It is now in order to mention the five valleys of Highland. The westernmost, which we call the Alleghany Valley, is deep, quite narrow, and thinly peopled. In the south it is drained by Back Creek, flowing southward. In the north it is drained by Straight Fork, a tributary of the North Fork. Yet this northern section of the Alleghany Valley is in fact double, because of Middle Mountain, a spur of the Alleghany Front. The sub-valley between these two ranges is shallow and therefore very elevated. It is watered by Laurel Fork, which after meeting Straight Fork, beyond the Pendleton line, becomes known as the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac.

The next, or Bluegrass Valley, illustrates two other notable features of the Appalachians. It is crossed by slight divides rendering its drainage complex instead of simple. It is also canoe-shaped, being quite long in comparison with its breadth. Its length, in fact, is that of the county. At the Bath boundary it is brought to an end by interlocking spurs of Back Creek and Lantz mountains. On the Pendleton line it is again shut in in the same manner. In this direction High Knob, nearly as lofty as Sounding Knob, towers midway between the bordering ranges causing this end of the valley to have a double termination like the points of a bootjack.

In the northern half of the county, the Bluegrass Valley is much broader than in the southern, and is distinguished by the name of Crabbottom, a contraction of Crabapple Bottom. The upper and middle sections of the Crabbottom are rendered double by a very low ridge. The western and lower part of these sections is curiously interrupted by low, oblong hills, running not with the valley but across it. In the coves on either side of High Knob the surface is very broken. But toward the center is a large expanse of comparatively smooth land, almost suggestive of a Western prairie. This is the original Crabapple Bottom, the name not having been applied at first to the entire section of Bluegrass Valley now known as the Crabbottom.

To the immigrants, Highland must have seemed like a virgin corner of their native Europe. The temperature of these hills was the same as that of the homeland. The air was almost as soft. There was scarcely any acclimation to undergo. The forest trees were of the same types as they were accustomed to see, and where there was no wood there was a grassy sod, without which the new land would have been a desert in their eyes. They could grow the same staples to which they were accustomed, and there was no new method of farming to learn. Save for the temporary struggle with wild man and wild nature, the newcomer could feel quite at home from the start. It is very evident that with respect to physiographic conditions the European stocks have not in the least deteriorated in Appalachian America.

THE EUROPEAN FOREFATHERS

Causes of Early Immigration from Europe - Religious Intolerance - European Society - Why England Led in Settling the Colonies - Attitude of Other Countries - Elements appearing in the Immigration - The Scotch-Irish The Redemptorists and Convicts.

WHEN in 1607 there was an actual beginning of those Thirteen Colonies which grew into the United States of America, Europe had not more than a third of her present population. Even England, now the foremost nation to import grain, was until 1775 feeding her people from her own soil and building her ships from her own forests. The number of people in Europe was in itself a matter of no importance in causing emigration to America.

Neither was it a pleasure trip to cross the Atlantic. The voyage often consumed more than a hundred days, the speed of the sailing vessel being no greater than that of a man afoot. If the winds were very contrary, the supply of water and provisions might fail. Smallpox and other forms of disease were liable to cause havoc in the crowded and untidy ships. There was also the peril of shipwreck, but there was the further peril of capture by pirates. These robbers of the sea very often made good the adage that dead men tell no tales. The passenger might congratulate himself if simply his person were put ashore, no matter where the spot might be. Once safely across the ocean, the average immigrant was not at all likely to revisit his old home.
The prime causes for the settling of America were Religious Intolerance and Economic Oppression.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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