Buchanan

Buchanan is a Virginia historical marker in Buchanan, Botetourt County, dedicated 2017.

19559 Main Street, Buchanan

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The Great Valley Road, which carried many settlers of European descent through Virginia beginning in the 1740s, crossed the James River nearby. This intersection gave rise to Pattonsburg, established north of the river in 1788 and named for early landowner James Patton, and Buchanan, laid out south of the river in 1811 and named for Col. John Buchanan. Commerce and manufacturing flourished, particularly after the James River and Kanawha Canal reached its western terminus here in 1851. Union Maj. Gen. David Hunter marched through in June 1864 on his way to attack Lynchburg. In 1882 the two towns were consolidated and incorporated as the Town of Buchanan.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1778 · Il Maryland, il Jersey Meridionale, la Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1794 · Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Map Of Virginia (lower center sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1819 · Ohio & Indiana (H. S. Tanner, 1819) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1829 · Tennessee (A. Finley, 1829) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, 1794, covering the location of Buchanan, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, 1794, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Buchanan

Historical maps covering this location

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