Chilhowie

Chilhowie is a Virginia historical marker in Smyth County, dedicated 2000.

Rte. 11, just west of Whitetop Road

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About 1748, Col. James Patton patented land here and reportedly hoped this site would one day become a town. The region became known as Town House for a house known by this name that stood nearby. By the Revolutionary War, a settlement of the same name began to develop around the house. In 1856, the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad arrived and the settlement was renamed Greever's Switch for a local resident. The community's name was changed to Chilhowie in the late 1880s at the suggestion of George Palmer. Chilhowie is believed to be an Indian word meaning either "home of many deer" or "valley of many deer." The town was incorporated in 1913.

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

1746 · A Map of the British Empire in America. (Sheet 10). (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Map Of Virginia (lower left sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1814 · Kentucky (Mathew Carey, 1814) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1818 · Map of Virginia, 1818 (lower left sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1891 · Abingdon, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

A Map of the British Empire in America. (Sheet 10), 1746, covering the location of Chilhowie, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — A Map of the British Empire in America. (Sheet 10), 1746, 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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Chilhowie

Historical maps covering this location

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