Historic Smithfield

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In response to recent events, and as a steward of America’s complex and often difficult history, the Smithfield-Preston Foundation adopted the following statement:

"The Smithfield-Preston Foundation acknowledges and laments the role slavery played in William Preston's Smithfield and the ongoing racial injustice that stemmed from that institution across the United States. Enslaved African Americans and their achievements in the face of slavery’s oppression belong at the center of the Smithfield story. We pledge to redouble our efforts to tell these stories as we strive to foster a more honest reckoning with our racial history.

The Foundation, along with all those associated with Smithfield, decries all forms of racism and intolerance, and fully supports the rights of all humans regardless of race, skin color, creed, gender, orientation, or ability. All human life is precious. We stand in unity with those who preserve the rights of all people." June 2020

Spending time at home?
Enjoy time together with this children's activity book.

THE NEW RIVER HERITAGE
COALITION

VIRGINIA
LANDMARKS
REGISTER

NATIONAL REGISTER

OF
HISTORIC PLACES

William Preston, a leader of westward expansion and a prominent Southwestern Virginia Revolutionary War patriot came to settle at the eastern continental divide and established Smithfield as his home. In a land of log cabins and physical hardship, Smithfield, in its sophisticated elegance, became the political and social center of Fincastle County, Virginia (1772). Of course, the newly-formed County included all of Southwest Virginia and all of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a rather large area indeed.

Completed in 1774, Smithfield became not only the county’s political and social center, it was a beacon, a destination, for thousands of settlers moving west to seek new land and opportunity. Smithfield became a place of resting and storing new provisions before the next leg of the westward passage.

Travel back to the 18th century. Experience life in the home of a colonial leader with the guidance of a costumed interpreter who knows the culture as well as the artifacts.

Smithfield stands today as the finest example of an original, pre-Revolutionary structure in Western Virginia.

Smithfield is on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register and is a member of the The New River Heritage Coalition. In 2014, Smithfield was designated by the Virginia General Assembly as the Family Homestead of Virginia Governors.

1000 Smithfield Plantation Road, Blacksburg, VA 24060 540.231.3947 info@historicsmithfield.org