BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. – Our entire area is historic, but there’s one thing that makes Botetourt County stand out from the rest.
The county used to stretch all the way to the Mississippi River. It included all of present-day Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
They have it all on display at the Botetourt County History Society Museum.
There, the executive director says so many people coast to coast can trace their families back to Botetourt.
“So we get a lot of folks doing family history research, genealogy, that end up coming back to Botetourt to find marriage records, deeds, death certificates and different things because so many people did come from this county,” Linsey Allie, Botetourt County Historical Society executive director.
Lewis and Clark also came through Fincastle several times on their journeys.
Before expansion westward, Fincastle was considered the last stop before the Great Frontier.
Norvel Lee was also from the Eagle Rock area here in the county.
He worked with the Tuskegee Airman and became a hold medal boxer in the Olympics.