“Finding What Has Been Lost” is a display that celebrates the story of the African American communities of Botetourt County. It is a permanent exhibit at the Botetourt County Historical Museum in the Courthouse Gallery. The exhibit highlights the communities, churches, schools, community groups and individual stories that showcase these communities scattered throughout Botetourt County. Years of research by Edward Wayne Barnett and his sister Judith Barnett document this important history. County Libraries Director Steve Vest (retired) worked with the Library of Virginia to scan and digitalize all of the documents, notebooks, scrapbooks, yearbooks and photographs in the collection. With the assistance of Steve Vest and Rena Worthen of the Fincastle Library the information has been put into a slide show format for all to enjoy on a television donated by Lee Hartman and Sons.
This beautiful handmade quilt is on display in the Museum Courthouse Gallery. It was donated to the Botetourt County Historical Society by Roy E. and Margaret R. Webb. The Webbs inherited the quilt from Leona Martha Obenshain Hylton who lived north of Troutville at “Round Hill.” The quilt was made by Mrs. Hylton’s grandmother, Martha Delong Hontz (1838-1886). The pattern is often called Grandmother’s Flower Garden. It is a very labor-intensive pattern of one-inch pieced cotton hexagons that is rarely made today.
