[SUBMITTED PHOTO]Botetourt County Historical Museum’s new exhibit, “From Calomel to COVID: Healthcare in Botetourt County,” is on the changing trends in healthcare. Botetourt’s earliest known surgical instrument is on display. It is a 1700s blood-letting tool (fleam) that was discovered by archeologists at the Greenfield/Preston Plantation in Daleville. There are vintage medicine bottles that represent pharmaceutical treatments, some of which were dangerous to babies and adults. Discover early medical instruments and the Botetourt doctors who used them. Learn about pandemics which have been part of history from yellow fever and smallpox in the days of George Washington, to the Spanish flu of 1918-19, the polio outbreak in the 1950s and the arrival of COVID-19 in 2020. Health careers continue to respond and adapt to the challenges of today. The Museum is open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Saturday. COVID recommendations are followed.
