Botetourt’s 250th Celebration Facts
Botetourt 250th Anniversary Celebration Facts Preston 1
William Preston was one of the most important me of his time. We will revisit him more than once in our facts. But here we establish a few early things and one tasty Botetourt history fact.
Gov. Dinwiddie named him Colonel of the frontier forces in 1755 before Botetourt was formed.
A young George Washington surveyed the area and helped establish Fort William named after Preston to protect the settlers from native American attacks.
At ne time some 80 plus settlers were t Greenfield his plantation home which was fortified to be protected from the attacks.
In 1758, he built his beautiful home Greenfield. It burned in 1959 leaving slave cabins and an outdoor kitchen. The site is now an industrial building.
He signed the marriage certificate of his friends Julia Hancock and William Clark.
A sidebar: Fort William:
A historical marker is located on Roanoke Rd near Trinity Road but that is not where Fort William was located.
Many believe Fort William was located at the end of Cox Road on Catawba Creek west of Fincastle. There are ruins of something there. I saw them many times as a child as they were close to the end of our property of the farm where I grew up.
However, as I was growing up, my neighbor Lillian Watkins Amos showed me the land grant belonging to her Watkins family from the King of England. She maintained the fort was along present day Haymakertown Road. It was a built over a little creek she said that flows into Catawba Creek.
Across the hill onto the western side of Breckinridge Mill Road near Stone Coal Gap, I once went up to a plowed- up cornfield and picked up arrowheads. I was 13 when this happened (but lost the arrowheads in the fire at my parent’s home in 1988.)
Through Stone Coal Gap was the way the Native American war parties traveled. Fort William was likely in one of the two spots. Though the one Mrs. Amos noted would have been closer to the war parties entry and exit through Stone Coal Gap.
Cathy Benson, The Botetourt Bee, Photo from the 200th anniversary magazine
