Greenfield, in Botetourt County, is the site of a plantation established in the mid-18th century by Colonel William Preston. He served under George Washington during a 1756 survey of the frontier, and also became a Revolutionary War officer and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. The Greenfield site contains the remains of the plantation’s house, which burned in 1959, a detached circa-1845 kitchen-dwelling, and a separate circa-1865 slave dwelling (pictured above). Both are of log construction, and their construction dates were established through a dendrochronological study. The two log dwellings are all that survive of the many dependencies and agricultural buildings that once stood near the plantation house. Both log buildings are rare survivors and significant for their association with African American history as well as the Preston family, one of southwest Virginia’s most prominent families from the mid-18th century until the period following the Civil War. The Greenfield Kitchen and Quarters were relocated to a site within the listed Bowyer-Holladay House Site, east of their original location. Because the slave dwelling and kitchen/quarter were relocated and the site redeveloped, Greenfield has been delisted from the registers.
[NRHP Delisted: 1/6/2022]
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
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