Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Pulaski Iron Company Title Abstracts must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Pulaski Iron Company Title Abstracts, Ms94-025 - Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Acquisition Information

The Pulaski Iron Company Title Abstracts were purchased by Special Collections in two lots. The first four volumes were purchased in 1994; the fifth volume, containing abstracts to the Biggs and Hamlett tracts in Roanoke County, was purchased in 2008.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement and description of the Pulaski Iron Company Title Abstracts commenced and was completed in January 2009.

Historical Information

The Pulaski Iron Company was incorporated in 1884. Commencing operation in 1888, the company's furnace was Southwest Virginia's first modern pig iron blast furnace. Known locally as "PI," the company at its peak in 1907 produced an average of about 150 tons of iron per day. The furnace continued in operation until the Great Depression, with the exception of an 8-month stoppage in 1916. John W. Eckman served as the company's general manager for many years.

Scope and Content

This collection contains abstracts of title prepared for the Pulaski Iron Company on properties conveyed to the company in Augusta, Botetourt, Pulaski, Roanoke and Wythe counties, Virginia, during the early twentieth century. The collection is comprised of four bound volumes and one unbound volume. Compiled by William B. Kegley, a Wytheville, Virginia attorney, each volume contains typescript copies of land grants, deeds, surveys, wills, other legal documents and correspondence relating to individual tracts.

Included are documents relating to the purchase of the Cloverdale iron property in Botetourt County from the Tredegar Company; the Wood tract and the Arcadia tracts of the Virginia Lumber and Extract Company (also in Botetourt County); the Shelton property (Augusta County); the Feather, J. E. Biggs, and J. G. Hamlett tracts in Roanoke County; the Wythe County property of Franklin Carter; and property in Pulaski County from Oscar Laughon, T. W. Kersey and G. C. Hall.

Arrangement

The documents within the volumes retain their original order, with each volume being indexed. As most of the volumes are bound and contain materials relating to more than one property over a period of years, the volumes could not be arranged in any specific order. A generally chronological order is followed, with the exception of the title abstract for the Wood tract.