Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from Newport and Clover Hollow, Giles County History Collection must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Please note: Oral history and transcripts are currently not open for use. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Access Restrictions

Historic materials, photographs, data sheets, and other forms are open for research. Oral histories and transcripts are currently restricted. Please contact Special Collections for more information.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Newport and Clover Hollow, Giles County History Collection, Ms2013-086, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated to Special Collections in December 2007.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Newport and Clover Hollow, Giles County History Collection was completed in November 2013.

Historical Note

Newport and Clover Hollow are located in Giles County, Virginia. They form part of the Greater Newport Rural Historic District, which is located in the Eastern District of Giles County. Listed in the National Registrar of Historic Places in 2000, the Greater Newport Rural Historic District includes five distinct sections: Sinking Creek, Spruce Run, Clover Hollow, Plowscrew, and Mountain Lake. The historic district is agricultural and rural in character, consisting mostly of nineteenth and early-twentieth century farmsteads. Overall, the district includes approximately 21,085 acres.

Closely associated with the effort to designate this area as a rural historic district was the struggle by community members against AEP's proposed powerline. In March 1990, the contestation over proposed powerline routes was initiated when the energy company Apco -- which would change its name to AEP during the course of the powerline battle -- announced its plans to build a transmission line from West Virginia to Cloverdale. The estimated date for its completion was 1998. Following this announcement, opposition arose from communities along the proposed route. In Giles County, Virginia, concerned community members joined together to create the organization Citizens Organized to Protect the Environment (COPE), which fought against the proposed powerline. For more detailed information on the powerline struggle and establishment of the Greater Newport Rural Historical District see the following:

Carlisle, Fred. "Insiders, Outsiders, and the Struggle for Community," Appalachian Journal, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Spring 1999), 240-251.

Carlisle, Fred. "The Past in the Present: The Greater Newport Rural Historic District," Appalachian Journal, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Fall 2004), 50-66.

Sources Consulted:

"Greater Newport Rural Historic District, Giles County, Virginia," http://www.cr.nps.gov/NR/publications/bulletins/01workshop/newport.htm

Scope and Content Note

The Newport and Clover Hollow, Giles County History collection contains oral history interviews, transcripts, notes, newspaper clippings, historic district survey forms, a video tape, and a geological survey map related to the creation of the Greater Newport Rural Historic District. The collection dates from 1973 to 2009, although it does include a typed copy of a 1904 Giles county will. The materials in this collection not only reveal information on the history and people of Giles county, but they also document the community's efforts to get Newport designated as a rural agricultural historic district. Most of the newspaper clippings concern the threat of AEP building a new powerline that would have cut across the Newport area.

Some transcripts appear to be mixed into the wrong file, however, as this was the way in which material was presented, original order was maintained.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into five series based on subject and material type: Series I: Oral Histories; Series II: Newport Rural Historic District Materials; Series III: Photographs; Series IV: Data Sheets; and Series V: IPS Forms for GNRHD.

Series I: Oral Histories contains two subseries. Subseries I: Transcripts includes typed transcripts of oral histories. Subseries II: Interviews contains the oral histories on cassette tape. Please note: Series I is currently restricted, pending release forms for interviews.

Series II: Newport Rural Historic District Materials consists of publications, newspaper clippings and articles, and other resources on the history of the Newport region.

Series III: Photographs contains photocopies of images submitted with applications for historic status, as well as original photographs of different geographical areas around Newport and Clover Hollow. Series IV: Data Sheets includes related information about the areas depicted in the photographs.

Series V: IPS Forms for GNRHD consists of copies of forms submitted for Virginia Division of Historic Landmark status. In addition to Newport and Clover Hollow, other forms relate to Mountain Lake.

Materials were organized into series based on type/format. All series were left in their original order, though the photographs and data sheets were removed from binders.

Separated Material

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Giles County (Va.)
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• Women -- History