Highland Historical Society Open House & Showing of Tol’able David is August 21

August 14, 2021

This is Lori Botkin with the Highland Historical Society and the Mansion House Museum in McDowell with an update on the exciting things going on here.

We have been switching rooms and updating exhibits, so if you haven’t been to see us for awhile this would be a great time to visit.  Our “Uniquely Highland” exhibit is now the first room you encounter when you enter the building.  Along with this exhibit, you will find an expanded celebration of the 100th birthday of the silent movie, Tol’able David.  This includes Recorder newspapers from July of 1921, items from the 1920’s and the theatre seats from the Monterey theatre.  We have also created a driving tour to see some of the locations used in the film, that have changed very little in a hundred years.

The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District has been updating the Civil War exhibit.  The new exhibit “War in the Mountains: Highland County in the Civil War” will not only include the Battle of McDowell, but also panels on African Americans in the Civil War and wartime disease in Highland County.

We have been remodeling a garage behind the museum to make more room for storage and processing of objects and archives donated to the museum.  We treasure the history of Highland County and strive to take the best care in preserving these items that have been trusted to us.  With this new facility we will have a climate controlled center with a work room, storage space and ample shelving, along with additional exhibit space for some of the large items we have not been able to display in the Mansion House.  This was all made possible with a generous donation from a patron of the museum, specifically for this project.

We would like to invite you to our 2021 Open House on August 21st from 4 to 7pm.  There will be light refreshments and an outdoor showing of the Tol’able David movie on the lawn of the museum around 7:30. Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the evening.  In case of rain, there will be no movie.   We have plans to show it in Monterey and Blue Grass later this fall, so watch for times and locations.

This is your history.  The history of Highland County.  Thank you for your continued support and see you at the Open House on August 21st.

This is Lori Botkin for Allegheny Mountain Radio.

Story By

Bonnie Ralston

Bonnie Ralston is the Assistant Station Coordinator at WVLS and a Highland County news reporter. She began volunteering at Allegheny Mountain Radio in the fall of 2005. In 2006 she became an AMR employee and worked in Bath County for eight years as the WCHG Station Coordinator and then as the news reporter there. She began working in radio while in college and has stayed connected to radio, in one way or another, for more than thirty years. She grew up in Staunton, Virginia, while spending a lot of time on her family’s farm in Deerfield, Virginia. She enjoys spending time outside, watching old TV shows and movies and tending to her chickens.
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