Chilhowie, VA area question

Wed Sep 8 22:21:48 EDT 2004

Bob,
Not sure if any of Perdita's sons have a Musser's Lumber now, but for many years her son Ernie owned/ran Musser's Orchard in the area between Musser's Mill Road and Rural Retreat.  If the name is Musser in the Rural Retreat/Crockett area they are more than likely my kin.  
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
  To: N&amp;W Mailing List 
  Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 8:10 AM
  Subject: Re: Chilhowie, VA area question

  Would this Musser family by chance be the same Musser family that now owns Musser Lumber?

  Bob Welsh

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
    To: N&amp;W Mailing List 
    Sent: Sunday, September 05, 2004 9:45 AM
    Subject: Re: Chilhowie, VA area question

    Charlie,
    My family origins began in Crockett, Va and the Musser's owned a grist mill and "Post" house nearby.  Rural Retreat was indeed known as Mt. Airy (not Crockett) at one time and there was even a Hotel Mt. Airy which was a large 3 story affair, now long gone.  My aunt Perdita Musser Williams wrote a small book (a thesis for her Master's Degree from VT in 1954) called "A Study of Social Change in the Area of Rural Retreat" which has many photos of the area, many of which I think are in the VT archives.

    Mark L. Musser, Greenbrier Co. WV (Formerly of Mullens, WV)  
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
      To: N&amp;W Mailing List 
      Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 5:35 PM
      Subject: RE: Chilhowie, VA area question

      List:

      Not to break your thread on Chilhowee but I was looking at a V&T map on the Library of Congress site and saw a location of 'Mount Airy'. This appears to be around where Crocket is today - west of Wytheville. Is this right or did Mount Airy disappear? It is interesting that Pulaski, Dublin, Radford or Cambria (among others I'm sure) are not named as of the map date. Can't find Chilhowee either! You can see it at:

      http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/rrhtml/rrhome.html

      click: Railroad Lines, then: Shenandoah Valley Railroad then: Virginia & Tennessee.

      I couldn't get a direct link, to the map,to work today so this is the safe way.

      BTW, if you see this Mr. Jeffries, Ingles Bridge is shown at Radford (oops, Central Depot).

      Charlie Long

      Lynchburg

      -----Original Message-----
      From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org]On Behalf Of nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
      Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 12:27 PM
      To: NWHS mailing list; NWHS modeling list
      Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] Chilhowie, VA

      In response to a question posted on the list a couple months ago by Andre Jackson about the industries and rail needs of Chilhowie, Virginia, I have done some research and found the following:

      Chilhowie was served my three major local businesses.  One of the largest for its day was the Bonham Apple Orchard, which had thousands of acres of apple trees.  It was quite an event at harvest time, and the N&W shipped out tons of them every year.  I don't know what kind of car would have been used though.  Another business was operated by Fount Berry (predecessor to Berry Iron & Metal and Berry Home Center), and his business was dealing with herbs, fur, and rabbits.  Its my understanding that rabbits were shipped to the big cities by the thousands during the depression as a source of food.  Mr. Berry's herb business was also partnered by a man name of Greer (or Greear) in Marion, and together they had one of the largest herb businesses in the U.S.  The last major one I have found record of is the Rouse fuel and feed company (name may not be correct).  Mr. Rouse had the grain silos at his business, and operated a feed sup ply for the area.  All this feed was delivered by rail.  The feed would be mixed and delivered to the customers.  He also dealt in grain, which also was received by rail and stored in one of the silos.  This grain was hauled to the Riverside Mill and Wilkinson's Mill on the South Fork of the Holston river, as well as others I'm sure.  He also dealt in coal and fuel oil, and eventually petroleum products as coal went out.

      I have also found a Chilhowie Lumber Company, and it headed toward Saltville.  More to come on this later...

      Ben Blevins

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