Images Of Southwest Virginia: Russell County

By Joe Tennis
Features Writer / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: August 24, 2008

Book Focuses On Russell County

“Images of America: Russell County,” Andrew Chafin (Arcadia Publishing, $19.99, 2008)

Author Andrew Chafin offers a breezy look at the people of Russell County, Va., in a new “Images of America” collection, published by Arcadia.
One image shows “The Old Red Goose,” the name given to the school bus that once ran from Honaker to Pine Creek.
More photos include looks at Finney, Old Castlewood, Lebanon’s Main Street in 1940, a 1907 view of Honaker High School and a 1935 postcard view of Cleveland.
Many photos for this 128-page collection come from the Honaker Heritage Museum and the Russell County Public Library.
All are black-and-white and include depictions of old railroad stations at Cleveland, Honaker, Swords Creek and Finney.
The author, Chafin, is the chief executive officer of the Cumberland Plateau Planning District and Cumberland Plateau Company.
Chapters in “Russell County” focus on “Friends and Neighbors,” “Street Scenes and Landscapes,” “Schools and Churches” and “Agriculture and Industry.”

“A Guide to Historic Charlottesville & Albemarle County Virginia,” Jean L. Cooper (The History Press, $19.99, 2007)

Author Jean L. Cooper gets around Charlottesville and scenic Albemarle County, Va., while largely focusing on yesteryear.
No problem. Charlottesville is, after all, the home of Thomas Jefferson, and its history includes scenes of the Civil War and the American Revolution.
In “A Guide to Historic Charlottesville & Albemarle County, Virginia,” Cooper offers a look at the “Settling of Central Virginia,” as well as “Charlottesville and Albemarle County in Post-bellum Virginia,” among other chapters.
This nicely sized book, small enough for a purse or backpack, features fascinating driving and walking tours, plus a generous collection of historic and modern-day photographs.

“A Natural History of Quiet Waters: Swamps and Wetlands Of the Mid-Atlantic Coast,” Curtis J. Badger (University of Virginia Press, $22.95, 2007)

Known for his many books on the Virginia coast, author Curtis J. Badger explores swamps of the Mid-Atlantic region in a new release.
Badger uses such locations at the Great Dismal Swamp, near Suffolk, Va., to examine the natural history of wetlands while also relating the role that people have played in the history and culture of the Mid-Atlantic coast.
The cover depicts Hog Island, one of the Virginia barrier island owned by The Nature Conservancy.