Preston Family Resources: Unpublished Resources

New Theatre (the Lyric) and Store Building for the Blacksburg Realty Company

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Monday-Friday 8am-5pm & By Appointment

Contact us:
Email: specref@vt.edu
Telephone: 540-231-6308
Twitter: @VT_SCUA
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Our website
Our digital collections
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Our LibGuide (Information about us and our collections)

Special Collections and University Archives has a large collection of historical photographs, with particular emphases on local history and university history. This includes photographs of places of significance to Preston family history, like Solitude and Smithfield. In most cases, historical photographs are organized is folders by subject. We also have some individual collections of photographs. 

• Historical Photograph Collection (Photographs.001)
• Named/Individual Photograph Collections (Photographs.002)
• Solitude Photographs and Papers (Ms1993-024)

Some images from the Historical Photograph Collection have been digitized and are available online through Virginia Tech's Imagebase. You can search Imagebase by keyword. Requests for high resolution copies of images should be sent to Special Collections and University Archives. 

Vertical files are usually subject or topic based files that we create here in Special Collections and University Archives. The contents of a file could include newspaper clippings, pamphlets/flyers, or other ephemeral materials on a topic. We have several series of vertical files which contain items about the Prestons. Each has a finding aid with a list of subjects/topics available.

• Blacksburg Vertical Files (VerticalFile.001)
• Christiansburg/Montgomery County Vertical Files (VerticalFile.002) 
• Southwest Virginia Vertical Files (VerticalFile.003)
• Biographical Vertical Files (VerticalFile.004)
• Record Group Vertical Files (VerticalFile.005)

The majority of our Historical Map Collection focuses on Virginia and, more specifically, Southwest Virginia, but we have world, national, and regional maps, too. With maps dating back to the 17th century, these items can offer an interesting look at the changing landscape of Virginia and related areas. Our collection of Virginia Tech maps includes some history of Preston lands that were or continue to be part of the campus, as well. You can view our full map guide online or jump to specific sections below:

• Virginia (state maps)
• Virginia Counties 
• Southwest Virginia by County
• Montgomery County, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford
• Virginia Tech Campus Maps