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The records largely document the recent history of Smithfield Plantation, ancestral home of the Preston family, focusing particularly on its restoration beginning in 1962. While much of the renovation occurred in the 1960s, many of the records detail other renovation projects done in the 1970s and 1980s. The collection also includes historical and other related documents dating from before the original Preston family's residence at Smithfield.

The Attorney's Suit and Collection Record is a business log covering litigation for the area of Blacksburg, Virginia, during the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. The author remains unknown, but prominent Blacksburg families and institutions appear in the record, such as the Black family, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and the Bank of Blacksburg.

The Augustus Smith Family Collection consists of two letters--one (1864) from Smith in Greenville, Tennessee, to his mother, and another (1866) to General Alex E. Smith, his father, in Rural Mount, Virginia, from an unknown person, as well as newspaper clippings and genealogy materials concerning the American Civil War and other topics.

The Bell, Kent, Cloyd, Withrow Family Collection contains the personal papers and financial records of members of four prominent families. Included are members of the Bell, Kent, Cloyd, and Withrow families, as well as, materials from related families and acquaintances. This is a diverse collection containing materials dating from 1780 to 1998. Items of interest include several Land Deeds and Warrant from the late 18th Century, including one signed by Benjamin Harrison, then Governor of Virginia; American Civil War correspondence from Confederate POW, Edgar Withrow; Regimental listings from the 19th Brigade of the Virginia Militia; and correspondence and military documents dating from World War II. The main collection contains materials from Gen. Gordon Cloyd, James Randal Kent, David Fenton Kent, Gordon Cloyd Bell Sr., David Kent Bell, James and Edgar Withrow, and many others.

The Benjamin Huddle Diary consists of a photocopy and transcript of the diary, which describes his experience as a Confederate soldier in the 29th Virginia Infantry during the American Civil War. The transcript was produced by his decendent Randal Huddle.

This collection contains the papers, letters, invoices and ledgers of Bert. T. Wilson. The papers largely pertain to his career as an attorney in Lebanon, Virginia.

The Beulah O. Allen Collection contains a variety of materials from Allen's life. Her papers contain correspondence with a variety of friends and associates, primarily Lucy Lee Lancaster, the first female graduate from Virginia Tech. In addition, the collection also contains Virginia Tech Commencement programs, Cotillion Club Dance programs, resources related to the Virginia Tech Library, newspaper clippings about the construction of the new Newman Library, and a large collection of photographs about the Town of Blacksburg and her friends and family.

The collection contains correspondence, legal documents, and accounting receipts and records relating to the Bigler, Sessler, and John families of southwest Virginia.

This collection contains the papers and artifacts of an interrelated family prominent in Blacksburg's history. It includes the American Civil War letters of Confederate surgeon Dr. Harvey Black, the Civil War diary of hospital steward John S. Apperson, cotton books and correspondence of Germanicus Kent, nineteenth-century account books of a Blacksburg general store, 1912 European travel diary, and the political scrapbooks of State Senator and Attorney General Harvey B. Apperson.

The collection consists of records from the Blacksburg Baptist Church, currently known as Church on Main in Blacksburg. The boxes contain materials related to financial records, minutes, church history, scrapbooks, photographs, ledger books, cassette tapes, correspondence, and more. The collection is organized based on organizations and types of records. This includes the Baptist Young People's Union, Church Building Committee, Church Bulletins, Correspondences, Financials, Leadership, Manuscripts, Membership, Photographs, Women's Missionary Society, and Women's Missionary Union. There are also printed out copies of microfilm pages which have been sorted into the "microfilm copies" and "permanent file copies." Many of the documents in these two series are duplicates of the original materials found in the other series. Some of the materials in the microfilm and permanent file copies are not found in the originals.