Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection
Sherman, David
Ms.2004.014
0.5 Cubic Feet
1 box
1870-2002
The Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection consists of papers collected by David Sherman of the U.S. Forest Service and Appalachian Trail Conference while working to establish a federal wilderness area around Mountain Lake in Giles County, Virginia during the 1980s. Materials include hotel brochures, magazine and guidebook articles, a dissertation about the lake, maps, federal reports about the environmental conditions, and research and correspondence about local land ownership.
The materials in the collection are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection, Ms2004-014, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Source of Acquisition
The Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection was donated to the Special Collections in 2003.
Processing Information
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection took place in December 2004.
Historical Note
Mountain Lake is a 6,000 year old freshwater lake in Giles County, Virginia that is fed by cold underground springs. It was formerly known as Salt Pond, and the area sits atop Salt Pond Mountain along the eastern continental divide. A hotel or resort has operated at the privately owned site since 1857.
Around 1980, David Sherman of the U.S. Forest Service and the Appalachian Trail Conference became involved in the effort to designate the area around Mountain Lake as a federal wilderness area. Although unable to secure property including Mountain Lake itself, over eight thousand acres of Mountain Lake Wilderness area to the lake's north, including a portion of the Appalachian Trail, are now administered by the Jefferson National Forest.
Scope and Content
The Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection contains papers collected by David Sherman while he working to establish a federal wilderness area around Mountain Lake in Giles County, Virginia during the 1980s. Old hotel brochures and articles printed in local magazines and guidebooks dating from 1870 to 2002 provide historical background on the area. Maps and photographs provide geographic information about the land. There is also a copy of a doctoral dissertation on the history of Mountain Lake written by Frederick C. Marland, a Virginia Tech graduate. Other material in the collection documents Sherman's effort to preserve the Mountain Lake area. These items include federal studies and reports about the environmental conditions generated by federal agencies, copies of legislation, and research and correspondence about local land ownership.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by subject.
Some collection material was originally stored in a three-ring binder marked "Mountain Lake, Virginia. Miscellaneous Documentation." The papers in the binder were removed, placed in folders corresponding to their tab-divided groupings and labeled (binder), then the folders were interfiled with other material according to subject.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
The guide to the Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).
Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
Miscellaneous photographs, postcards, and maps of Mountain Lake region (binder)11Postcards sent to C. J. French in Crewe, VA and Narrows, VA showing Bedford County, Virginia sites, including Peaks of Otter, Flat Top, Apple Orchard Falls and Mountain Lake in Giles County1907-191212Photographs, Mountain Lake area by David Sherman198013Brochures, Mountain Lake Hotel (binder)n.d.14Brochures, Mountain Lake and Giles County, VA1912-1984, n.d.15Photocopies of magazine and guidebook articles about Mountain Lake (binder)1870-200216Publications containing articles about Mountain Lake1884-197417The Gray Jacket (published monthly by the literary societies of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College)February 1884Outdoors: Selected Verse and Prose with Illustrations from Photographs Taken at Mountain Lake, Virginia, edited by Edna Turpin1916The Iron Worker Spring 1947Highlights in the Early History of Montgomery County, Virginia by Lula Porterfield Givens1966Context: A Bulletin of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Spring 1974Correspondence about Mountain Lake, Frederick C. Marland to Goodridge Wilson, including typed transcript of a 1957 lecture by Dr. Ivey Forman Lewis, A History of Mountain Lake, (binder)1965-196618Photocopy of 1967 Dissertation, The History of Mountain Lake, Giles County, Virginia: An Interpretation Based on Paleolimnology, by Frederick C. Marland (binder)198019Report, Evaluation of Mountain Lake Scenic Area and Mountain Lake Biological Station, Giles County, Virginia for Registered Natural Landmark, by Dr. Ian A. Worley (binder)1974110Report, Cascades - Mountain Lake Recreation Composite, Blacksburg Ranger District, Jefferson National Forest, Virginia, prepared by Paul A. Timko (binder)1977111Report, Mountain Lake Wilderness Study Area: Final Environmental Impact Statement and Study Report, Jefferson National Forest, Virginia and West Virginia ca. 1981112Photocopies of correspondence and legislation, Mountain Lake Wilderness Study Area and Trails (binder)1981-1984113Report, A Proposal: Mountain Lake Wilderness, Jefferson National Forest, Virginia and West Virginia: Draft Environmental Impact Statement 1981Chapter photocopied from Hiking Virginia's National Forests by Karin Wuertz-Schaefer1977Deeds and plats from 1938-1977 showing property in the Mountain Lake areacompiled ca. 1980114Maps (oversize) accompanying deeds to property in the Mountain Lake area1965-1970, n.d.115Deeds, Ownership Information and Map (binder)1972-1980116Mary Moody Northen biographical material (binder)n.d.117Letter, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, C. D. Andrus to Mary Northen (binder)1980118Deeds and correspondence, Mary Northen property1980-1985119Correspondence and newspaper clippings, Mountain Lake land use and ownership (binder)1980-1988120