The Salem Museum and Historical Society’s Logan Research Library have announced the recent acquisition of a prestigious and comprehensive collection of maps that contain invaluable genealogical and historical information about some of the original settlers of Virginia and the geography, communities, and development of specific areas of Virginia. The Logan Library of the Salem Museum is now the only museum with the entire Hildebrand Map Collection.
The Hildebrand Map Collection was compiled and donated by John R. and David C. Hildebrand, the sons of J. Raymond Hildebrand. The collection consists of a series of maps resulting from the elder Hildebrand’s research into land records, historical maps, and United States Geological Survey (USGS) maps.
The highly detailed, hand-drawn large-format settlement and county historical maps depict the Shenandoah area and Southwest Virginia, extending into eastern Tennessee. The Collection also includes a large number of USGS maps (1890-1950) that defined the geography of major areas of Virginia.
- Raymond Hildebrand, a native of Augusta County and a member of the class of 1919 at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VA Tech), served the city of Roanoke first as assistant city engineer and then as the city’s first planning engineer. But he will be remembered best as a historian, one who recorded the results of his research graphically—by preparing maps showing the specific locations of the homes and farms of the area’s original settlers, principally the Scots-Irish and Germanic immigrants.
Hildebrand created these maps to assist the descendants of these early settlers and genealogists in researching and preserving family history. He developed a comprehensive knowledge of the 18th century settlement of the Upper Shenandoah, James, and Roanoke Rivers, an area which later became the counties of Augusta, Rockbridge, Botetourt, and Roanoke.
Besides the maps, two of the most valuable documents in the Collection are indices to the Beverley Patent and the Great Borden Land Grant. William Beverley and Benjamin Borden were holders of two large grants from the British Crown in 1736 and 1739 respectively. These indices list the original landowners. The Historical Society of Western Virginia, the Augusta County Historical Society, and other genealogists provided these important indices.
The Hildebrand Collection also contains a detailed introduction, written by John R. Hildebrand, that describes how the maps were created and provides some historical context for them.
The Salem Museum and Historical Society said that it is excited to have such a desirable resource for researchers and genealogists. The Hildebrand Map Collection is housed in the Logan Research Library of the Salem Museum and Historical Society, located at 801 East Main Street, Salem.
Researchers can view the maps at the Logan Research Library on Fridays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Library volunteers can be reached at library@salemmuseum.org to schedule appointments.
-The Salem Times-Register
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