The Shadow
A step back into Lexing-ton and Rockbridge County’s past is available for the discerning reader in the latest Arcadia book
“Rockbridge County: The Michael Miley Collection.”
The 128-page paperback book is part of Arcadia’s “Images of America” series which highlights over 8,500 areas in the United States in books including Clifton Forge, Bath County and Botetourt County.
Arcadia’s “Postcard His-tory” series includes “Around Lexington, Va.” in which Rockbridge County and Lexington are featured as are scenes in Alleghany and Bath counties.
A book on Covington sponsored by the Alleghany Historical Society is in production by Arcadia with sales anticipated to begin in November.
This latest book, which hit retailers’ shelves Sept. 16 has over 200 photographs taken between 1866 and 1918 by Lexington photographer Michael Miley.
Most of the photographs are from the Special Collections, Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University in Lexington.
The author is Richard A. Straw, who has taught history at Radford University in Radford since 1981.
He is the author of two other books in the “Images of America” series, one on Athens, Ohio, his homeown, and one on Blacksburg.
He says his “interest in historical photography is both a personal passion and an area of professional study.”
He first learned of the work of Michael Miley in 2011 and began making plans to compile a book for Arcadia that would showcase the photographer’s work.
The late Michael Miley was born in Rockingham County in 1841 and his family moved to Rockbridge County north of Lexington when he was a young child.
He fought under Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson during the Civil War and spent the last two years of the war in Delaware Prison which was located near Delaware City, Del.
By 1866, he had returned to Lexington and with the financial backing of John Boude, opened a photography studio on the corner of Nelson and Main streets. For 52 years, he took photographs of people, places and things in Lexington and Rockbridge County documenting the people and history of the area from 1866 through 1918 when he died.
His photographs are more art than mere photography. Many of the images in the book are published for the first time while at least one photograph of Gen. Robert E. Lee is well-known throughout the United States. It was taken in 1868 with Gen. Lee in full Con-federate uniform sitting astride his war horse Traveler.
Another of Miley’s famous photographs is an interior picture of the Lee Chapel on the W&L Campus taken in 1890.
In addition to W&L, Virginia Military Institute was another prime subject of Miley giving the viewer a first-hand look at the campus before, during and after the turn of the 20th century.
Among his pictures of impressive mansions in Lexington and Rockbridge County is Stono, home of John Jordan. Jordan was an industralist who had many interests and along with John Irvine of Rockbridge County, opened the Lucy-Selina iron furnace at Longdale in Alleghany County in 1827.
Jordan also built a road from Lexington over North Mountain to Longdale. The road was constructed by hand and several individuals died during the construction. Today the original part of the road in Alleghany County is Col-lierstown Road, Route 770. Part of the road is unpaved and in Rockbridge County Route 770 ends at Collier-stown. From there to Effinger, it is Route 251.
Sweet did a remarkable job in selecting the prints published in the book giving an intimate look into the residents and places of Lexington’s past. He had thousands of prints to consider including individual photographs of students at W&L and VMI over the 50-year time period.
While most of the portraits are of individuals whose last names may not be familiar to Highlands residents, because of Miley’s style, they are interesting just for the method, lighting and angle used to capture the subjects.
Of course, many of the buildings and places will be known to area residents.
“Rockbridge County: The Michael Miley Collection” is an interesting, entertaining read and view.
Published by Arcadia Publishing in Charleston, S.C., the book is available at retailers, online bookstores and through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadia-publishing.com or 888-313-2665. Cost is $21.99 plus 5.3 percent tax for Governor McDonnell — $23.16.
