Transect Virginia

By: Susie Geurin

Sterling Elementary School

Sterling, VA. 20164

The Piedmont Region - Part 2

• Scenes like these are found on every river that meets the Fall Line.

• Where the Tidewater or Coastal Plain region meet the Piedmont Region, water falls are created due to rock deposits.

• This rocky area in a river was very difficult for boats to cross.

Fall Line or Fall Zone on the Appomattox River

Site #2

Virginia Tech’s Agriculture Experimental Station at Blackstone, VA

• This is a modern day tobacco curing barn.

• Curing is when tobacco goes through the drying process.

• Warmers are used to take cancer causing agents out of tobacco products.

• Much research is going on at this facility to find a safer tobacco product.

• Virginia Tech University is in the Ridge and Valley Region. Why do you think they built this facility here in the Piedmont Region?

Virginia Tech Agriculture Experimental Station at Blackstone, VA

• This is the site of a Nazi German prison camp.

• This is located on the same property as the Agricultural station.

• In the 1940’s the Germans were used for farm labor.

• Why did we have German prisoners in the U.S.?

Many Different Crops Are Grown At This Facility.

Grapes are an important crop for the wine Soy beans are being making industry in the Piedmont Region. grown here.

. • Crops grown and experimented with here include: corn, soy beans, grapes, many types of berry plants, tobacco, silage (crops for animals), and cotton.

• There is much experimentation going on here to make better crops for food and medicine.

Site # 3 Farmville, Virginia

• Farmville is in Prince Edward County.

• Farmville’s main importance today is supporting Longwood College.

• In the past, Farmville was important because grain was ground at the granary.

• Robert E. Lee passed through Farmville on his way to Appomattox Court House for the signing of the surrender agreement which ended the Civil War.

Downtown Farmville

• Unlike Petersburg which has a neglected downtown area, Farmville has a busy downtown shopping area.

• In what time period were these pictures taken?

• How have things changed over the years?

• This is another building that was transformed from a business established in 1870 to part of the Green Front Furniture Business which exists today.

• What period of history is shown in this picture? Past or Present?

• What would have happened to Farmville’s down town if the Green Front Furniture Business had not refurbished the buildings and businesses?

Down town Petersburg, Virginia

• The reason why Farmville’s down town has remained open for business is because the owners of this business have bought many of the buildings and turned them into large furniture or home stores.

• Over 50% of the down town area is run by the owner of this business.

• What is a monopoly in business?

This Was the Original Green Front Furniture Business

The Granary was located next to the river. This is the Appomattox River.

• The river provided a means of transportation of the grain to the granary.

• The river also provided power for operating the granary.

• Tobacco was also processed here in Farmville.

Granaries Helped Towns Grow

Robert Russa Moton High School Farmville, Virginia

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a case called Brown vs. the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas that made segregation illegal. Segregation was challenged at this school back in 1951.

This High School refused to desegregate.

They chose to close the school rather than stay open after the Supreme Court ruled that it was against the law to have different schools for white children and African Americans.

Students had to go to private schools.

Site # 4 Appomattox Court House National Park

• This was the site where Robert E. Lee, the leader of the Confederate troops during the Civil War, surrendered to General Grant.

This is a Replica of the First Courthouse Building.

• The word courthouse written together means a building. Court House in terms of a town or County is two separate words.

• This is not where General Lee and General Grant met to sign the surrender agreement.

• Courthouses were found in the center of the county. This was the village of Clover Hill in Appomattox County. Court business was held 1day a month.

• The first Courthouse was moved to Appomattox Station, Virginia due to a fire.