Clarksville, Virginia's only lakeside town, is part of Western Mecklenburg County. It was the county's first incorporated town and was named for its founder, Clarke Royster. The area gained its fame when William Byrd II surveyed Buffalo Springs in 1726 and dubbed the waters "the water that Adam drank." The town was originally home to the Occoneechee Indians, who were driven from the area 50 years earlier when Nathaniel Bacon fought his last battle at Fort Occoneechee, massacring over 300 members of the tribe. This battle became his legacy. Today tourists are drawn to the area for annual...

The rich and vibrant history of Chase City, originally called Raine's Tavern, dates back to the mid-1700s. With its mineral springs and fertile farm and timberlands, Chase City, named for former Supreme Court justice Salmon P. Chase, has been a tourist destination since 1733 when surveyor William Byrd II dubbed the area the "Land of Eden." Depicted in this volume are the prosperous days of Thoroughbred racehorses and plantations in the 1850s to Reconstruction from 1866 to 1877. The rise, fall, and rebound of the town are traced through vintage photographs, as is the city's current status as...