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HEARTBEATS OF NELSON

Heartbeats of Nelson is a history book about Nelson County, Virginia. It begins with stories of life in the mountains of Nelson County just prior to the Civil War and ends with stories of Hurricane Camille.

The author spent seven years assembling stories of the past. He interviewed citizens all over the county about their lives. Many of those interviewed were in their eighties and nineties and two were over a hundred years old. Some were veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam; others were those who survived the horrors of Hurricane Camille; many others were those who have spent a lifetime in Nelson. They poured out graphic and touching stories of “the way it was” and told of their love for the land and the people.

Here are stories of farm life, country stores, tobacco, the James River & Kanawha Canal, the role of the country doctors, moonshining, the Depression, and the schools. There are stories of the apple and peach orchards, the plants at Piney River, and the soapstone industry. Here also are stories of Crabtree Falls, the Montebello Fish Hatchery, hunting and fishing, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the communities in-between. Heartbeats of Nelson depicts the everyday stories of those who grew up in Nelson during that era when many lived here, worked on the farms and industries, and spent their lives in sight of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

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