Bonsack is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in eastern
Roanoke County,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, United States. The community is located near the junction of
US 460
U.S. Route 460 (US 460) is a spur route of U.S. Route 60. It currently runs for 655 miles (1,054 km) from Norfolk, Virginia, at its parent route U.S. Route 60 at Ocean View to Frankfort, Kentucky, intersecting its parent route once ...
and
US 220 Alternate.
History
Bonsack was located along an early road called the "
Trader's Path
The Trader's Path was a colonial highway through southwestern Virginia, established in 1740.
The Trader's Path was an early road from Augusta County, Virginia, now part of US 460 and US 220 Alternate. Established in 1740, the Trader's Path led fr ...
," from
Augusta County, Virginia
Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Its county ...
, now part of Highway 460. Established in 1740, the Trader's Path and led from
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...
to
Big Lick, Virginia
Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is l ...
, and was used to bring settlers and traders from central Virginia into the Roanoke Valley. A large number of German Baptists, also called "
Church of the Brethren
The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren (german: link=no, Schwarzenauer Neutäufer "Schwarzenau New Baptists") tradition that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germa ...
," settled here after the Revolutionary War, and the community had several different names, including "Glade Creek" and "Stoner's Store". It was named "Bonsack" after the family donated land for a depot and track for the
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad
The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was an historic gauge railroad in the Southern United States, much of which is incorporated into the modern Norfolk Southern Railway. It played a strategic role in supplying the Confederacy during the American ...
, which was constructed in 1852.
"Two blanket factories were located in Bonsack during the Civil War. Legend has it that one blanket factory was burned to the ground by the Yankees. However, the second was spared because its owner, with fingers crossed, promised not to sell blankets to the nearby Confederate merchants down the road in Roanoke City." The blanket factories were owned by Jacob Bonsack (1819-1889). By 1860, the woolen mills employed 18 men and had a value of $21,000.00.
During the Civil War, Bonsack was raided by troops from Union General
David Hunter
David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order (immediately rescinded) emancipating slaves ...
in June 1864. The troops burned the woolen mill and the train depot. They also confiscated food and destroyed personal property. "A number of the railroad-related resources that do survive have been heavily altered, so additional historical research would be needed to document their connection to the railroad. For example, at Bonsack, a turn-of-the-century house survives that was once the stationmaster's house, but this connection would not be obvious merely from an examination of the building. While some railroad resources, such as depots, were often built specifically for that purpose, in other cases, older buildings were reused as the community's needs changed."
The town is named for a former resident,
James Albert Bonsack
__NOTOC__
James Albert Bonsack (October 9, 1859,
. URL last accessed 2006-10-11. , who invented the first practical cigarette paper rolling machine in 1880. Other sources say the name came earlier, during the 1850s, from the Bonsack family, who donated land for the railroad depot and track through the village.
There was a short mining boom in the 1880s, when deposits of zinc were found on David Plaine's property, near the Bonsack railroad depot. In 1888, about 11,878 tons of zinc ore were shipped out, but mining stopped by 1895.
The Bonsack area was also known for their orchards during the 1920s, and in the large groves they grew apples and peaches. The Roanoke area was ranked eighth in peach production, and ninth in apple production in Virginia, between 1925-1939. They also grew pears, grapes, raspberries, plums and strawberries.
The local cemetery in Bonsack has some interesting but also a somewhat haphazard history. "The older part of this cemetery was initially surveyed in 1936 by the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
of Virginia and recorded as the “Bonsack Cemetery ” in Document #8 of the Historical Inventory of Roanoke County, Virginia. The WPA file listed inscriptions from the mid to late 19th-century grave markers for Sarah Bonsack, Susannah Hershberger Bonsack, John Bonsack, and John H. Berry. Although none of the observed grave markers exhibited 18th century dates, the cemetery was thought to date back to 1790.
Today Bonsack has about 20 buildings, and is threatened with development that will change the historic value of the community.
"Preserving Bonsack."
November 24, 2007, by Cody Lowe.
References
Bibliography
* Blair, Gertrude. Social Customs of the Early Settlers in the Roanoke Valley and Colorful Reminiscences. Roanoke, Va: Works Progress Administration, 1940. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/796002450
* Hotchkiss, Jedediah. Map of Central Virginia Showing Proposed Southern Extension of the Shenandoah Valley R.R. from Waynesboro to Bonsack's. 1880. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63212672
* Kagey, Deedie Dent. 1989. "Roanoke County Communities Started between the Mountains". Journal of the Roanoke Valley Historical Society. 13, no. 1: 7-26. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/812172701
* Moore, Robert Glenn. Preparation for Marriage A Church Training Program for Young People at Bonsack Baptist Church. 1983. Publication (Historical Commission, Southern Baptist Convention), no. 5568. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22366933
External links
"Virginia is for Lovers'"
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Unincorporated communities in Roanoke County, Virginia
Unincorporated communities in Virginia