Nace, Virginia

Nace is an unincorporated community in Botetourt County, Virginia, United States.[1]

Nace
Unincorporated community
Nace is located in Virginia
Nace
Nace
Location within the Commonwealth of Virginia
Nace is located in the United States
Nace
Nace
Nace (the United States)
Coordinates: 37°26′22″N 79°49′26″W
CountryUnited States
StateVirginia
CountyBotetourt
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)

The small town was originally known as "Houston", but "As for the name Nace, that was in honor of George Washington Fayette Nace, a prominent local farmer born Feb. 1, 1822, and died Aug. 19, 1890."[2]

The town had an orchard, truck farms (otherwise known as Market gardens), and a tomato cannery. The cannery was owned by E. C. Firestone, and was known as the Firestone Canning Corporation.[3]

Geology

The small Brachiopod Acrotreta buttsi (n. sp). is found in the Rome Formation. "Growth lines are clear, but other surface markings appear to be lacking. Interior impressions have a straight depression extending more than half the length of the valve. Lower Cambrian, Rome; (loc. 17h) at C. and 0. Station, Waynesboro; and (100. 25v) half a mile south of Nace, Virginia ..."[4]

The town also had an iron mine nearby. "Getting back to the town’s first name, that came from an iron mining operation up the mountain from there. Artifacts of the mine are still scattered at the site, Jack Rader said. Houston Mine was a property of Tredegar Iron Works of Richmond, at one time one of the largest manufacturing facilities in the South. The company provided ordnance to the Confederacy and helped further the statewide railroad building boom after the Civil War. An affiliated business of the mine was Crozier Iron & Steel in Roanoke, which provided materials for the Norfolk and Western Railway in its early days during the late 19th century."[5]

There was also a small dairy and some Manganese mining in Nace.[6]

Transportation

The town had a railway station at milepost 225 for the Shenandoah Valley Railroad and had a US Post Office from 1883 to 1964.[7]

A portion of Virginia State Route 640 in Botetourt County, Virginia, is still known locally as "Nace Road". "Alternating lane closures will be in place on a section of Route 11 from 1 mile north of Route 640 (Nace Rd.) to the I-81 on Ramp at Exit 162 for milling, paving and pavement marking operations."[8]

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Nace, Virginia
  2. Cox, Ray. April 5, 2020. "WOYM: Botetourt County's Nace had ties to region's iron mining history". Roanoke Times.
  3. Couper, William. History of the Shenandoah Valley. 1952. Volume 3, page 231.
  4. Resser, Charles Elmer. Cambrian System (Restricted) of the Southern Appalachians. Baltimore: Waverly Press, 1938. Page 43.
  5. Cox, Ray. April 5, 2020. "WOYM: Botetourt County's Nace had ties to region's iron mining history". Roanoke Times.
  6. Cox, Ray. April 19, 2020. "More Nace memories surface, from attempts to revive manganese mining to snakes not alive." Roanoke Times.
  7. Botetourt Heritage Book Committee. Botetourt County, Virginia, Heritage Book, 1770-2000. Summersville, WV: Shirley Grose & Associates, 2001. Page 25.
  8. Virginia Department of Transportation. August 11, 2017. "Botetourt County road work report for mid-August". Roanoke Times.
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