Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.

Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection, Ms2004-014, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection was donated to the Special Collections in 2003.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection took place in December 2004.

Historical Note

Mountain Lake is a 6,000 year old freshwater lake in Giles County, Virginia that is fed by cold underground springs. It was formerly known as Salt Pond, and the area sits atop Salt Pond Mountain along the eastern continental divide. A hotel or resort has operated at the privately owned site since 1857.

Around 1980, David Sherman of the U.S. Forest Service and the Appalachian Trail Conference became involved in the effort to designate the area around Mountain Lake as a federal wilderness area. Although unable to secure property including Mountain Lake itself, over eight thousand acres of Mountain Lake Wilderness area to the lake's north, including a portion of the Appalachian Trail, are now administered by the Jefferson National Forest.

Scope and Content

The Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection contains papers collected by David Sherman while he working to establish a federal wilderness area around Mountain Lake in Giles County, Virginia during the 1980s. Old hotel brochures and articles printed in local magazines and guidebooks dating from 1870 to 2002 provide historical background on the area. Maps and photographs provide geographic information about the land. There is also a copy of a doctoral dissertation on the history of Mountain Lake written by Frederick C. Marland, a Virginia Tech graduate. Other material in the collection documents Sherman's effort to preserve the Mountain Lake area. These items include federal studies and reports about the environmental conditions generated by federal agencies, copies of legislation, and research and correspondence about local land ownership.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by subject.

Some collection material was originally stored in a three-ring binder marked "Mountain Lake, Virginia. Miscellaneous Documentation." The papers in the binder were removed, placed in folders corresponding to their tab-divided groupings and labeled (binder), then the folders were interfiled with other material according to subject.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Mountain Lake: David Sherman Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).