Designed in 1925 for Mary Leigh Suhling (pronounced “zoo-ling”) by noted Lynchburg architects Pendleton S. Clark and Walter S. Crow, Hanshill is a rare and remarkably intact example of an early twentieth century Rustic Revival style summer retreat home in Virginia’s Piedmont province. Used as a seasonal vacation lodge for the Suhling Family and guests for over 85 years, the building features custom-designed iron hardware, rustic details such as balustrades of sticks and logs, and stained vertical board and batten siding both on exterior and interior walls. A significant departure from Clark & Crowe’s more typical Colonial Revival buildings, the presence of board and batten siding on Hanshill is unusual when compared to other rustic camps of the period and region.

From 1918 through 1922, the property also served as the first semi-permanent summer camp organized by the Young Women’s Christian Association (Y.W.C.A.) of Lynchburg. During this period, camp activities were centered around Rough House, the original log cabin on the property. While often opened to all girls from the Lynchburg area, Camp Suhling (also referred to as “Camp Chummy Suhling” or “Camp Merry Minglers”) was specifically geared towards members of the Y.W.C.A.’s “Industrial Girls” club, which aimed to provide fresh air, “middle-class values”, better working conditions, and a Christian environment to young female employees of Lynchburg’s factories.

Hanshill has a period of significance ranging from 1910 to 1935, beginning with the initial purchase of the land by Johannes “Hans” Suhling and ending with the approximate year in which the final character-defining alterations or additions to the buildings on the property were made. It is locally significant under Criterion A in the area of social history for its role in the development of outdoor leadership programs for girls and young women by the Y.W.C.A. of Lynchburg. The property is also locally significant under Criterion C for its extraordinarily-intact Rustic Revival style architecture, the gem of which is Hanshill itself, which was designed by the regionally prominent architectural firm of Clark & Crowe.
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The Brookneal Historic District includes approximately 55 acres of commercial district and residential neighborhoods within the core of the Town of Brookneal. The district includes more than 100 contributing resources and less than 20 non-contributing resources.

The Brookneal Historic District remains a symbol of the rise and subsequent fall of Southside Virginia’s economy that was based on agriculture and manufacturing; primarily tobacco, furniture, and textiles. Unlike many comparable towns, Brookneal did not develop in one location. Rather, the town’s central business district migrated northward during the nineteenth century, away from the Staunton River that provided it with its first commercial connections and towards the first of two railroads that would link the community with broader markets throughout Virginia and beyond. Because of this migration, the district boasts a mixture of intact architectural resources that stretches from the early nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. Anonymous citizens as well as national figures including Patrick Henry, George Marshall Wickliffe, General Lewis Andrew Pick, and David K.E. Bruce left a mark on Brookneal and played a role in its development. The Brookneal Historic District is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its role in the establishment of commerce along the Staunton River Basin in Campbell and surrounding counties, and under Criterion C for its intact and eclectic collection of architecture spanning two centuries. The district displays substantial integrity of location, association, design, and workmanship.

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The Galt’s Mill Complex includes Galt’s Mill and the surrounding buildings and farms that comprised the village of Galt’s Mill. The mill and surrounding village are named for William Galt, who built the mill and the earliest miller’s house (Home House). The complex’s period of significance is from 1813 until mill operation ceased in 1956; the welfare of the village depended on the mill. The mill operated through the 19th century as a manufacture mill that ground grain for sale in markets beyond the local area. This complex is locally significant and eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C in the area of architecture and engineering. The entire village area constitutes one of the best collections of buildings and structures associated with a 19th to mid-20th century mill in Amherst County. The mill building is also significant as one of the four remaining 19th-century mills in the county and played a vital part in the county’s 19th century milling industry. This masonry mill also retains much of its original 19th century milling machinery.

The complex is also significant under Criterion A in the areas of industry, commerce, and transportation. Flour was the second largest county agricultural product, behind tobacco, in the 19th century and Galt’s Mill was the most profitable flour production facility in 1880 for Amherst County.10 Galt’s Mill encouraged the growth of a commercial area serving local farmers from both sides of the James River and later provided a stop for travelers along the canal and then the railroad. The complex is one of the remaining mill villages that served the James River and Kanawha Canal as well as the succeeding Richmond and Allegheny Railroad line. The canal was one of the most efficient modes for transporting goods downriver to Richmond in the early part of the 19th century. After the Civil War, the railroad became more efficient than the canal and replaced it in the late 19th century. The village was in economic decline by the middle of the 20th century due to agricultural, population and transportation changes that occurred over time that lessened the importance of milling and river travel. The existing village appears much as it did when the mill closed in 1956 due to its remote location along the James River. The area maintains its integrity of location, setting, association, design, materials and feeling and workmanship.

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