Altavista’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 2 old photos of Altavista. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Prior to the colonization of Virginia, the area around what would be Altavista was inhabited by the native Saponi people, in a tribal town that was called "Sapon Town", near what is now the Staunton River. The Saponi cleared a large networks of paths through the forests to connect their villages, inadvertently enabling colonists to come through the area with ease. The more hostile Occaneechi people were also present in the area, and killed some of the first colonizers in the area. Cherokee and Iroquois people also came through the area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Altavista’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Altavista’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo1 archive item has no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewFirst house in, 1907: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Altavista
See all 3 →
Altavista, decade by decade
1990s
unknown1 item
2 historic places in Altavista
Altavista has 2 listings on the National Register, and they protect 53 historic buildings, because Altavista Downtown Historic District alone counts 48.
Where they are
Architectural styles
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as First house in (1907) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.