Buckshoal Farm Explained

Buckshoal Farm
Designated Other1:Virginia Landmarks Register
Designated Other1 Date:March 17, 1987[1]
Designated Other1 Number:041-0108
Designated Other1 Num Position:bottom
Coordinates:36.6425°N -78.7708°W
Added:September 16, 1987
Refnum:87001473

Buckshoal Farm is a historic home and tobacco farm located near Omega in Halifax County, Virginia. Typical of early homes in the area, which were expanded in various architectural styles during the previous 150 years, it is best known as the birthplace, favorite retreat and eventual death location of Virginia Governor and later U.S. Congressman William M. Tuck, who called it by this name (after Buckshoal Creek on the property), although his father called it "Valley Home". It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, four years after Tuck's death.

History

The earliest log section, two storeys with clapboard siding, was built in the early-19th century, and was acquired by Mark Alexander Wilkinson, Tuck's great-grandfather. In 1841 Alexander constructed a two-story pitched roof section in the vernacular Italianate style perpendicular to the older section, which greatly expanded the residence, and included the main staircase used today. Tuck's father had also been born on the tobacco farm, and had served in the Virginia General Assembly. After Tuck's death, his family rented out the property.

Architecture

The house features a porch configured to follows the shape of the ell, although that front section was removed in 1921 and replaced by a front porch with tapering wood posts set on brick piers. It also features a bay at the front of the house. Two outbuildings are also historically significant: a frame shed and a log well house.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Virginia Landmarks Register. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 5 June 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053819/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_cities.htm#. 2013-09-21. dead.
  2. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Buckshoal Farm . Dianne Pierce. December 1986. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo