This history covers the middle New River area from 1654 to 1905 with an emphasis on Mercer County, West Virginia. Mercer County was created in 1837 from Giles and Tazewell counties, Virginia, and was part of Virginia until 1863.

Regional History New River in N.C., Va./W.Va. The United States Army Invades the New River Valley, May 1864, rep. 1986 ed. Crook's Army Raids New River Railroads. ISBN 0-9614765-7-5, 137 pages, soft. $12.00. Techman of the Twenties, ISBN 0-9614765-9-1, hardcover, illus. 117 pages. Student life, Virginia Polytechnic, Blacksburg, 1920s. $15.00. James Patton & Appalachian Colonists. Biography, region history, New & Holston Valley - Colonists 1738-1755. hardcover, illus. 246p. 1980 rep. 1973 ed. $15.00. ISBN 0-9614765-4-0. William Preston & Allegheny Patriots. American Revolution on New & Holston river. Tories, patriots, Indian conflict. 318 p. ISBN 0-9614765-5-9 $20.00. Irish Burks of Colonial Va. & New River. Burks-1640s Ireland Rebellion Refugees to Virginia mountains - Genealogy, regional history. 300p. illus. hard. ISBN 1-878188-02-X. $20.00. Christianburg in Allegheny Mountains. Town-county story, county seat, Montgomery Co., Va. ISBN 0-9614765-1-6. $15.00. Andrew Lewis of Roanoke & Greenbrier. French & Indian War officer & Revolutionary Western Virginia General-Colonizer. ISBN 0-9614765-6-7. 259 p. soft. illus. $15.00. Confederate Women of New River Border Country. 83p. soft. illus. maps. ISBN 1-878188-03-8. $12.00. Mountain Lakes Resort 1751-1900. History. Virginia's Famed Resort. ISBN 0-9614765-8-3. 90p. illus. hard. $15.00. Springfield Saga. Fort Thompson on New River. 1750s French /Indian War Fort-New River Plantation, Pulaski, Co., Va. Thompson genealogy. ISBN 0-9614765-0-8. 70 p. illus. soft. $15.00. Walpa Publishing, 4201 Prices Fork Rd. Blacksburg, Va. 24060.

Grayson County is famous in southwestern Virginia as the cradle of the New River settlements--perhaps the first settlements beyond the Alleghanies. The Nuckolls book is equally famous for its genealogies of the pioneer settlers of the county, which, typically, provide the names of the progenitors of the Grayson County line and their dates and places of migration and settlement, and then, in fluid progression, the names of all offspring in the direct and sometimes collateral lines of descent. Altogether somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,000 persons are named in the genealogies and indexed for ready reference.

This work surveys the history of the German New River Settlement and succeeds in identifying all, or nearly all, German New River settlers in chapters devoted to pioneer families, baptisms, marriage records, and court records.

This updated edition of the 1979 original covers the landmark struggle to save the New River from damming in the 1970s. The grassroots movement emphasized the river's cultural and historical value rather than narrow environmental issues and became one of the great victories of the environmental movement. This edition also includes a new epilogue examining the current ecological status of the New River and the ongoing impact of the original conservation efforts in the face of new environmental threats. The 1979 edition won the Weatherford Award presented by Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association.

The book rings with the names of early inhabitants and prominent citizens. For the genealogist there is the important and wholly fortuitous list of tithables of Pittsylvania County for the year 1767, which enumerates the names of nearly 1,000 landowners and property holders, amounting in sum to a rough census of the county in its infancy. Additional lists include the names, some with inclusive dates of service, of sheriffs, justices of the peace, members of the House of Delegates, 1776-1928, members of the Senate of Virginia, 1776-1928, clerks of the court, and judges.