In 1907 the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities bought the property from Judge A. W. Wallace, whose family had owned it since 1792. It was in a very bad state of dilapidation, and only the loving interest and hard work of a few patriotic ladies made possible the necessary repairs and saved to posterity this historic old building with its wealth of associations with the people and events which shaped our nation. The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities has recently completed extensive repairs and the visitor will find it one of the most interesting places in the city to visit. It is attractively furnished with antique pieces of the Colonial period, many having great historic value. One may see a desk owned and used by Thomas Jefferson, a chair which belonged to James Monroe, a rare copy of an autographed letter from Mary Washington to her son George Washington, brass andirons, pewter-hooded candles, Betty lamp, immense iron key for a wine cellar, brass candle-sticks, iron candle snuffers, pewter ink-well, antique piano, high boy, needle-point sampler worked by a nine-year-old child, spinning wheel and reel, stage coach sign dated 1775, large early American desk, old iron cooking utensils used by slaves cooking by an open fireplace, and many other interesting things. [Illustration] Roanoke THE GATEWAY TO THE GREAT SOUTHWESTERN EMPIRE Raw-re-noke is an Indian word for money. The city of Roanoke was originally a land grant to Thomas Tosh, an old settler who came to "Big Lick" and settled there after King George II and King George III had granted him sixteen hundred acres of land along that fertile valley. "Big Lick" was a favorite spot for the wild game and for the Indians too, for there they found the salt so necessary to life itself. One of Tosh's daughters married General Andrew Lewis and became the mother of Major Andrew Lewis and Thomas Lewis. Later on, as more settlers came into the valley, quite a village grew up around "Big Lick" and in 1874 it was incorporated with John Trout as Mayor. Then in 1881 the village woke up. Saws and hammers were heard from dawn 'til dusk. The Roanoke Machine Works were being built. Nearby, stores and houses were springing up, warehouses and boarding-houses. Surveyors were laying off lots and laying out streets. Contractors and engineers, artisans and mechanics were coming in every day. The men who sold supplies for all of these were indeed busy. The Norfolk and Western Railroad had come to Roanoke!