Page 109 - WPA Book
P. 109
Works Project Administration – Articles from Rockingham County
HOUSES
1. SUBJECT:
Belmont Hall.
2. LOCATION:
On Smith’s Creek, ten miles north of Harrisonburg, Virginia, on east side of Route 11, about a mile from
highway.
3. DATE:
In the 1830s.
4. OWNERS:
Jacob Woodley by surveys, June 3, 1769; October 31, 1770; November 2, 1770.
John Woodley by inheritance from father, March 6, 1802.
John Cowan from John Woodley and Jesse Locker, September 1816; April 1829.
Jacob Cowan by inheritance from father, John Cowan, August 30, 1863.
Erasmus Long from Jacob Cowan, September 25, 1884.
Homer O. Long, by inheritance and division, June 27, 1896.
5. DESCRIPTION:
Belmont Hall is two storied, built of brick laid in Flemish bond, and has a gabled room covered with metal.
There are two brick chimneys, one at both ends, and eight windows and two doors at the front. The porch is one
story with a flat roof and four columns. The hall is wide with a colonial stairway. Large airy rooms are at the
sides of the halls upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs a door opens from the hall onto the roof of the porch.
See form 3686, attached.
6. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The originator of this estate seems to have been Jacob Woodley, (sometimes spelled Woodlee) by surveys. The
first surveys to him in our Rockingham Records are found in Survey Book, 0-I for six hundred and thirty seven
acres – June 3, 1769; October 31, 2024 and November 2, 1770, all of which at that time were in Augusta
County. The surveys were made by Thomas Lewis and his assistant, and located on Smith’s Creek. He was a
large landowner and had other lands besides the surveys here mentioned and before their dates. John Harrison,
Jr. and Daniel Smith processioned for him in 1756. He was among the early settlers on Smith’s Creek and had
probably come in from Eastern Virginia. In 1776 he was processioner with Reuben Harrison and a road
overseer in 1776, and the following year he is mentioned as a constable. His land lay to the east of the Great
Road in the region of Tenth Legion and is today identified by the old cemetery at the curve of the road leading
from the village towards the Massanuttens.
By purchase and otherwise, portions of this estate became the property of John Cowan in 1816, and in turn by
his son, Jacob, by inheritance in 1863. Just when the present house was built is not definitely known. It is said
to have been built by John Cowan in the 1830s. It is a nice old home and is now occupied by Homer O. Long,
and his sister, Mrs. Lincoln.
7. ART:
Photograph.
Page 108 of 482
HOUSES
1. SUBJECT:
Belmont Hall.
2. LOCATION:
On Smith’s Creek, ten miles north of Harrisonburg, Virginia, on east side of Route 11, about a mile from
highway.
3. DATE:
In the 1830s.
4. OWNERS:
Jacob Woodley by surveys, June 3, 1769; October 31, 1770; November 2, 1770.
John Woodley by inheritance from father, March 6, 1802.
John Cowan from John Woodley and Jesse Locker, September 1816; April 1829.
Jacob Cowan by inheritance from father, John Cowan, August 30, 1863.
Erasmus Long from Jacob Cowan, September 25, 1884.
Homer O. Long, by inheritance and division, June 27, 1896.
5. DESCRIPTION:
Belmont Hall is two storied, built of brick laid in Flemish bond, and has a gabled room covered with metal.
There are two brick chimneys, one at both ends, and eight windows and two doors at the front. The porch is one
story with a flat roof and four columns. The hall is wide with a colonial stairway. Large airy rooms are at the
sides of the halls upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs a door opens from the hall onto the roof of the porch.
See form 3686, attached.
6. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The originator of this estate seems to have been Jacob Woodley, (sometimes spelled Woodlee) by surveys. The
first surveys to him in our Rockingham Records are found in Survey Book, 0-I for six hundred and thirty seven
acres – June 3, 1769; October 31, 2024 and November 2, 1770, all of which at that time were in Augusta
County. The surveys were made by Thomas Lewis and his assistant, and located on Smith’s Creek. He was a
large landowner and had other lands besides the surveys here mentioned and before their dates. John Harrison,
Jr. and Daniel Smith processioned for him in 1756. He was among the early settlers on Smith’s Creek and had
probably come in from Eastern Virginia. In 1776 he was processioner with Reuben Harrison and a road
overseer in 1776, and the following year he is mentioned as a constable. His land lay to the east of the Great
Road in the region of Tenth Legion and is today identified by the old cemetery at the curve of the road leading
from the village towards the Massanuttens.
By purchase and otherwise, portions of this estate became the property of John Cowan in 1816, and in turn by
his son, Jacob, by inheritance in 1863. Just when the present house was built is not definitely known. It is said
to have been built by John Cowan in the 1830s. It is a nice old home and is now occupied by Homer O. Long,
and his sister, Mrs. Lincoln.
7. ART:
Photograph.
Page 108 of 482
