The DHR Archives contains a trove of documentation about the state's historic resources such as the items available online below, which include one of the 31 scrapbooks from the library of Ferol Briggs, as well as county-wide architectural survey reports.
As staff time allows for scanning of some of this material, DHR will post more survey reports and other documents online. Meanwhile, archives material is available to the public onsite at the DHR Archives in Richmond.
Ferol Briggs Scrapbooks:
Ferol Briggs was a long-time librarian at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture and the curator of the architecture school’s pictorial and slide collection at the Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library. In the early 1970s, Mr. Briggs also worked as a field representative for the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission (predecessor agency to the Department of Historic Resources). In 1998-2000, working in concert with Suzanne Durham, then the archivist at DHR, Mr. Briggs collected over 50-years' worth of photographs, newspaper clippings, and brochures related to historic properties throughout the state into 31 scrapbooks that he then donated to DHR. Additionally, two scrapbooks related to Charlottesville and Albemarle County were donated to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Historical Society, and six Orange County scrapbooks were donated to the Orange County Historical Society. (Download an Excel file that shows locales of all Briggs Scrapbooks in DHR Special Collections.)
Volume 2 of the Briggs Scrapbooks (below) covers properties in Gloucester and Mathews counties. Bill Lawrence of the Gloucester Genealogical Society digitized the contents of that scrapbook and created the PDF versions linked below.
| Scrapbook | Title / Description | Related Information |
 |
The Ferol Briggs Scrapbook: Gloucester & Mathews Cos. (Note: These are large PDF files.) Scrapbook: Pages 0-50 Scrapbook: Pages 51-101 Scrapbook: Pages 102-139 Scrapbook: Pages 140-End Briggs hand-written index to Vol. 2 |
State & National Register Sites:
Gloucester Co. Mathews Co. Slideshows: Fairfield Archaeological Site (Gloucester Co.) Old Thomas James Store (Mathews Co.) |
Survey Reports:
The following reports were produced as a result of DHR-sponsored Cost Share survey projects, or through projects funded through grants provided to Certified Local Governments. Please note that most of these are large PDF files and may take some time to download.
| Locality | Title / Description | Year |
| Amherst Co. | Historic Resources Survey Report | July 2010 |
| Brunswick Co. | Brunswick County Courthouse Physical Assessment | 2010 |
| Chesapeake | Survey Report: African American Historic Resources | 2010 |
| Henry Co. | Survey Report | 2009 |
| Nelson |
Historic Resources Identification and Assessment An Architectural Survey . . . Summary Report |
1993 1998 |
| Richmond | Archaeological Data Recovery Investigation of the Lumpkin's Slave Jail Site (Vol. I: Reseach Report) Unearthing the Devil's Half Acre: Archaeological Data...Lumpkin's Slave Jail Site (Vol. II: Artifact Inventory) |
Aug. 2010 |
| Richmond Area | Historic Context for Richmond Area Dairy Barns c. 1900-1955 | June 2003 |
| Warren Co. | Claiming Rocky Ground: Documentation of Stone Walls in the Proposed Gooney Manor Loop Road Rural Historic District | Jan. 2004 |
