One of the earliest of Alleghany County’s pioneer dwellings, this house was built by Jacob Persinger, member of a settler family. Persinger as a child was captured by a group of Native Americans and later adopted many of their cultural practices. After he married Mary Kimberlin in 1778, she refused to conform to his way of living, so he built her the present house, reported to be the finest in the county at the time. The Persinger House was enlarged to its present form with its two-level gallery ca. 1888. The original log section is an interesting vernacular structure retaining numerous original features, including a finely joined vertical board partition with beveled joints. The Persinger House has a hall/parlor plan, a standard one for 18th-century Virginia vernacular dwellings.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Nomination Form
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia