Drawing of the Bland County Jail Bland
County
Historical
Society
Picture of the jail

The Bland County Historical Society is located in the "old jail building" on the courthouse square. Volunteers are at the jail each Friday for research and shopping, and on other days by appointment. Phone (276) 688-0088

Bogle Library and Archives

Index of Bogle Library Holdings

In an effort to inform you of our research resources, we have put an Index of Bogle Library Holdings on this website.  It is in Adobe pdf format and is fully searchable.  If you find items in the index that you would like to examine, please stop by the Bogle Library or call us to do some research for you. 

Index of Historical Society Obituary Holdings
 Updated
02/01/2017

We have also put an Index of Obituary Holdings on this website.  It is in Adobe pdf format.  If you find an obituary in the index that is of interest, please stop by the Bogle Library, or e-mail us if you would like a copy. 

 

History of Newspapers in Bland County

 

Dedication of the Bogle Library and Archives September 18, 2010

Estelle Parke Bogle (1920 – 2008)

At the November 12, 2009 Board of Directors meeting of the Bland County Historical Society, a motion was made, seconded, and unanimously passed that the Bland County Historical Society Library and Archives would henceforth be called the BOGLE LIBRARY. This library will not only contain the Bogle Collection, but all the accumulated collections and archives that have previously been received, and that will be received in the future. There will, however, be a separate data listing to distinguish Parke’s collection from all others, but all items will be shelved as one.

Estelle Parke Coleman Bogle was born March 26, 1920 in Bland County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Clyde Dallas Coleman and Gladys Ruth Mustard Coleman. Parke married John Lockhart Bogle, Jr. on January 14, 1938. He was a farmer. They had four children: Janeth Carol in 1939, John Thomas in 1942, James Dewey in 1943, and David Garth in 1946. John Lockhart Bogle died in 1970, and on April 9, 1975 Parke married George William Bogle, Jr. in Pulaski. He was born May 15, 1918 in Parkersburg WV and died May 28, 2008.  She was a mother to 4, grandmother to 9.

Parke wrote ten or more books published by Mountain Press in Tennessee. Proceeds from the sale of her books go to the Bland County Historical Society and the Mechanicsburg Cemetery Association.

Parke not only owned volumes of history on about every county in Southwest Virginia, she also owned almost every record (on CD format) ever made by John Denver. As Parke would work on genealogy on her computer, she would have her beloved John Denver singing right along with the tapping of the computer keys.

The BCHS was extremely fortunate to receive Parke’s genealogy and book collection in the summer of 2008. Her last wishes were for the Bland County Historical Society to catalog and make available to the public her many years of research.   The Bogle collection contains books, ancestry lists, photographs, emails, letters, maps, birth & death certificates, wills, marriage licenses, obituaries, newspaper articles, war records, family group sheets, genealogical records and other historical documents.

(excerpted from remarks made by Brenda King at dedication)

You may read the full report of the dedication of  Bogle Library complete with photographs by following this link:  Report on the HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP MEETING, 09/18/2010.

 

 


 

Parke Bogle picture and description