The records largely document the recent history of Smithfield Plantation, ancestral home of the Preston family, focusing particularly on its restoration beginning in 1962. While much of the renovation occurred in the 1960s, many of the records detail other renovation projects done in the 1970s and 1980s.

The collection is organized into seven series: Series I: Correspondence(largely from and to George Shackelford); Series II: Publications, including APVA and Montgomery County branch newsletters and APVA Discovery magazines; Series III: Smithfield Plantation Renovation, including appraisals, reports, and receipts; Series IV: Renovations of other Smithfield Plantation Buildings, including information about the renovations of other structures on the Smithfield property, (the cook's cabin, the miller's log house, and the smokehouse); Series V: AVPA General Files, including meeting minutes, financial reports, and building committee reports; Series VI: Historical Documents from dating from the original Preston family's residence at Smithfield (materials include manuscript account books (1754-1763) of William Preston while residing at Greenfield, manuscript pages detailing work done by a wheelright (1845-1850); and genealogical information about the Preston family); and Series VII: Miscellaneous Documents, which includes materials relating to historic Montgomery County and the Smithfield Plantation. The collection also contains Series VIII: Oversize Documents, containing blueprints and architectural drawings.