Founded in 1889, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA) has twenty branches which own and maintain historic properties. In November 1958 the APVA authorized the organization of the Montgomery County branch for the specific purpose of acquiring and restoring Smithfield Plantation, the historic home near Blacksburg in Montgomery County, Virginia, built by William Preston in 1773. In 1959 Mrs. Janie Preston Brockenbrough Lamb, a descendant of Preston, donated Smithfield and 4.5 acres of land to the APVA. Restoration of the building was begun in 1962 when the APVA's Montgomery County Branch raised the funds for renovation and contracted with architects and contractors. Since its foundation, and in more recent years, the organization has had some changes, including the dissolution of branches and the combination of the Montgomery County Branch with the Smithfield Preston Foundation. In 2009, the name was changed to Preservation Virgina.

Smithfield Plantation is the historic home of the Preston family, one of the founding families of Blacksburg and Montgomery County, Virginia. It was built by William Preston (1729-1783), who emigrated from northern Ireland with his family in 1737. He married Susanna Smith in 1761 and settled at Greenfield in Botetourt County in 1769. Preston established himself as a leader in the Virginia frontier by serving in the militia in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars, in the House of Burgesses representing Augusta County from 1766 to 1768 and Botetourt County in 1769, and as County Lieutenant of Fincastle and Montgomery. He was appointed surveyor of Fincastle County in 1772 and moved his family to that area. He built Smithfield, named in honor of his wife, in 1773. Smithfield was the birthplace and home of three Virginia governors, including James Patton Preston (son of William), and John Buchanan Floyd and John Floyd, Jr. (grandsons of William).

George Green Shackelford, a professor of history from 1954 to 1986 (now Emeritus) at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, or Virginia Tech, which is adjacent to the Smithfield property, spearheaded the restoration by forming the Montgomery County branch and adopting the project of preserving and restoring the Smithfield residence.

The APVA changed their name to Preservation Virginia in 2009. However, since the mateirals in this collection were created under the previous name, we have retained that for the collection title. Both names have been added to the corporate names associated with this collection.