Blacksburg has always been on the frontier's edge: pushing the boundaries of westward expansion in Colonial Virginia, as a leader in agricultural and mechanical education with the founding of a land-grant university in 1872, and home to a leading research institution known today as Virginia Tech. The history revealed by numerous historic structures is the foundation that makes Blacksburg a Special Place. Terry K. Nicholson is Blacksburg's museum administrator. His wife and coauthor, Terri L. Fisher, has written several local and state history books.