{"nrhp_refnum":"72001415","name":"Killgore Fort House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW of Nickelsville off VA 71","address_restricted":false,"city":"Nickelsville","county":"Scott County","state":"VA","lat":36.734720958000025,"lon":-82.43420023599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-05-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story hewn-timber frontier fort house with a limestone foundation and a massive stone chimney, located southeast of Route 71 near Nickelsville in Scott County, Virginia. It was built by Robert Killgore in the late eighteenth century.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a transitional frontier structure, from the period when strongly built, fortified houses replaced blockhouses and stockaded forts. It was the last of a chain of frontier forts stretching from Castlewood to Cumberland Gap. It is described as perhaps the oldest building in the county and one of the few surviving structures in southwestern Virginia that reflect the early westward movement into Kentucky and Tennessee.","narrative":"Built around 1785-90 by Robert Killgore, this two-story fort house near Nickelsville in Scott County, Virginia, shows how frontier settlers defended themselves in the last decades of the eighteenth century. Its walls are hewn rectangular timbers, V-notched at the corners, set on a limestone foundation, with a large stone chimney on the northeast gable end. Originally a heavy timber partition divided each floor into two rooms, strengthening the building and allowing several last stands. The small second-floor openings reflect its defensive purpose. Killgore, a farmer and prominent Baptist minister, lived here until his death in 1854, and the 1850 census shows a fairly prosperous farm. The house was the last in a chain of frontier forts reaching from Castlewood to Cumberland Gap. It is regarded as perhaps the oldest building in the county. At listing, the chimney's failing mortar was pushing the structure out of line, and local groups were planning restoration and a wayside park.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":"Robert Killgore","architectural_style":"Frontier fort house of hewn V-notched timber construction","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in advanced structural deterioration because the mortar in the stone chimney has broken down and the chimney leans downhill. Most timbers are in good condition, and a local restoration effort is under way.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.422363-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/6835/41683577/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/72001415.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683577","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilgore_Fort_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6406867"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/scott-county/killgore-fort-house-72001415/"}