Tazewell about 1890.
Visible are the Courthouse, left; Stras Church immediately to the right of the Courthouse tower; Tazewell Baptist Church, in the background; Tazewell Presbyterian Church right of center; Main Street Methodist Church, immediately in front of the Presbyterian Church; and beneath those steeples, the former Catholic Church on Marion Avenue, white building with columns. At that time, the 1850s Catholic Church had been sold and was being used by the high school as a chapel and auditorium. That high school and the chapel were demolished in 1905 to make way for the next High School building, which was replaced in the 1970s by the Jeffersonville branch of the County Library.
The mill in the foreground was near the present Elk Street. To is right is the residence that is believed to be the oldest surviving brick home in the town, about 1828.
This photo was taken from a vantage point on the hill that now includes Surface Drive.
Photo is the property of the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia
The George Bickley engraving (1860) was done generally from the same vantage point. For example, the little Catholic Church is just to the right of the tall tree. There were other buildings behind the Courthouse of that era, if Bickley's sketch is correct.