Mount Joy is probably the second most historically significant property in all of Botetourt County, Virginia after Santillane (the federal style home in Fincastle that Lewis and Clark stopped at upon their return from their survey of the Louisiana Purchase). Mount Joy is part of the Hunters Raid Civil War Historical Trail and has a trail sign.

The house was originally built by Matthew Harvey, circa 1804. It was a true brick structure with walnut floors. Some descriptions claim 24 rooms and 10 chimneys but based on the dimensions of the foundation these figures may be exaggerations. Matthew Harvey was a Revolutionary War veteran who had fought under Light Horse Harry Lee (Robert E. Lees father). We know he was a Revolutionary War veteran because upon his death his wife applied for his war pension and described his service in the war. Harvey came up the Great Valley of Virginia sometime during the later part of the 18th Century. He quickly became the preeminent landholder and businessman in Botetourt County which at the time extended all the way to the Mississippi and included parts or all of what are now Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and even a small portion of Wisconsin. Botetourt was the last of the great mother counties. Mount Joy properties included over 15,000 acres but most of Harveys wealth came from his iron forge located just north of the house on Looneys Mill Creek. In his will he forbade his wife from selling any of his slaves who were forge hands. Harveys holdings were such that it took over 50 years to finally probate his will.

Harveys grandson Charles Denby was born at Mount Joy in 1830. Denby went on to become a Union Colonel from Indiana in the Civil War and then was Minister to China under President Cleveland. He even had a cigar named after him.

For whatever reason, after Harveys death, the estate failed and was sold to the Andersons, another prominent Botetourt family. The owner at the time of the Civil War was Confederate Colonel John Anderson, a signer of the Virginia secession papers. His war record was not of note but his younger brother Brigadier General Joseph Anderson was the owner and operator of the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, the most important producer of Confederate Armaments. The battle colors for the local Buchanan confederate unit, the Botetourt Artillery, were made from the wedding dress of Colonel Andersons wife. Their son, a Confederate major, was killed at Vicksburg in the summer of 1863. The very next summer, Union General Black Dave Hunter came up the valley burning major structures as he progressed towards Lynchburg, to include the Virginia Military Institute. When Hunters troops reached Buchanan they forded the James River (the Confederates had burned the bridge) and camped for several days. As the story goes, the Union troops had to pass Mount Joy as they began their long assent up to the top of the Blue Ridge (they would subsequently move north on the ridge, pass between the Peaks of Otter, go down the SE side of the Blue Ridge through Bedford, called Liberty at the time, and on east to Lynchburg where they were defeated in a one day battle by Confederate General Jubal Early). Early would subsequently chase Hunter all the way into Ohio in what became known as The Great Skedaddle. At any rate, when Hunter passed Mount Joy on his way out of Buchanan, he was reported to have said that many a Yankee has met his maker because of that mans brother (speaking of BG Joseph Anderson and the Tredegar Iron Works), so burn the house down. Now Hunters staff was getting tired of all of the wanton destruction (his staff included two future presidents, McKinley and Hayes), so they instructed the work party to just burn some out buildings and call the job done. Unfortunately, as Hunter climbed the ridgeline, he was able to look back down into the valley and see that Mount Joy was not burning. He called the officer in charge of the work forward, chewed him out and told him to return to the house and finish the job. The Andersons were given one hour to remove their belongings and the house was put to the torch. Col and Mrs. Anderson spent the rest of their lives living in the overseers quarters.

The remains of the house stood from 1864 (as it had been a true brick structure the outline of the house still stood) until it was demolished down to the foundation and then rebuilt on the original foundation in 1906. What stands today is the 1906 structure. The yard is full of the old bricks covered over by a thin layer of soil. In the first half of the 20th Century the house was used as a road house ie a motel for travelers coming up and down the Shenandoah Valley along Route 11 (Lee Highway). I have spoken to the granddaughter of the family who rebuilt the house and she has a guest book listing many important visitors from this time. Unfortunately, I have not seen nor do I have access to this guestbook.

Mount Joy was also featured in the novel The Battleground by the acclaimed writer Ellen Glasgow. She was related to the Anderson family. Other interesting anecdotes about Mount Joy include stories of visits by President Jackson on his way to Washington and by President Buchanan. Supposedly Buchanan attended an outdoor party at Mount Joy and was stricken by the beauty of one of the young ladies in attendance, so much so that he proposed marriage on the spot. Evidently the young lady spurned his advances and the President moved on up the Valley.