Blackwater Regional Library
library system serving part of Virginia
Blackwater Regional Library system serves the counties of Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, and the city of Franklin in Virginia. The library system is within Region 3 of Virginia Library Association (VLA). According to FY 2015 Statistical Data for Virginia Public Libraries, the Blackwater Regional Library serves a population of 82,763.
Service area
According to the FY 2014 Institute of Museum and Library Services Data Catalog, the Blackwater Regional Library System has a service area population of 81,876 with 1 central library and 8 branch libraries.
History
Southampton citizens Walter Cecil Rawls and his friend Junious W. Pulley planned what would become the Walter Cecil Rawls Library and Museum, which is the first of what would become the currently nine-branch Blackwater Regional Library. The Walter Cecil Rawls Library and Museum opened for public use on June 13, 1958. Rawls implemented a bookmobile service in 1959 on the second week in April during National Library Week. The bookmobile routes eventually led to the opening of the branches in the other counties.
Branches
Carrollton Branch (Carrollton) established 1984.
Claremont Branch (Claremont) established 1980.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Blackwater Regional Library” as library system serving part of Virginia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as library system serving part of Virginia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q28230531. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2015, 2014, 1958 and 1959.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Blackwater Regional Library”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Blackwater Regional Library primary sources, Blackwater Regional Library archive and Blackwater research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Blackwater Regional Library”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Blackwater Regional Library” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.