Olin & Preston Institute: The Olin & Preston Institute was a three-story brick structure whose front faced modern Main Street. Founded in 1854 as a Methodist boys school, the Institute held a prominent place in the educational and social life of antebellum Blacksburg.
The Civil War caused the closure of the school, and Union troops under Crook sheltered in and around the structure when passing through Blacksburg. Although rechartered in 1869, the Institute was dissolved when the new Virginia Agricultural & Mechanical College was founded in 1872, utilizing it as their first building. The structure was destroyed by fire in 1913. (100 College Ave.)