Along Back Roads - South through Virginia

I know that it's hard to believe, but I'm continuing to post photos from our long road trip this past October.  It was an active trip with lots of exploration and related camera work... We are now on the last leg of this little adventure...but we did encounter quite a few more sights and we enjoyed several more interesting stops along the way.

Heading south from Culpeper Virginia, we followed US Hwy 522 for a few miles before jumping on VA Hwy 615.  I chose this 'back roads' route over the more heavily traveled US Hwy 15.  It wasn't too long before we came across a couple of interesting places...

Needless to say, this combination of church structures in Rapidan Virginia definitely captured our attention.  The church with the red door is the Emmanuel Episcopal Church.  After a series of floods, the worst one being in January of 1998, the church was moved from its original location on the banks of the Rapidan River to this much safer location on higher ground 110 feet from the river.  The structure was almost destroyed by the flood but the small congregation managed to fund it's relocation and repair.  

Mystery unsolved... I couldn't find any information about the small church building at the right of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church.  Is it old or just built to look old?  What is it's function?  Certainly the juxtaposition of the 2 structures is unusual and draws the eye of any passerby's.

I borrowed this photo from an article on the Internet.  It shows the attractive and eye-catching interior of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church as it appears after the restoration.  How old is this church?  It already was 134 years old when the flood almost destroyed it...and this year it will celebrate its 161st year of worship.

Research had assured me that at one time in relatively recent history, there was a depot or depots in Rapidan Virginia.  Rapidan is bisected by the Rapidan River.  It began as a small milling community named Waugh's Mill in the late 1700s.  When the Orange and Alexandria Railroad came to town in 1854, the town was renamed "Rapid Ann Station". (Named after a fast moving stream for Princess Ann) During the American Civil War, several raids resulted in the destruction of most of the town's buildings.  

Apparently, if the sign is accurate, this old freight depot was originally built in 1853.  As you can see, it has been massively refurbished, (note the skylights), and it now provides what appears to be home for a family or two.

This is the former Southern Railway Passenger Depot in Rapidan.  The original Orange and Alexandria Railway station was established here in 1854 but was destroyed during the Civil War.  This 'new station' was built in 1876 by the Charlottesville and Rapidan Railroad to serve the rail line between Orange and Charlottesville Virginia.  That line was was eventually merged into the Southern Railway and it now serves the Norfolk Southern mainline through the area.  As can be seen in the photo, this 149 year old depot has been 'saved' and converted into a family home.

Moving on in a southerly direction, our next stop was in Orange Virginia and, of course yet another old railway depot.  The Colonial Revival style Orange Railway Station served the Southern Railway and it was completed in 1910.  Passenger service to Orange was discontinued in the early 1970s.  This old depot was renovated in 1997 and it now serves as the home of the Orange County Department of Tourism and the Visitors Bureau.

I much prefer photos of these old depots with trains passing by, especially if they're passenger trains.  As you can see in the first photo, Amtrak regularly passes the depot...but although it looks good, Orange Virginia is not an Amtrak stop.  

The second photo shows the Texas and Pacific Railway's Locomotive 610 (AKA the "Will Rogers") steaming past the Orange depot in July of 1978.  At the time this rare 2-10-4 heavy locomotive was on loan to the Southern Railway to pull excursion trains for the company's steam program.  FYI, this locomotive was built by the Lima Locomotive Works in June of 1927.  This type of locomotive was designed to pull fast and heavy freight trains.

From Orange, I diverted toward the southwest along VA Hwy 20, with even less traffic along the way.  

Yes...one more old railway depot!  This is the old depot at Montpelier Station Virginia.  This depot is a bit special and also unusual.  As of 2010, it became an exhibit as part of the President James Madison's Montpelier Estate on the National Register of Historic Places. (We'd visited that estate many years earlier).  As of 1983, the estate was passed on to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.   

Montpelier was purchased by William du Pont in 1901.  He wanted convenience and he certainly had the money so he paid to have this depot built in order to bring in supplies...and for his weekly travel to Wilmington Delaware for business.  The depot served as a passenger 'whistle stop' from 1912 through 1929.  FYI, a railway 'whistle stop' is a place where trains only stop on request.  Freight service was handled by this depot beginning in 1911 and it ceased in 1962.

The station was designed by the Southern Railway Company using one of its standard floor plans...which called for segregated waiting rooms.  You can see the "Colored" sign over the door at the right while the "White" door is at the left.  The ticket office had separate windows allowing service for both rooms.

In 2008, the Montpelier Foundation began renovating the Depot.  The goal was to restore it to its original appearance in order to document this period of legalized segregation in Virginia and to educate the public about the Jim Crow era.  The exhibit is entitled "The Montpelier Train Depot: In the Time of Segregation".  To learn more about historic Montpelier as an attraction and as President James Madison's home, go to https://www.montpelier.org/. 

From the beginning, as shown above, a United States Post Office was located at the far end of the Montpelier Depot.  But in June of 2022, some Federal government body or official decided that the racial aspects of the depot's exhibits reflected poorly on the Postal Service/Federal Government and the post office was closed.  The closure didn't last long as protests and complaints...plus political pressure...brought about the Post Office's reopening in October of 2022.  This facility serves over 100 local families.

Next stop, Staunton Virginia!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Spring Photos Plus a Look around Culpeper Virginia

Who doesn't love spring...that is if you weren't hammered with the horrid storms that have sadly impacted much of the middle of the USA!  While much of central and western Tennessee suffered from flooding, high winds and tornados, here in East Tennessee all we received was needed spring rains...with some wind mixed in.  We live in the Tennessee River valley, that lies running northeast to the southwest, and we are usually but not always protected  from the worst weather by the Cumberland Plateau at the west and the Smokey Mountains at the east.

This bush always grabs our attention when it blooms!  The flowers look like delicate little bottle brushes.  It is one of the several 'bottle brush' bushes that are popular with landscapers.  This particular bush is called a Mount Airy Fothergilla. 

We love our little Japanese Maple Tree.  It cozies up in a niche in front of Laurie's 'plant room' between our laundry room and the garage.  Love those feathery red leaves when the tree first comes 'back to life' every spring!

My personal spring favorite are the Redbud Trees.  Rarely shaped in an orderly fashion, these pretty little violet colored blooms just adorn the limbs of the trees in early spring.  They are one of the very first trees to bloom every year.  Sadly, we had a white dogwood tree nearby that provided a terrific contrast with the dogwood blossoms...but no longer.

FYI... One of the biggest and best known events in the Greater Knoxville Tennessee area is the Dogwood Festival...with dogwood trails through neighborhoods and plenty of related events.  Learn more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogwood_Arts_Festival and https://www.dogwoodarts.com/dogwoodartsfestival.  

No...I'm not done posting photos and talking about things we did during our fall 2024 road trip.  Continuing with the last leg of that trip from Virginia...

One of the first posts from this road trip saga was about a terrific restaurant that Laurie and I dined at in Culpeper Virginia.  I posted our experience at it out of sequence with the trip because we liked it so much.  If you missed that post, just go to https://bigdaddydavesbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/2024/11/its-about-thyme-fine-dining.html.

Now back to Culpeper and a brief look around this bustling small town.  Believe it or not, the original section of the large building shown above was built in 1820 by Revolutionary War General Edward Stevens.  The family of future Confederate States of America General A.P. Hill bought the home in 1832, enlarging it to its current size just prior to the American Civil War.  Timing is everything and the Hill family sold the property in 1962.  The building is referred to today as the A.P. Hill building.  Occupants include a wellness spa and a fashion boutique as well as at least one apartment.

Yes, Laurie did do a bit of shopping in Culpeper... I was more interested in this cat in a basket, even if she wasn't interested in me.  We both love cats, but between Laurie's allergies and the probability that over half of our family, (who have allergies or don't like cats), would never come to visit, deters us from any new feline member for our household.

The two photos above are general views of downtown Culpeper.  It is an attractive and active small town at one corner of 'horse country' in Virginia.  The building at the right side of the photo immediately above, is the Fairfax Masonic Building.  It was completed in 1902 and it currently is home to a real estate company and a gift boutique.

I borrowed this photo from the Internet.  The first Culpeper County Courthouse was built in 1750.  A replacement was built on the same site in 1808.  The second courthouse was torn down in 1871 and it was replace by this Classic Revival structure in 1873.  

There is a reason for all the good restaurants and shopping opportunities.  About 70% of the fast growing population of the county commute out of the county for work.  The town is 55 minutes from Manassas Virginia and just a little over an hour to Dulles International Airport.  How fast is this county growing?  In 1980, the county recorded 22,620 residents.  By 2000 there were over 34,000 and the 2020 census recorded 52,552 residents.

Factoids:  

• By the middle of the 1970s, Culpeper County was the last county in the Commonwealth of Virginia to desegregate its schools.

• Commonwealth Park in the county is the site for many world-class equestrian events.  This is where actor Christopher Reeve suffered the equestrian accident that paralyzed him in 1995.

This is a photo of the cookie display case at Knakal's Bakery at 146 East Davis Street.  This bakery has been a fixture in Culpeper since the 1930s and they offer a wide selection of donuts, cookies, pastries and cakes.  We did buy a couple of very nice cookies to take with us as a treat for later in the day.  This is my kind of shopping experience!

This is the oldest commercial building in Culpeper.  George Washington surveyed and plotted the town back in 1749.  The first indication of any structure being built on this plot of land was a deed of sale in 1790 to Thomas Reade Rootes...a lawyer and a member of Virginia's House of Delegates.  In the 1890s it was known as the Martin Furniture Company but it was originally built (ca ?) to house the post office, the Farmer's and Merchants Bank as well as Clark and Company Grocers.  

This structure has been used by a number of other businesses including a tobacco warehouse, stables, a tin shop, a Civil War jail for soldiers from both sides of the conflict and for much of the 1900s, as the Yarnell Hardware Store.  The structure survived the Civil War, two major fires and an earthquake.  Today it is the home of The Grass Rootes Restaurant, an upscale dining venue.  To learn about this restaurant, go to https://www.grassrootescu.com.

This is the oldest church in Culpeper.  St. Stephen's Episcopal Church was built in 1821 on land donated to the parish by Brigadier General Edward Stevens, a hero who led his militia in several key battles during the Revolutionary War.  Originally, this church was a relatively plain rectangular structure.  The slender steeple and the entrance vestibule were added in 1861.  Other renovations and additions took place ca. 1870 and it 1884.  This was one of the few churches in the area that remained unscathed during the Civil War.

Part of Culpeper's Central Historic District, the old Southern Railway Depot at 109 South Commerce Street was built in 1904.  It replaced another that had been built in 1874, which itself had replaced 2 depots that had been originally built by the Orange and Alexander Railroad.  Threatened with demolition in 1985, the community rallied to save it and then to renovate it.  Part of the structure at 111 South Commerce Street now serves as the Culpeper Visitor's Center.  Located at 113 Commerce Street, the Museum of Culpeper History occupies a larger portion of the structure.  To learn more about the museum, go to https://culpepermuseum.com/.

The best part about this old depot is that it is still served by passenger trains.  Options include: Amtrak's 3 time a week round trip service (the Cardinal line) from New York City to Chicago; the daily round trip service (the Crescent City line) from New York to New Orleans and; the twice daily Amtrak Northeast Service from Washington D.C. to Roanoke Virginia.  The Commonwealth of Virginia provides financial support for the Northeast Service.  In 2023, the Culpeper station served 17,386 passengers.

That's all for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit! 

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Luray Caverns Virginia - Heritage Village (Not Just Caverns #4)

...continuing on our tour of The Shenandoah Heritage Village at Luray Caverns.  We took even more photos as we explored the exhibits in the Luray Valley Museum...part of the Heritage Village complex.  I edited the remaining photos...or perhaps the term should be I curated the remaining photos and picked 3 that were more unusual of perhaps just more interesting to me...

This is a Henkel Proofing Press...ca. 1840 from Ohio.  Basically, proofing presses help identify errors in design or print placement before committing to a larger print run, saving time and money.  That big typeset case at the left brings me back to my youth when I helped in the family rubber stamp and printing operation.  I spent a lot of time setting type and spacers in forms for printing.  That big inked roller 'ball' would be rolled over the type and the paper creating a document or page for a book.

In  1806 the Henkel brothers started one of the first German language presses in the South.  Their father was a prominent Lutheran minister.  Many of the people living in the Shenandoah Valley shared a German heritage and early Henkel materials were printed in German...and then later in English.  The Henkel Press became an important source for devotional materials, newspapers, song books and children's books.  The press was more than a business venture as it was a way to preserve the German culture, language and religious beliefs.

This is a flax brake. (ca. 1750 - 1800) Flax brakes were used to soften stalks of the flax plant to make the material to make linens.  Flax was widely grown in the 1700s and early 1800s.  Flax was eventually replaced by southern cotton.

Producing linen yarn from the flax plant is both labor-intensive and time consuming.  To begin, the hard outer coating of flax stems is removed by rotting, drying and then breaking to extract the useable fibers inside the stems.  A flax brake was the tool used to 'break' or remove that outer coating.  Bundles of flax stems are repeatedly pounded between the hinged upper and lower bars of the tool.

This photo shows a Civil War Camp Shower.  These units were developed in the 1850s but this one was discarded and then found on the battlefield after the Fredericksburg campaign.  It was likely only used by high-ranking officers...as the average soldier either bathed in a pond or stream...or just didn't bathe for long periods of time.  

This camp shower could be used with either hot or cold water and it's height could be adjusted to fit the officer who was taking the shower.  The unit actually has retained some of its original canvas.  A true luxury indeed as in the 1860s very few homes even had indoor plumbing.  As compact as it is, it looks like a tight fit for any 'plumpish' officers.

This is the Shenk Farm House.  It is original to the site.  The back portion of the house was built in 1876 and the front was added in 1901.  Before 1899 the land was owned and farmed by an African-American family, the Perry family.  The Luray website states that this particular home isn't open to the public as it needs restoration.

If this photo isn't from the kitchen inside the Shenk farmhouse, then my photos are totally 'out of wack'!  Perhaps the home has been closed since we visited back in early October.  In any case, this kitchen is certainly appropriate for an early 1900s farmhouse.  The stove is a Home Comfort brand.  They were built by the Wrought Iron Store and Range Company of St. Louis between 1900 and 1920.  I also noticed the barrel style butter churn under the window.  I can't tell for sure, but it appears that a small jar type (Dazey) butter churn is located on the top shelf above the stove.

This Blacksmith Shop dates back to 1850.  The chestnut log building was moved intact from a farm near Lynchburg Virginia.  If you didn't have a blacksmith in your vicinity in the 1800s, life was much more challenging.  Blacksmithing was vital to everyday life before 1900.  Most iron tools, implements used in the homes and farms...including farm equipment and wagons, were made by blacksmiths.

This is the 1846 Meeting House at the Shenandoah Heritage Village.  This heavy timbered and brick structure was a meeting house for Mennonites and 'Dunkards'.  It was moved in one piece from a site 3 miles from its location in the Village.  I had no idea who the Dunkards were... I now know that they were also known as the Old German Baptist Brethren, a conservative Anabaptist denomination.

During the Civil War, both Union and Confederate soldiers found shelter in this building.  Proof of this is provided by the signatures and graffiti found on the interior walls of the structure.  A Union soldier from Indiana wrote "Passed through Luray at 4 PM.  Stopped for the night at the Dunker church.  Got straw for our beds.

This small looking home is full of surprises.  Dating back to the mid-1700s, the Willy House is an unusual surviving example of a 'townhouse' from the Colonial Shenandoah Valley.  It was originally located in downtown Woodstock Virginia but it was taken down to make way for an apartment complex.  It's named for Reverend Bernard Willy, a Swiss-Reformed Lutheran Church Minister who lived in the home from the late 1780s until 1810.   

This home is surprisingly large.  The photos above are from the main floor as viewed from the doorway.  There is another level above this one...probably used for a bedroom or bedrooms.  The furnishings are appropriate for the time period.  But, wait, there's more!

I failed to take a photo of it from the side or from behind the Willy House which really exposes the fact that it is a 3-level home!  (Sorry for this photo but the Internet wasn't friendly to this download).  So what was on the lower level of the home?

The lower level of the Willy house is revealed as a well equipped and expansive kitchen and work area.  It's safe to say that most work in the home was done in this area.  Plus in the winter it's easy to heat and being partially buried on 3 sides, it might have been a bit cooler in the heat of summer.   Although Laurie and I have toured many old homes, this is the first that we've seen that were designed like this one.

We did not tour this large home...or at least I didn't.  By this time, after all we'd seen, I was tuckered out.  If Laurie looked inside, she didn't take any photos.  This is the Bell House and it dates back to ca 1835.  This yellow pine log home, "Belleview", was built for his family by a local farmer named Reuben P. Bell.  Originally it was located in Kimball Springs near Luray.  

This home was moved piece by piece to its current site where it was reassembled.  Several years after the home had been built, the logs were covered by plaster and then siding.  I personally love it restored to its log cabin origins.  Coincidentally, the site the home is now on once belonged to the Bell family back in the 1800s.

We took photos of the old corn crib but we failed to take photos of the Hamburg Regular School or the "Switzer" barn...another structure that was moved to the Village and reconstructed.  The Switzer or "Burner Barn" now serves as the Heartpine Cafe.

We really enjoyed our time at Luray Caverns.  Even without touring the caverns themselves we had a great time!  While I appreciate our free admission to the non-cavern portion of the Luray Caverns attraction or park, I would have been more than happy to pay a reduced admission charge just to view what we did...

Visit Luray Caverns and its variety of attractions!  Luray Caverns is located at 101 Cave Road in Luray Virginia.  Phone: 540-743-6551.  Website: https://luraycaverns.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Luray Caverns Virginia - Heritage Village (Not Just Caverns #3)

...continuing with our Fall 2024 road trip and it's last 2 or 3 days, which were spent in Virginia.  After visiting Luray Cavern's toy exhibit and completing our pilgrimage through their great automobile collection, it was time to move on to our last attraction at the Cavern's complex.

This is the Shenandoah Heritage Village at Luray Caverns... The building visible through the arch is the Luray Valley Museum.  The Village itself is a 7 acre recreation of a small farming community from the 1800s.  It consists of restored historic buildings, some moved and reassembled, cottage style gardens and a small vineyard.  The setting is striking as well with an attractive mountain range in the distance.

The Luray Valley Museum focuses on the display of early decorative arts, clothing, early toys and varied artifacts of daily life ranging from the 1750s until about 1920.  The view above shows decorative side plates from early iron stoves.  I've always been fascinated by these apparently popular yet unnecessary bits of early decor from early European settlements.

This is a close up of one of those stove side plates.  This one came from a 5-plate stove that dated back to the 1740s in Pennsylvania.  It depicts a "Samson and Delilah' theme.  This ornate design is based on a German Bible wood cut that depicted Samson carrying the Gates of Gaza...and then to the left he's reclining on Delilah's lap.  

The wording across the bottom of the side plate is taken from the Book of Judges Chapter 10.  To quote "When at last Delilah learned how to overcome Samson's strength, she brought him to it on her lap".  I know the oft quoted story but the wording above is certainly vague and open to interpretation.   

Laurie and I both love these old cast iron stoves.  If time, money and space weren't obstacles, we'd collect both stoves and side-plates.  They really are utilitarian works of art.  

This is a Six Plate Stove with a heart and tulip motif.  Six Plate stoves were the earliest of American 'leg' stoves.  It's German-American and it came from the Warwick Furnace in Pottstown Pennsylvania.  Early stoves stuck to religious themes and the German reference above translates to "Eschew evil and do good".  Later stoves remained ornate but they contained less biblical imagery. 

Why another stove photo?  Mainly because I really like these decorative and purposeful creations.  This is a Ten-Plate Stove.  Built ca. 1808, it was made by the Isabella Furnace located at Pine Furnace Pennsylvania.  The phrase on the side plate reads "Liberty Be Thine", a popular phrase during the American Federalist period.

Laurie and I love stoneware but quality stoneware is just a bit pricy so we only own a couple examples of this craft.  But nothing stopped us from gazing at this handsome display and appreciating the variety and quality of the stoneware.

More stoneware...this time displayed in an antique corner cabinet.  Corner cabinets, with their triangular shape, were designed to fit into corners in the kitchen, thereby eliminating wasted space and providing needed storage.  Some were very fancy with glass panels at the top to secure 'better' china or flatware but many simpler versions were built for use by farmers and settlers.

This is a hand painted 'dower' chest, aka a hope chest or dowry chest.  They were once commonly used by unmarried young women to collect items, such as clothing and household linens, in anticipation of married life.  

This particular dower chest was painted in 1798 by Johannes Spitler. (1774 - 1837) He likely painted it for young Barbara Lionberger, a member of the local community in Page County Virginia.  Spitler is known to have taken traditional Swiss-German designs and then transformed them to more playful abstract designs.  His works were prolific from the mid-1790s until 1910 when he moved to Ohio.

Early painted dowry chests are very collectable and many can be found as part of art exhibits in major museums.  As collectables, you can find them on-line for anywhere around $600 or $700 up to $3,000 or more.

I like quilts but Laurie loves quilts!  She took this photo of a bevy of quilts in the museum.  Upper left: Album type applique quilt from ca. 1850 with 16 hand-stitched patterns.  Upper right: Shenandoah Valley tulip and rose quilt from ca. 1860.  Middle left: A quilt made in 1840 and donated from a local family.  Middle right: A quilt made between 1845 - 1848 that was given to a woman by her friends with 'well wishes' notes in each square.  Bottom left: A mid-1800s Blazing Star quilt donated by a local family.  Bottom right: Another mid-1800s quilt with coordinating pillow covers...also donated by a local family.

More stoneware but this time the varied pieces are displayed on one of the largest 'pie safes' I've ever seen.  The origin of the pie safe is traced back to the early 1700s in America.  It was probably introduced by German immigrants aka Pennsylvania Dutch and these pieces of utilitarian furniture was an important item in American homes through the 1800s.

The doors and sides of a typical pie safe were usually ventilated with tiny punched holes that allowed air to circulate, but protected bread, pies and other perishable items from insects and rodents.  As you can see in this example, the holes were often punched to produce a desired image.  This particular pie safe has a lot going for it from a collector's point of view.  It is large, it has the original paint and the punched pattern in the tin is very intricate.

Laurie took this photo.  The display is apparently dedicated to the ladies back in the day.  Note the dress or hoop form, the fancy blouse, that handbag, lots of needlework, a variety of hats or bonnets, the baskets, boots and more.  Of particular note is the clay pipe on the hatbox at the lower right of this picture. 

I'll end this post with a reminder of just how busy housewives were in the early days of the USA.  Premade clothing was too expensive for the average family so sewing skills were a necessity.  To make clothing one needed not only material but also thread.  This is easily the largest and most ornate thread display case I've ever seen.  I also discovered that there was a reason for it being so fancy...

The Brainerd-Armstrong Company was a silk mill based in New London Connecticut...so this wasn't your everyday cotton thread display.  The company made the finest thread, used for fancy clothing as well as embroidery.  I found references to this thread which is still coveted by those who love to embroider.  I was unable to find out much about the company, surprising given the size of the factories I did find photos of.

I found much more about Diamond Dyes...the fancy cabinet with the painted tin vignettes at the right of the thread display.  The company was a leading dye company in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s.  It was known for its prolific print marketing strategies and the company printed colorful chromolithographic trade cards, almanacs and pamphlets. Diamond Dyes was based in Burlington Vermont.  Their parent company was Wells Richardson and Company...which manufactured food colorants and wholesale drugs.  Both companies began to decline after the Federal government passed the Food and Drug Act in 1906 and operations ended completely in 1942.  The cabinets and marketing materials from Diamond Dyes are highly collectable today.

That's all for now... Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave