Author: PHW

This Weekend: Oktoberfest Walking Tours and PastForward Conference Livestream

The annual Old Town Winchester Oktoberfest returns on October 11-12. Attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy German inspired beer and food this evening and tomorrow while experiencing sights, sounds and traditions of Oktoberfest. This event happens throughout Old Town Winchester, including the Loudoun Street Mall, historic Taylor Pavilion and the 1840 Courthouse lawn.

Look for PHW-led walking tours starting near the Hideway Cafe to take you on a tour of historic haunts and lauded drinking spots from Winchester of yesteryear. The tours are free and open to all visitors. More information on the event can be found at oldtownwinchesterva.com.

If you prefer staying indoors this weekend, select events from the National Trust’s 2019 PastForward Preservation Conference will be livestreamed online. The stream can be found on the Trust’s website. If you couldn’t make it to Denver for the event, you can at least catch a few topics to feel like you’re part of the action.

Deck the Walls – Call for Art
While the Bough & Dough Shop is full of artists for this year, you have a second chance to join the action at the Hexagon House! Visit our upstairs neighbors at the Shenandoah Arts Council to learn about their event held concurrently with the Bough & Dough Shop.

Friday Roundup: Book Talk, House Tour, and Shop Updates

Our book talk and signing with Tom Mayes on “Why Old Places Matter” is happening today at the Handley Library between 3-5 PM. The event is free and open to the public. We hope to have a full crowd to hear our author and speaker Tom Mayes, who serves as the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The talk should be accessible to anyone interested in how our history and built environment impacts our enjoyment of life. Be sure to stay for wine and cheese and book signings.

If you are thinking of placing an ad in the Holiday House Tour booklet this year, remember to get your ad in by October 31! We have had great response this year and the book should be lovely. To date we are only “sold out” of the back cover; we can work with any other size ad you would like to place. The sponsorship information can be downloaded here.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the call for Bough and Dough Shop artists will be closing early. Like last year, we will be happy to accept applications received after today and keep them on file for contacting you next year or should a spot open up at the last minute this year. If you are an artist who already made contact, your spots are saved and we ask for your patience as we adjust the last few details and get back to you.

Last, many thanks are owed to those who have helped keep PHW functioning over the past two weeks. We will be getting back into a more normal routine slowly but surely. We ask for patience and gentle reminders if you have not had a response to email or phone calls that are business related. We have received all the messages of condolence and are very thankful.

Friday Roundup: Event Photos and Upcoming Events

Thanks to everyone who came out to the PHW table for Celebracion. While we did not capture images from that event, we do have some other recent event photos to share this week. Larry Webb provided two sets of photographs from September 21 events. The French and Indian War encampment held at Abram’s Delight can be viewed here (24 photos) and the Constitution & Bill of Rights Celebration can be viewed here (17 photos).

Next, don’t forget about our fabulous upcoming book talk and signing with Tom Mayes on “Why Old Places Matter.” The event will be held October 4 at the Handley Library between 3-5 PM and is free and open to the public. We hope to have a full crowd to hear our author and speaker Tom Mayes, who serves as the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The talk should be accessible to anyone interested in how our history and built environment impacts our enjoyment of life.

If you are thinking of doing some shopping on AmazonSmile , you can now support Preservation of Historic Winchester, Inc. in the Amazon shopping app on your Android device! Simply follow these instructions to turn on AmazonSmile and start generating donations:

  1. If you have the latest version of the Amazon Shopping App, open the App on your Android device.
  2. View Settings and select AmazonSmile.
  3. Follow the in-App instructions to complete the process.

If you do not have the latest version of the Amazon Shopping App, update your App. Click here for instructions.

AmazonSmile is not currently available for iOS users.

Friday Roundup: Celebración and Curated Reading

Winchester’s Celebración is this this Sunday, September 22! Come downtown to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month from 11AM – 5PM on the Old Town Mall. The festival will include a children’s art activity tent, Latin dancing lessons, a dance performance by a Mexican children’s dance troupe, artisan tents, “country” tents with each tent representing a different Hispanic country, and much more. “Celebración” benefits the Winchester Main Street Foundation (WMSF). Admission to “Celebración” is free to the public and the event will happen rain or shine.

For curated reading (and watching), the National Trust recently posted PastForward 2019 Preview: Saving Urban Neighborhoods —Mindy Fullilove.

From Open Culture, Visit the Homes That Great Architects Designed for Themselves: Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius & Frank Gehry. There are seven short videos (most 5-11 minutes long; one slightly over 30 minutes) to accompany the article text.

From Dead Store to Pop-Up ‘Social Infrastructure’ tackles a distressingly common problem for areas undergoing change. Instead of punishing owners with taxes or registries for vacant buildings, this nonprofit group has created a way to utilize the building for social gatherings. The occupation of the vacant building helps draw activity back to areas that seem off-putting without a business in residence. Better yet for the nonprofit, because the relationship is mutually beneficial, the owners do not charge the nonprofit rent.

Last, a fun and educational article from Atlas Obscura, Sometimes Trash Is Treasured in America’s National Parks. As the article states, “Under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (ARPA), anything found on federal land. . .that is 100 years or older is considered an archaeological resource. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which created the National Register of Historic Places, lowers the age threshold to 50 years but has other criteria, such as association with an important person or event.” Not all trash is created equally, and the article is a good look at how it is handled when left in place and what happens when removed trash cannot be put back at its origin after some overzealous cleaning.

This Weekend: “From Disaster to Redemption: George Washington and the Making of Winchester”

Please join the French and Indian War Foundation and the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Association for the next event celebrating Winchester’s 275th anniversary this Sunday, September 15 at the George Washington Hotel, beginning at 1:30 PM. This free presentation will be a lovely celebration in a lovely place, with a dynamic speaker, Dr. Carl Ekberg. Everyone is welcome! More information is available on the French and Indian War Foundation’s website.

Also, mark your calendars for walking tours by PHW during Celebracion (location pending) on September 22 and Oktoberfest near the Godfrey Miller House, October 11 and 12.

Friday Roundup: Call for Sponsors, FallFest, and Limestone Book Update

Due to some unexpected circumstances, we did not get much time to work on preservation this week. However, we want to remind everyone the call for Holiday House Tour advertising sponsors is now open! While the costs for the main categories (full, half, and business card size ads) are the same, the perks have changed slightly, and we added a new sponsorship level – local logos. Check out the sponsorship form here (PDF). Ads and logos are due by 5 PM on October 31.

As we wind down for the year, you may be thinking about getting your garden ready to hibernate. FallFest at Belle Grove Plantation on Sunday, September 8, noon-4 PM can help. Get your garden ready for winter with this free event sponsored by the Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener Association. The afternoon of fun and learning includes talks from Master Gardeners, as well as demos, crafts, and giveaways–all free to the public and open to all ages. Learn more at bellegrove.org.

As a followup to our recent newsletter, we wanted to let everyone know we should have copies of the revised Limestone book for sale by the time our Bough and Dough Shop opens in November. The expected price is $25. We will let you know once they are officially on sale.

Friday Roundup: End of Summer Events

We had a fantastic time at the open house last Saturday. If you couldn’t make it, you missed a chill afternoon full of art, food, and creativity. Don’t worry, though! You will get to enjoy the fruits of these labors (plus our upstairs neighbors ShenArts) starting in late November at the Bough and Dough Shop. If you haven’t yet, you can pick up an informational packet with an application form here.

Do you enjoy transcription of historic documents? The Library of Virginia has made the records of the Equal Suffrage League available for transcription. As part of the 2020 commemoration of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing women’s right to vote, the Library is asking volunteers to help transcribe these records that document women’s campaign for the vote in Virginia. You can learn more at their blog, Out of the Box.

September in Winchester always conjures up Patsy Cline. Get your fix tomorrow with the Patsy Cline Block Party. The annual event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. August 31, 2019 in front of the Patsy Cline Historic House, 608 S. Kent St., Winchester. It is an old-fashioned style block party with live entertainment, food concessions by Shaffer’s BBQ and souvenirs staged on Kent St. between Monmouth and Germain streets. The block party is free to attend with tours of the historic house offered at the reduced price of $5 for the day. Four performances by returning and new entertainers includes tribute singers performing Patsy songs, singer-storyteller, and groups performing songs of her genre.


“From Disaster to Redemption: George Washington and the Making of Winchester” will be held September 15.

“From Disaster to Redemption: George Washington and the Making of Winchester” will be held Sunday, September 15 at the George Washington Hotel, beginning at 1:30 PM. This free presentation will be a lovely celebration in a lovely place, with a dynamic speaker, Dr. Carl Ekberg. Join the French and Indian War foundation and the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society for this 275th anniversary of the founding of Winchester event. Everyone is welcome! More information is available on the French and Indian War Foundation’s website.

Last, PHW will be closed on Monday, September 2 for Labor Day. Enjoy your long weekend as you say goodbye to summer!

Friday Roundup: Open House, Newsletter, and Events

We know: the holidays are pushed earlier and earlier every year. (There is not a month of the year we do not have something “Christmas” in the works at PHW, so we fully sympathize with all the eye-rolling and cries of “Not again!”) But we also know it takes artists time to handcraft their delightful goods for the Bough & Dough Shop. In that spirit, we are once again hosting an informal open house at the Hexagon House on Saturday, August 24, 1-4 PM. The downstairs will be partially laid out for a test run of tables and confirmed artist spots.

While the event is geared mostly to returning and new artists, anyone is welcome to attend. And if you’ve been procrastinating on filling out an application, we strongly urge you to do so—most of our spots are filled, but with some advance planning, we may be able to squeeze in a few more artists or keep you on hand if a last minute cancellation opens a spot. You can find a copy of the info packet for artists at www.phwi.org/events/Shopinfo.pdf. We anticipate this session to be very useful for artists looking to discover what display materials they need to bring or how their items might fit into the eccentric Hexagon House layout.

Our summer newsletter is complete and online. Check out the digital version online here. A hard copy should be mailed to our members next week. We did not want to keep the time sensitive events waiting. Inside is a copy of our Holiday House Tour booklet advertising sponsorship levels. We hope you will secure a spot to showcase your business!

Mark your calendars for September 15 for the next 275th event: “From Disaster to Redemption: George Washington and the Making of Winchester” at the George Washington Hotel Ballroom, 103 E. Piccadilly St. The French and Indian War Foundation together with the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society is heading up this event with a dynamic speaker, Dr. Carl Ekberg. Dr. Carl J. Ekberg is a retired history professor from Illinois State University. Rutgers Un.; Ph.D.  Author of several books, many awards, two outstanding; 2014 Medaille de Valeurs from the French Ambassador and 2015 Best Book Award from State Historical Society of Missouri. Carl resides in Winchester and serves on the board of the F&I War Foundation.

This is a free event to attend; however, you may wish to purchase food or drinks during the mingle. Menu:  Fried chicken plate with greens and mashed potatoes and a biscuit for $15.00. Apple cobbler and coffee for $5.00. There will be a bar. The Hotel has asked that you pay with cash.

If you are out in the Gainesboro area, stop by the Gainesboro Tourist Park. A new sign has been erected commemorating the Stonewall Brigade’s encampment in the area during Jackson’s Bath-Romney Campaign. A small dedication is likely to take place the first weekend of September. PHW was delighted to help write and design the sign for the Gainesboro Ruritan Club to bring their idea to fruition. If you have not heard the story of the soldiers who took part of the expedition, you can learn more at the Bath-Romney Campaign Historical and Preservation Association. While this marker is not affiliated with the six Civil War Trails markers installed in Morgan County, it was written to mesh with them and mark one of the first camps the Confederate soldiers experienced after leaving Winchester.

Friday Roundup: Civil War Weekend and More!

The Winchester-Frederick-Clarke Civil War Weekend starts today! Most events are free or for a nominal charge. The events are too numerous to list here, so see what fits your fancy and time frame at the Visitor’s Center website.

The PHW library received a substantial donation this week from Ed Acker. We now have a complete set of Old House Journals from the inaugural issue of October 1973 through April 1998. If you need a how-to article from the timeless back catalog, we have you covered. You can see some of the other new additions to the PHW library at the top of our LibraryThing account.

Winchester Architectural Details
One of the cornice detail photos from the Loudoun Street Mall.

As teased a few weeks ago, we now have the images from the architectural details folder scanned. Sixty-six images (some very similar to each other) have been added to our Flickr account. Many of these images were part of a “find the building” activity produced by PHW. Challenge yourself to see how many of the details you recognize at the top of the photostream or the end of the Architectural Details album. Most buildings are on the walking mall, with a few outliers that may have been put in this folder by accident.

We were notified that a History Camp is coming to Virginia for the first time, and it’s close to us! The camp, which will be held at George Mason University in Fairfax, will take place on Saturday, November 16. More than 40 sessions on various aspects of history are expected. See the list as it continues to grow or register at historycamp.org/virginia.

Last but not least, our 2019 Holiday House Tour and Bough and Dough Shop is coming together. We are happy to report we have the full lineup of houses to represent the 18th through 21st centuries, and a an exclusive Preview Party house for Saturday evening. PHW representatives will be reaching out soon for advertising sponsorships. We are also looking forward to our informal Bough and Dough Shop open house at the Hexagon House on Saturday, August 24 between 1-4 p.m. If you have any questions about the Holiday House Tour or want to make sure your name is on our volunteer list to be called as a docent, stop by!

Friday Roundup: Photos and Weekend Events

600 Block S. Loudoun St.
The 600 block of South Loudoun Street, primarily the Conrad Crebs properties, shortly after purchase by the Revolving Fund. See the rest of the images at Flickr.

This week, we added 20 more photos from the Revolving Fund documentation files to our Flickr. All the houses in today’s batch are on South Loudoun Street in the 500-700 blocks. Be sure to see the large limestone block that used to be the front porch at the Crebs House!

Explore a unique mix of food, history, and architecture with Taste Winchester History! The Winchester Food Tour is tomorrow, and the Beer and Cider Tour is Sunday. The tours repeat every weekend with a variety of restaurants and cafes. Find more details and book a tour at www.tastewinchesterhistory.com.

Marker-Miller Orchards is also celebrating peach season on Saturday, 9 AM – 5 PM. Stop by the orchard at 3035 Cedar Creek Grade, Winchester, for homemade peach cobbler, peach pie, peach turnovers, peach ice cream, fresh peaches in the market, and of course pick your own peaches. There will be scenic wagon rides around the farm, multiple vendors and crafters, and Misty Mountain Meadworks will be sampling their mead. Robbie Limon will be on hand for musical entertainment from 1-3 while sitting in the pavilion or on the porch. Learn more at their Facebook page.

Don’t forget tomorrow is the Rt. 11 Yard Crawl. It is probably NOT the best day to leisurely enjoy our scenic byway for sightseeing; however, if you are into shopping for unique and vintage items, this could be the event for you. The official crawl is from New Market to Stephens City. You may start your shopping adventure at any point. It will be held rain or shine. Expect traffic congestion along Route 11 most of the day and watch for pedestrians.

Stay safe this weekend, remember your sunscreen, and have fun!