PHW – Page 46 – Preservation of Historic Winchester

Building Community Through Historic Preservation

We took a little break this week from scanning photos, so instead we found a TEDxCLE talk by Rhonda Sincavage from the National Trust for Historic Preservation called “Building Community Through Historic Preservation” to share with you.

To many of you, the points she makes in the first six minutes will be entirely familiar. If you find yourself nodding off, skip ahead to about the 6:40 minute mark to hear some outside confirmation of the intuitive reasons people get involved with historic preservation, and the theory of how a strong emotional attachment to a place positively impacts the community as a whole.

For those interested in exploring the Soul of a Community Study mentioned briefly in this talk in more detail, you can learn more about it on the Knight Foundation website or watch a quick introduction video.

Friday Photos: People, Places, and Things Edition

Happy Friday! This week, we have added 25 photos to the PHW Flickr account of some different subjects:

In the “people” category, we have scanned 13 photos provided by Linda Ross of PHW members at various events. The photos were taken approximately 2001-2007.
In the “places” category, we added five photos taken by Mary Riley during the 2010 Holiday House Tour, plus two images from the interior of E.E. Bayliss, Jr.’s office on East Piccadilly Street (now demolished, and also serving double duty in the “people” category), plus a photograph of the Lee-Jackson Service Station and Tourist Court provided by John G. Lewis.
In the “things” category, we have a few different images from John G. Lewis’ history file, including another look at nail chronology and pit sawing illustrations, and a marker some of you may remember was once installed at the corner of Braddock Street and Fairfax Lane commemorating George Washington’s lot. This marker was replaced with a more durable metal marker on a small grassy strip after the building housing it was demolished.

Find all the photos at the top of the Flickr photostream, or at the end of their respective albums. Happy viewing!

Friday Roundup: PHW Newsletter, File Indexes, Clowser House Update, and Photos

The first PHW Newsletter of 2017 is available online now, with a recap of the 2016 Holiday House Tour and a fairly lengthy update on PHW’s ongoing archiving process. If you think you should be on the PHW mailing list of current members and you don’t receive your hard copy, please let us know at 540-667-3577 or phwinc.org@gmail.com. (If you spot a typo or need to update or confirm your current mailing address, please let us know that too!)

As part of the archiving process mentioned in the newsletter, we have made a working index of the dead PHW office files available online. At present time the list consists only of the file name and box number, but more information on the contents may be added in the future. This index only covers the files moved to storage, so most of the Revolving Fund, newer Holiday House Tours, and historic building files are not indexed (yet!).

We are also very excited to share the indexing of the Winchester Star’s “Out of the Past” articles completed to date. This indexing project was started by summer intern Marlena Spencer as we were beginning to sort and file the newspaper clipping boxes in 2013. Hopefully this will help you locate some stories you may have read in the Out of the Past section. Expect more additions to this index as time goes on.

The Clowser House has cleared its next hurdle in the ongoing preservation efforts. On Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to move the Clowser House proposal to a public hearing to be held on April 26th. If all goes well, the April 26th hearing will be the final step needed before the Clowser House Committee can lease the property for 99 years and start the preservation process.

Last but not least, we added 22 photos to Flickr this week, all of one location: 219 South Loudoun Street. The brick house was likely built by Abraham Lauck around 1823 for his daughter Sarah at the time of her marriage to Charles Finn. In addition to a selection of shots from the 1997 Holiday House Tour, we were also able to identify the rear garden springtime photos, which had long been in the unknown photo file at PHW. We also did a bit of housekeeping at Flickr and created a dedicated album for those Holiday House Tour 1997 images we have been sharing recently. Enjoy both the festive photos and a taste of spring at the top of the photostream.

Friday Photos and Preservation News

Happy Friday! We have some preservation news to pass along before we get to the photos.

The Clowser House Committee has invited anyone interested to stop by the Purple Room at the Frederick County Administrative building in Winchester from 6 to 7 PM on Wednesday, March 8 to meet before the Board of Supervisors meeting. Enter from the North Kent Street side and go down the hall next to the elevator and enter the room to the right at the end. They will have the Clowser House matted prints for sale at $30, as well as information and photos for viewing. The committee is also interested in any old photos you may have relating to the Clowser House and Clowser family for their archives. Please extend this invitation to others, and then stick around for the Board of Supervisors meeting at 7 to show your support for the Clowser House!

For Friday Photos this week, we have added 40 photos to Flickr, including images from Tim Youmans’ tour of City Hall for Rouss Day 2017, two contact prints from the Kurtz Cultural Center exhibit and gift shop areas, and the check presentation of the 2016 Bough and Dough Shop proceeds to Winchester Little Theatre.

We hope you like seeing Christmas decorations year-round, as almost all the photos we have left to scan are from Holiday House Tours. This week we added more images from the 1997 tour of two houses on South Loudoun Street. One is 217 South Loudoun, the Rutherford House, which was built circa 1775 by one of Winchester’s early prominent citizens. Likewise, 522 South Loudoun, the Dr. Cornelius Baldwin House, was open for the 1997 tour. The frame house was built circa 1795. In addition to its famous owner, the house is also recognized for its family connection to Mary Julia Baldwin, Dr. Baldwin’s granddaughter, who founded Mary Baldwin College. Catch all the new photos at the top of the photostream, and keep an eye out for a new album just for the 1997 House Tour images soon!

Friday Roundup: Lecture, Book Signings, Grant Opportunity, Preservation Awards, and Photos!

Happy Friday! It has been a busy week for preservation news.

1. The French and Indian War Foundation invites you to an afternoon of Colonial history on Sunday, March 19 between 2-5 PM in the Reception Room at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 901 Amherst Street, Winchester, Virginia. This is a free event with wine and hors d’oevres. Book signings of “On The Town Celebrating James Wood & The Founding of Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia” by Wilbur S. Johnston and Braddock’s Road Historical Atlas by Norman Baker will take place all afternoon.

Dr. Carl Ekberg will present a lecture and slide presentation on “Thomas Jefferson in Paris” at 3 PM. Dr. Ekberg is a retired history professor from Illinois State University who now resides in Winchester. He has traced the footsteps of Jefferson in Paris for the last 25 years. In 2014, he received La Médaille d’Or award from the French Ambassador for his numerous outstanding publications on the French Colonial period.

For questions on this event, please call 703-307-6696.

2. The National Fund for Sacred Places is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in collaboration with Partners for Sacred Places that provides training, planning grants, and capital grants from $50,000 to $250,000 to congregations of all faiths for rehabilitation work on their historic facilities.

Congregations are urged to submit their letter of intent by May 1 for the Fund for Sacred Places for projects such as:

Urgent repair needs that are integral to life safety.
Projects that improve the usability or ADA accessibility of the property.
Renovation projects for important community outreach.

Visit www.FundforSacredPlaces.org for more details, including eligibility requirements, guidelines, and online application.

3. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is also taking applications for their National Preservation Awards until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 1. Nominate a deserving project, individual, or organization for a 2017 National Preservation Award – see the full list of categories, eligibility requirements, and online submission forms at the National Trust’s website.

4. Late breaking news from the National Trust – two grant deadlines have been extended until March 15! Learn more about the Johanna Favrot (matching grant for planning activities and education efforts focused on preservation primarily for public or nonprofit entities) and Cynthia Woods Mitchell (matching grant for Organizational Level Forum members or Main Street America members of the National Trust for preservation, restoration, and interpretation of historic interiors) funds. Grant funding ranges from $2,500–$10,000.

5. Friday Photos continues to add to our digital Holiday House Tour collections with 35 images this week, focusing on 320 South Cameron Street (the Parish-McIlwee House, decorated in a Victorian manner) and 312 South Cameron Street (former parsonage of the Methodist Episcopal Church, renovated into offices in 1984), and 501 South Loudoun Street (the Sitler House, an early log home built by Mathias Sitler between 1780-1797).

Catch the new images at the top of the photostream, or at the end of the Holiday House Tours album. Happy viewing!

Bonus Information: More updates on the historic tax credits in Virginia and for the federal program have come in from Preservation Virginia. Catch their updates on the two year sunset successfully added to to HB 2460 and SB 1034 and the introduction of the Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act to Congress in their archives.

PHW Membership Dues Reminder

It is time for the bulk of PHW members to renew your dues! Snail mail letters have been going out this week and will continue into next week to about 2/3rds of our members. If you have questions about your membership status, please feel free to contact the PHW office at 540-667-3577 or phwinc.org@gmail.com.

If you are one of our free readers on Facebook or by email and you enjoy hearing from us every week, why not take the next step and support us with membership dues or a donation? We have several options on how to join:

Automatic Yearly Payments via PayPal Subscription

The PayPal subscription button sets up an automatic yearly payment on the date you first join. If this option does not display correctly in your email, please visit our website for the form. Please refer to the instructions in PayPal’s FAQ on how to update or cancel your automatic subscription. Instructions vary based on whether you have a business or personal account.

One Time Credit Card Payment

Use the PayPal Donation option and input the amount you wish to donate. You do not need to have a PayPal account to use this option – select “Use a card” to use a debit or credit card. Remember to share your mailing address with us so you can receive our snail mail invitations to events and the printed newsletter, too!

One time credit card payments can also be made in person at the PHW office, 530 Amherst Street, Winchester, Virginia.

Mail in a Check

Download and fill out the membership form and return it with your check to PHW, 530 Amherst Street, Winchester, VA 22601.

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Friday Photos: Bough & Dough Shop 1996

Happy Friday! As unbelievable as it may seem, we are already starting work on Holiday House Tour and Bough & Dough Shop 2017. Mark your calendars now for the weekend of December 2 and 3!

We also heard your feedback about increasing the variety of vendors at the Shop in 2017. We are asking that new artisans interested in participating in the Shop for 2017 fill out a short form so that the Shop committee can jury new participants. Take your time with your submissions – we will accept applications through June 30, 2017.

To get your creative juices flowing, for Friday Photos this week we are revisiting the 1996 Bough & Dough Shop, which was held at the Winchester Rehabilitation Center at 333 W. Cork Street. This is one of the few years the Shop submitted a detailed report on what worked and what didn’t. This year was the first time we used a computerized cash register and vendor numbers during checkout. Despite a number of last minute no shows, the 1996 Shop had 25 vendors, plus the separate greenery and donated baked goods. The event was pulled together by Robin Sutton, Jenny Powers, Kim Dodd, Courtney Bragg, Julian Bragg, Rick Bragg, Aimee Kennedy, and Peggy Sweeney. Enjoy this stroll down a Christmas memory lane in 34 photos at Flickr!

Announcements and Friday Photos

Happy Friday! We have a few quick announcements to make before we get to the photos:

1. We had a flood of spam hit the website and email list at the end of January, and a small portion (less than 1%) of the email list was cleaned of suspicious signups. If you or a friend are not getting weekly emails from us when you know you have signed up, after you double check that the emails didn’t land in your spam of junk folders, please sign up again on any PHW website page with the email form in the footer or sidebar, or follow this link.

2. Don’t forget about Winchester’s 4th Annual Chocolate Escape, happening downtown this Saturday, February 11 between 2-5 PM. You can find more details and all the participating stores and restaurants at Old Town Winchester.

On the the fun part of the week! We have added 37 photos to Flickr, once again focusing on past Holiday House Tours. Get a glimpse inside 112-114 East Cecil Street, better known as the “chicken coop house” which was an adaptive reuse project turning a barn into apartments, plus 215 South Loudoun Street and the Red Lion Tavern Inn at 208 South Loudoun Street (then the offices of Winchester Radiologists). Find the photos at the end of the Holiday House Tours album, or the top of the photostream. Happy viewing!

Call for Help: Bridge Survey

From Preservation Virginia this week is a request for help in an informal bridge survey taking place across Virginia. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is re-evaluating of their Historic Bridge Inventory. Preservation Virginia is reaching out for help identifying bridges that could be considered eligible for individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places and Virginia Landmarks Register.

PHW is extending this call to our readership for help in identifying any local bridges that may qualify. The Historic Bridge Inventory lists only one bridge in Frederick County, a concrete closed spandrel arch bridge on Rt. 672 crossing the Opequon Creek, built in 1917. There are no listings for Winchester City, Clarke County, or Warren County.

The basic requirements for consideration are that a bridge should be administered by VDOT, 50 years old or older, and meet at least one of the criterion for consideration as a historic structure (bridges usually qualify under feats of engineering, but may also be associated with a significant person or event, or for outstanding design elements).

If you know of a bridge that may qualify, you will need: location, route number, stream crossing, VDOT structure number (if known), or name, as well as an explanation of why the bridge should be included. You may wish to refer to A Management Plan for Historic Bridges in Virginia Appendix A for a listing of the National Register Eligible historic bridges identified to date (starts on page 34 of the PDF).

The bridge survey is time sensitive. Please submit your responses before Friday March 31, 2017. Information may be emailed to PHW at phwinc.org@gmail.com, or hard copy information dropped off in person or by snail mail to 530 Amherst Street, Winchester, VA 22601. If you have questions about the bridge survey or would like to submit your bridge directly to Preservation Virginia, please contact Lisa Bergstrom by email at lbergstrom@preservationvirginia.org.

Friday Photos, Tax Credit News, and Mailing Lists to Follow

Happy Friday! This week we have added 38 photos from Holiday House Tours of years gone by to the Flickr account, including some interior images of the Simon Lauck House when it was on the tour in 1997. Catch all the new additions at the end of the Holiday House Tour album, or at the top of the photostream.

Good news has been coming out of Richmond in relation to the future of the state historic preservation tax credit. Check out the article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch “Va. Senate panel kills Sen. Glen Sturtevant’s bill to cap and phase out historic rehab tax credits” to get a few more details.

Presumably if you are an avid reader of PHW’s blogs, you have some interest in keeping abreast of preservation stories like the one above. Here are a few more email lists that the PHW office is subscribed to:
Preservation Virginia
Valley Conservation Council (signup form is at the bottom of the page)
National Trust for Historic Preservation (scroll down about midway on the page to find the signup form)
Winchester CitE-News

Let us know if you have found any other historic preservation mailing lists worth following!