Feeling nostalgic? Revisit Handley in these circa 1975 pictures pulled from PHW’s slide collection. The smokestack is visible in several images, as well as the Handley Bowl before the recent remodeling. But this may be one instance when nostalgia doesn’t disappoint – Handley High School’s exterior still looks much the same as it did more than thirty years ago. And that’s a fine thing, indeed.
View the full set of photos at Flickr.
Join the French and Indian War Foundation for the launch of Winchester’s first cell phone audio tour interpreting the events at Fort Loudoun beginning in 1756. The free event kicks off on September 14 at 10 AM at Fort Loudoun, 419 N. Loudoun St. in Winchester when Mayor Liz Minor will unveil the sign, cut the wireless ribbon, and make the first call. Author Norman Baker will be present to sign his new book, “Braddock’s Road.”
The event will be held rain or shine. For questions or more information, call 540-539-6424 or visit www.FIWF.org.
Student papers on the Kurtz Building have been digitized to preserve the texts for future researchers. The papers were written in the spring of 1988 for a class with Prof. Warren Hofstra. The papers are predominantly oral history interviews and cover the following topics:
Please contact the office if you would like to review this collection in your research – but please keep in mind these are uncorrected student papers. Researcher discretion and additional verification is recommended for these sources.
For something a little different this holiday weekend, PHW invites you to look back at one of our Oktoberfest events. The event, a staple of PHW’s programming in the 1970s and 1980s, featured German food, music, dancing and raffles for a full evening of entertainment. This event in particular seems to have remained more fully ensconced in our collective memory than other years. The reason may have been due to the unusual location atop the Court Square Autopark on Cameron Street. PHW records indicate Oktoberfest was held at this location for two years, 1984 and 1985. Relive this event with some candid photos and promotional materials from Oktoberfest 1985. View the full set of images on Flickr.
PHW’s “Lunch and Learn” lectures are back with four new topics this fall! Bring your own lunch or buy a boxed lunch in advance through PHW and join us for these informative, hour long sessions. Unsure if these lectures are right for you? Watch the spring lecture on Historic Tax Credits in its entirety on YouTube.
Location: June Jeffries Educational Center at the upper parking lot, Lewis-Jones Knitting Mill, 126 N. Kent Street, Winchester, VA
Time: Noon-1P.M.
Cost: Free, unless you reserve a lunch through PHW
Parking: At the Lewis-Jones Knitting Mill or the George Washington Autopark, 131 N. Kent Street
Dates:
September 17th: How to Finance Your Historic Preservation Project, presented by Bill Buettin, President, United Bank
October 3rd: How to Green Your Historic Preservation Project, presented by Chuck Swartz, Reader and Swartz, Architects, P.C.
October 29th: How to Research Your Historic House, presented by Maral Kalbian, Maral S. Kalbian LLC., Historic Preservation Consultant
November 12th: How to Restore and Repair Historic Wood Windows, presented by David Logan, Vintage, Inc., Building Restoration and Craftsmen
Time to revisit our old friend, the 1976 Winchester Architectural Survey. This inventory, which took a team of volunteers and students approximately three years to complete, formed the basis for the successful National Register Historic District nomination in 1980. Although the 1976 inventory has been superseded by the 2011 survey, the older survey has an important legacy in documenting how the district changed – mostly for the better – over thirty years.
Take some time over the weekend and click through the album for a dose of nostalgia – and don’t forget to check back later, as there are still hundreds more photos to be digitized and added to this collection!
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| 1976 Architectural Survey |
PHW’s summer newsletter is online now! Read up about the actions at the Aulick House, the 49th Annual Meeting recaps, remembrances of John G. Lewis, what it’s like to intern at PHW, and even ways for you to volunteer or sponsor the upcoming Holiday House Tour.
Click to read the newsletter (PDF).
Save your spot at the Preservation Virginia Conference October 20-22 at the historic Hotel Roanoke in Roanoke, VA and register now at preservationvirginia.org. Don’t forget to make your nominations for preservation awards or submit a Preservation Pitch to help fund your preservation project!
Civil War Weekend is only hours away, and in a nod to those activities, this week PHW dives into the oldest printed document in our collection, a copy of the Illustrated London News (Canadian Edition) from January 7, 1863. The first thing, you might rightly ask, is why PHW would have this in our collection. A cryptic handwritten note directs you to the middle of the paper, at which point you find a two page spread of sketches documenting the war in America. The paper writes:
Our Special Artist and Correspondent at the head-quarters of the Confederate army of Northern Virginia has forwarded to us some Illustrations, which we have been fortunate enough to receive. This, it seems, is far from being the case generally, many of his sketches and letters having been intercepted. . . . Indeed, our Special Artist on one occasion recently ran a great risk of being taken prisoner, having galloped past a cross-road only a few minutes before a Federal scouting-party dashed through.
The two sketches supplied by this unnamed artist feature Jefferson Co., Virginia (now West Virginia). The third is a sketch of the Confederate flag, along with a story:
When Banks, commanding the Federals, was attacked by Jackson last spring and driven pell-mell through the streets of Winchester, Miss Laura Lee, of that city, boldly stood forward on the street amidst the flying bullets and waved this little flag of her own make, cheering on the Confederate soldiers as they charged through the flying ranks of those who had covered her and her fellow-citizens with abuse for months. More than one Confederate fell at her feet as they swept triumphantly past, and, still waving her little flag in one hand, with the other assisted the wounded men. This lady is a fair type of all her Southern sisters – womanly, but brave in her country’s cause, and now praying by the dying beds of those brave men who have fallen victim to patriotism.
The final image of the set is from a different, also unnamed artist, depicting men claiming exemptions from the draft in New York in the fifteenth ward in November of 1862. The paper records that “there has been a great rush” to claim exemptions, which were granted for those under age 18 or over 45, physical disability, color (“no negroes or mulattoes being accepted”), “alien birth and non-naturalized” status, or “membership in the scholastic and clerical professions.” The most numerous exemptions were granted to non-naturalized citizens, with allegedly 50,000 exemptions being granted.
From Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation comes a roster of events this weekend, Aug. 16, 17 and 18. Events focus on Lee’s Gettysburg Campaign – and the sobering aftermath that turned the region into a mammoth hospital. Programs will include living history, tours, historical talks, book signings, youth programs – and even a special screening of an American movie classic. You’re sure to find something that appeals to your interests this weekend!
Review the flyer for Civil War Weekend at the Winchester-Frederick County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau website for any of the events below which catch your fancy:
Visitor Information, Civil War Orientation, and Book Signing at Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center
Location: 1400 S. Pleasant Valley Rd., Winchester
Times: Open: 9 am – 5 pm daily
Book signing with Scott Patchan, author of “The Last Battle of Winchester” 3-5pm on Saturday
For more information or a free visitors guide: (540) 542-1326, info@visitwinchesterva.com, or www.VisitWinchesterVA.com
Tours of Belle Grove Plantation, Middletown
Location: 336 Belle Grove Rd., Middletown
Times: Saturday, August 17: 10:15, 11:15, 12:15, 1:15, 2:15, 3:15. Sunday, August 18: 1:15, 2:15, 3:15
Cost: $12
For more information: 540-869-2028
“Following the Plume”: Confederate Cavalry Living History Program
Location: Cedar Creek Visitor’s Center, 8437 Valley Pike, Middletown
Times: Saturday, August 17, 10am-4pm. Cavalry demonstrations at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm. Intermittent artillery demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday.
Cost: Free
For more information: (540) 869-2064 or executive.director@ccbf.us
Lectures and Book Signing: “The Transition Begins: For Whose Rights Are We Fighting”
Location: Stephens City Town Office, 1033 Locust St., Stephens City
Times: Saturday, June 23 – 11am and 2 pm (lectures) and 3pm (book signing)
Cost: Free
For more information: Wayne A. Eldred, (540) 869-1700, info@newtownhistorycenter.org.
Tours of First and Second Battles of Kernstown at Pritchard-Grim Farm
Location: Kernstown Battlefield on the Pritchard-Grim Farm, 610 Battle Park Drive, Winchester
Times: Saturday, August 17, 11am and 1pm (walking tours)
Cost: Free admission to site. $3 charge to tour Pritchard House.
For more information: (540) 869-2896 or gcrawford@kernstownbattle.org
“Night Falls on Camp Johnson”: Living History and Activities Tours
Location: 901 Amherst St., Winchester
Times: Saturday, August 17, 6-9 pm
Cost: $5 to MSV members, $8 others, children under 12 are free.
For more information: (888) 556-5799
Book Signing: Civil War Journal of Mary Greenhow Lee
Location: Hollingsworth Mill, 1360 S. Pleasant Valley Rd., Winchester
Times: Saturday, August 17, 2-4 pm
Cost: Free
For more information: Cissy Shull, 540-662-6550 or wfchs@verizon.net
Civil War Medical Lectures by Dr. Yusuf Saleeby
Times: 10-11:30am and 2-3:30pm
Location: 20 N. Loudon St., Winchester
For more information: 540-542-1145, www.civilwarmuseum.org
“Gone With the Wind” Under the Stars
Location: Historic Long Branch, 830 Long Branch Lane
Times: 6:30-11:30 pm. Movie at 8:00 pm.
Cost: $8 per car
For more information: 540-837-1856
Tours of Sheridan’s Field Hospital: Dr. Jonathan O’Neal
Location: Sheridan’s Field Hospital at Shawnee Springs, corner of Opequon Avenue and Hollingsworth Drive
Time: Saturday, August 17, 10am-2pm
Cost: Free
For more information: Terry Heder, 540-740-4545 or theder@svbf.net
Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park Programs
Friday, August 16:
History at Sunset – The Tragic Deaths of Stephen Ramseur and Charles Lowell: Examples of a Generation Lost.
7 p.m. Meet Ranger at Belle Grove parking lot, 336 Belle Grove Road.
Saturday, August 17:
Cedar Creek and Belle Grove in a Box – A Park Overview Program. 30 minute program on the history of the Valley, the Battle of Cedar Creek and the impact of the war. 11:30 a.m. Meet on Belle Grove’s front lawn, 336 Belle Grove Road.
Battle of Cedar Creek Tour. A two-hour guided tour that which covers the Battle of Cedar Creek in a chronological fashion. 2pm. Meet at Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation Headquarters, 8437 Valley Pike.
Middletown Civil War Walking Tour. Learn about the citizens of Middletown and how the war impacted their lives. A ranger-led 90 minute walking tour. 5pm. Meet at intersection of Main Street and First Street.
Sunday, August 18:
The 8th Vermont Monument at Cedar Creek. Visit the monument and learn the story of the New England regiment it memorializes. 1 pm. Meet at National Park Service Visitor Contact Station, 7712 Main Street.
Presented by: Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park
Cost: All programs are free
For more information: Eric Campbell, 540-8693051 or eric_campbell@nps.gov