Category: Informational Events

Coming This Weekend: Historic Garden Week in Winchester

DogwoodThis weekend is the Winchester and Clarke County Historic Garden Week tours hosted by Winchester-Clarke Garden Club and The Little Garden Club of Winchester. The tour features four outstanding estates and one historic church dating from 1782 to 1993:

Claytonville Farm, 574 Clay Hill Road, Millwood
Clay Hill 859 Clay Hill Road, Millwood
Milton Valley Farm 294 Milton Valley Farm, Berryville
Audley Farm, 752 Audley Lane, Berryville
Old Chapel and Burwell Cemetery, intersection of Rt. 255 and 340, Boyce

For more information, descriptions, and ticket sale information, visit vagardenweek.org.

Coming This (and Next) Weekend: Kernstown Battlefield Park Day

WHAT: Park Day volunteer event at Kernstown Battlefield
WHEN: Saturday, April 16th & 23rd, 2016, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
WHERE: Meet at Kernstown Battlefield Park, 106 Battlepark Drive, Winchester, VA
MORE INFO: Dave Jenkins by phone at 540-247-3362 or by e-mail at djenkins0849@outlook.com
Meg Martin (Civil War Trust) 202-367-1861 x7231
Kernstown Battlefield Foundation by phone at (540) 869-2896 or (202) 302-9129

History buffs, community leaders and preservationists will team up with the Civil War Trust at more than 125 sites in 29 states to answer the call to service on Park Day. Celebrating its twentieth year, Park Day has attracted volunteers of all ages and abilities bound by their dedication to serving their communities at historic sites nationwide.

In Winchester, Kernstown Battlefield Park will host a Park Day event beginning at 9:00 a.m. on April 16 and 23. Needs range from painting, grounds maintenance, minor building repair to seeding of new grass around Park Buildings. A local historian may also be available to describe the park’s significance. For more information about Park Day at Kernstown Battlefield Park, please contact Dave Jenkins by phone at 540-247-3362 or by e-mail at djenkins0849@outlook.com.

The Civil War Trust is the largest and most effective nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation of America’s hallowed battlegrounds. For a complete list of participating Park Day sites around the country, visit Civilwar.org/parkday.

National Preservation Month Activities

May is creeping ever closer, and that means National Preservation Month activities are in planning. Here is a selection of events we know about coming in May:

Preservation Month

May 4: Handley Regional Library is celebrating with an exciting presentation about a plantation in our district. The program, Preservation Issues and Pleasures at a Working Mid-18th Century Plantation Site in Clarke County, will take place on May 4, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the Handley Library Auditorium, 100 W. Piccadilly St. This presentation is being sponsored by Friends of Handley Regional Library and The Clermont Foundation and will be led by Robert Steig, CEO of The Clermont Foundation. There will be a reception following the presentation.

The Clermont Foundation funds and manages Clermont Farm, a 360-acre research and training site in history, historic preservation, and agriculture, owned by the Department of Historic Resources of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The farm and the foundation were a gift to the people of Virginia by Elizabeth Rust Williams in 2004.

Robert Steig as CEO of The Clermont Foundation, has been integral in the success of recent programs such as the rehabilitation of the farm’s slave quarters and a partnership to help kids raise pigs. Mr. Steig is also very active in the Berryville community, leading the fight to properly represent the first free African-American land owners on Josephine St.

For more information contact Barbara Dickinson at 540-662-9041 ext. 31 or reach her by email at friends@handleyregional.org.

May 14: Kidzfest returns to the downtown walking mall in Winchester in 2016. As you may remember, for the past two years PHW ran separate Preservation Month activities on the day of Kidzfest. This year, PHW has applied for a space at the event to provide a fun, free, and educational activity with an architectural slant. We will provide coloring activity sheets covering a variety of architectural styles, suitable for the entire family to explore buildings, history, and color together. Historic color information will be available if you want to try an accurate paint scheme, or you can let your imagination run wild and color a house however you would like. More details will be available closer to the event.

May 14: Fort Loudoun Day returns at the site of Washington’s Well at 419 N. Loudoun Street from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm. The French and Indian War Foundation commemorates this period in our country’s history each year at the site of the original Fort Loudoun. The event includes interpreters of the history of the era and gives visitors an opportunity to learn about the history of the frontier, the people who settled the Shenandoah Valley and the conditions in which they lived. Visit their website at FIWF.org to learn more.

Throughout the Month:
Experience Old Town Winchester with three Historical Springtime Scavenger Hunts. They start April 9, so you can get a jump on exploring Old Town!

Cemetery Tours are offered on a recurring basis by Northern Virginia Tours. The tours begin at Winchester National Cemetery and continue at Stonewall Cemetery. You have the option of touring one or both cemeteries. $8.00 per person for one tour, $15.00 for both tours.

A Savory Taste of Winchester: Culinary Food and Wine Tours are currently ongoing, but Preservation Month is the perfect excuse to visit popular Old Town restaurants. In between the tastings at six locations, learn about Old Town Winchester’s history dating back to the 1600s. Reservations are required by 8 p.m. the day prior to the tour.

Last but not least, PHW is accepting nominations for our local preservation awards. If you know of a person or project worthy of recognition, why not send in a nomination form? It is free and it helps to get the word out to the community about projects that are making a difference in our streetscapes and knowledge of architecture and history.

Reminder: Winchester – a Frontier Town…with a Dash of the Wild West!

Lectures John Flood, director of Big Legends and a PHW board member, will soon regale us with unusual and lesser-known tales of bygone days in this spotlight of Winchester’s historic places, people, and events. Don’t miss this PHW Lunch and Learn Lecture – it is sure to be fascinating!

Date: Thursday, April 7, 2016
Time: Noon-1 PM
Place: June E. Jeffrey Education Center at OakCrest Companies, 126 N. Kent Street, Winchester, VA. The Education Center is at the upper parking lot, in the addition closest to the Winchester Star building.
Cost: Free!
RSVPs: Appreciated but not required.

Parking: There is no off-street parking available at OakCrest. On-street parking is limited and metered. We recommend utilizing the George Washington Autopark at 131 N. Kent St.

Questions? phwi@verizon.net or 540-667-3577

Around the Internet: A Quintet of Articles

Around the InternetEvery now and then we like to share links to articles and blogs that we’ve come across while keeping up with history and preservation news. This week, we’ve picked five interesting stories or topics that crossed our path to share with you.

1. First, Jessica Leigh Hester brings us the story of archeology in Victorian-era trash sites in England with Excavating Stories From Victorian-Era Trash Dumps from CityLab. From the article:

“By digging up part of a doll’s porcelain face, or a medicine bottle, [Tom Licence] can imagine how daughters spent their days, or what ailments afflicted the patriarch. ‘You can work out what sorts of illnesses they had, what sorts of luxuries they enjoyed,’ he tells CityLab. ‘You can match the objects to the people.'”

2. If you are traveling this weekend and you’d like to see some sights along the way, check out Eight Scenic Drives for Virginia History from Virginia’s Travel Blog.

3. Alicia Puglionesi investigates the fanciful faux histories and the role of the railroad in the proliferation of the peculiar Virginia attraction of “show caves” in The 19th Century ‘Show Caves’ That Became America’s First Tourist Traps at The Atlas. From the article:

“The discovery of these subterranean wonders in the 1800s spawned a genre of local lore and popular fiction–call it ‘the romance of the cave’–in which crystal caverns became theaters for passion and politics.”

4. Did you know the Metropolitan Museum of Art has made many of their publications free to read online or download? Visit their website metmuseum.org to search their publications by title, author, keyword, thematic category, and/or reading format.

5. Why does historic preservation matter? Emily Wynn interviews Christina Butler, Professor of Historic Preservation at the College of Charleston, about the hows and whys people become interested in – and passionate about – saving our buildings and our stories for future generations. From the article Preserving History May Be Our Biggest Asset at Odyssey:

“If we erase the palpable part of our history, the buildings that we have spent our lives in, we lose more than just materials and money. We lose tradition, culture, and a road map that our ancestors followed to get to where we are today and, in turn, we lose where we are going and why.”

Coming Soon: Two Historic Lectures on Winchester History

LecturesIf you were able to attend the Mount Hebron Cemetery App introduction, you may have already marked your calendar for Saturday, April 2, 2 PM at the Handley Library, 100 W. Piccadilly St., for the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society’s Annual Meeting. Tim Youmans will speak about the development and history of the streets in Winchester, including the origins of their names. His research expanded Dr. Quarles’ earlier history to include over 500 named streets.

PHW will follow shortly after with our next Lunch and Lecture of 2016, “Winchester – a Frontier Town…with a Dash of the Wild West!” Presented by John Flood, Director of Big Legends, the lecture will cover five segments of unusual and lesser-known tales of bygone days in this spotlight of Winchester’s historic places, people, and events. The lecture will be held April 7, noon-1 PM at OakCrest Companies, 126 N. Kent St.

Coming This Weekend: St. Paddy’s Celtic Festival

ShamrockOld Town Winchester will celebrate the community’s Irish and Scottish roots with the first St. Paddy’s Celtic Festival in Old Town on Saturday, March 12, 2016 from noon to 9 p.m. These free events will take place inside several businesses and, weather permitting, on the Loudoun Street Mall.

Performances will be held inside the 50/50 Taphouse, Brewbaker’s, Bright Box and Union Jack. The events are free to the public, but space inside the venues is limited. A percentage of food and drink sales at the performance locations will benefit Habitat for Humanity of Winchester-Frederick County.

Learn more about this event, the performers, and the other activities taking place this Saturday at oldtownwinchesterva.com.

Coming Soon: Art Exhibit and Mount Hebron Cemetery App

March is shaping up to be a busy month. First, on Saturday, March 5 at 2 PM in the Handley Library Auditorium, John Lewis, Maral Kalbian, and George Schember will present the “Mount Hebron Cemetery Introduction to Mobile Friendly App.” The presentation covers the recently completed Android and Apple GPS-based Memorials and Tour App which allows visitors to use their mobile devices to locate and learn about historical grave sites and places of interest in the cemetery. This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Handley Library and the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society.

Second, The Shenandoah Valley Tapestry Project presents “A Stitch in Time,” from March 1-April 30 at the Virginia National Bank. This is an exhibit of artwork to highlight many of the talented people working on The Tapestry Project. This show is organized by the Winchester Chapter of the Embroiders’ Guild of America (WEGA) and the Multicultural Club Collage and sponsored by the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, the Handley Regional Library and The Friends of Handley Regional Library, and the Shenandoah Valley Chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild.

You are cordially invited to the opening reception on Thursday, March 10 at 2:30 pm, 186 N. Loudoun St., Winchester, VA. For more information, call 703-608-3924.

Coming This Weekend: Two Free Events on Saturday

PHW is pleased to pass along two free historically-minded activities this weekend:

MSV Day
Admission and activities are free at the MSV Day 2016. Be sure to see the “Cut! Costume and the Cinema” exhibition before it leaves on Feb. 28! Learn more at themsv.org
Place: The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 901 Amherst St.
Time: Saturday, Feb. 20, 10 AM-4 PM

“Telling Our Story” with Nancy Finley Barbour
In celebration of Black History Month, Nancy Finley Barbour will share stories of growing up in Winchester’s North End. After graduation from John Handley High School and James Madison University, Nancy has continued to do community service in her home town. Learn more at www2.youseemore.com/handley/
Place: Handley Library Auditorium, 100 W. Piccadilly St.
Time: Saturday, Feb. 20 from 2-4 PM.