Fittingly, today’s photos are a selection of slides taken around the old Frederick County Court House, Rouss Avenue, and the Feltner Building at 9 Court Square. Before you visit the Feltner Building tonight for PHW’s Memberfest from 6-9 PM, be sure you refresh your memory of what this area looked like before and during the extensive renovations in the 1990s.
Today we visit one of the lesser known architectural treasure troves in Winchester with Sharp Street. Originally known as Warwick Street, and also sometimes recorded as Sharpe Street, this interesting street features some unusually fine brick buildings, particularly for the east end of the Historic District. Some buildings of note include the Evans Hotel at 224 Sharp Street, a boarding school operated in the 1830s by Quaker schoolmaster John W. Marvin at 219 Sharp Street, an excellent example of an early Federal style brick house at 214 Sharp Street, an excellent early duplex with an unusual central chimney at 207-209 Sharp Street. George Sharp, the man for whom the street was renamed, had his home in another excellent example of Federal style architecture at 223-225 Sharp Street. The building is perhaps more famous today as reportedly having served as a house of ill repute.
Take some time to visit this little street with its myriad of excellent and colorful historical buildings with this collection of images from the 1970s to the 1990s from PHW’s slide collection.
Step back in time with these images of North and South Washington Street from PHW’s slide collection. These images appear to date to approximately the same era as the 1976 survey images through the mid 1980s. The set includes a number of images of the Baker houses between Boscawen and Wolfe Streets, the Friends Meeting House when it was painted gray, and several homes along North Washington Street when they were covered in pebbledash.
This week we visit buildings along Valley Avenue, including the rambling vernacular Queen Anne style home at the corner of Miller St., two bungalows, and several images of Montague Hall at the Jubal Early Dr. intersection before and after renovation. The images were pulled from PHW’s slide collection and appear to date from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.
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.
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.
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 |
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.
We continue our peek into the past this Friday with the 1914 historical and trade edition of the Winchester Evening Star. It is no stretch to say Winchester has always been proud of its history, and this can clearly been seen here. The paper leads with a promising block of introductory text:
Winchester, Virginia
Situated in the “Vale of Shenandoah” between the enchanted Blue Ridge and Alleghenies in a God-blessed and sun-kissed land of peace and plenty. Situated 70 miles from Washington, capital of the nation, and 112 from Baltimore, the “Metropolis of the South.” Located in a magnificent agricultural country in the famous apple belt. Once the home of George Washington and other noted men. Here sleeps Daniel Morgan, “Thunderbolt of the American Revolution” and the proud Lord Fairfax. An important educational and financial centre. Brief review of her past and present history with sketches of leading men and enterprises which have placed her in the present pre-eminent and exalted position she holds in the sisterhood of American cities.
The history of Winchester through the founding by James Wood through the Civil War was brief but full of intriguing tidbits of local lore. Most residents have heard the story of Winchester changing hands 72 times during the Civil War; a lesser known exchange happened at our Taylor Hotel and was recorded in this history of Winchester:
In a single day the old and famous Taylor House on Main [Loudoun] Street was taken and retaken five times in a single day, and was literally drenched in the blood of contending troops. . . . It was used as a hospital for the wounded of both armies, and thousands of limbs were amputated there. It is related by residents of the city that they have seen in the alley running along the side of the building, large and grewsome [sic] piles of arms and legs. These were carted away daily and buried, with little ceremony, in unmarked graves on the outskirts of the city with no distinction being made between the Blue and the Gray.
The list of famous guests at the Taylor were noted in this article to include George Washington, Daniel Morgan, and Davy Crockett, all of whom most assuredly visited the log tavern that operated at the site of the current Taylor Hotel, and which was replaced in the 1830s by the brick structure following a fire at the log structure. Also new on this list, though not surprising, is William McKinley, as many know he was made a Mason here in Winchester.
While history is a focal point of the paper, its real aim was to promote the people and businesses of of Winchester in 1914. One possibly surprising statistic cited was that New Winchester (so-called for the rebuilding of the town after the ravages of the Civil War) had nearly every important business enterprise in the town (80%) operated by someone “born and bred” in the area.
The Valley Pike, along with eight other macadamized roads that lead to Winchester, was praised as the reason Winchester is a hub of trade. Apples, of course, received the lion’s share of coverage in the section on agriculture. Perhaps the best nugget is the legend of how Apple Pie Ridge was named. According to the author, the German settlers on the ridge brought young apple trees with them, and when the trees began bearing fruit, the housewives “baked apple pies incessantly for their families.” The pies became so famous that people “from far and near” would visit to feast on the tasty treats.
The churches of Winchester received a very brief paragraph of coverage, but the lack of written information is offset by the inclusion of a photograph of the Cork Street Baptist Church, which has been demolished. The church, which appears to have been a brick building with highly ornamental Gothic embellishments, was once located between the Old John Kerr School and the Red Lion Tavern.
The topic of Winchester’s many benefactors was again raised, with this edition focusing on the Handley bequests to the City, said to amount to about $1.5 million. Although not a native or resident of Winchester, Handley was fond of the town and set aside a portion of his wealth (primarily derived from anthracite coal discovered on property he owned in Lackawanna Co. in PA). Lesser known educational benefactors John Kerr and R.A. Robinson were also mentioned in passing for their contributions to public schools.
The volunteer fire companies of Winchester also had a lively write up on which company could lay claim to being the oldest in town, with Friendship, Charley Rouss, and Sarah Zane all having their share of “firsts.” The author, however, dismisses all three as being the oldest fire company in Winchester, as “none of them are the original fire company, for files of old newspapers prove that there were at least two companies organized in Winchester considerably more than a century ago.”
The people in this edition are primarily judicial and civil servants. It is interesting to note that while all the businessmen previously detailed in earlier Friday Photos posts were honest and upright citizens, the paper has a slightly different angle for these fellows. They have “a large circle of friends” and are “public spirited” and “progressive” citizens. Among those pictured are Winchester’s Mayor Julian F. Ward, Hon. Thomas W. Harrison, Hon. Richard Evelyn Byrd, Major Holmes Conrad, Hon. Hal D. Flood, Commonwealth’s Attorney Herbert Larrick, Commisioner of Revenue J.E. Correll, Commonwealth’s Attorney James P. Reardon, Superintendent of County Schools Maurice Lynch, and Superintendent of Water and Sewers Thomas J. Trier. Each has a biographical sketch, but the most interesting may be that of Maurice Lynch. He had struggled to receive an education, and could not complete his schooling at UVA for financial reasons. He persisted, however, by teaching school himself (eventually becoming superintendent) and studying law on his own in the office of Judge William Clark, and was subsequently admitted to the bar in 1887.
View the full set of photos on Flickr.
It’s Friday, so it’s time to visit Winchester in 1914 with another historical and trade supplement to the Evening Star paper. Headlining the section is a half page article on Winchester’s greatest benefactor, Charles Broadway Rouss. The story of Rouss will be familiar to anyone who has attended any Rouss Day celebrations, but it bears repeating that his generosity to the city and its citizens is a rare and special thing.
Below the fold is another half page article on the Dunsmore Business College located in Staunton, touted as “none better in the United States.” The college, founded in 1872, was the first business school of its kind in Virginia or West Virginia. It remained in operation for 100 years, closing permanently in 1972. A collection of memories from past graduates can be found at newsleader.com.
On the next page, R.M. Swimley’s store at 117 E. Piccadilly St. was highlighted, noted for specializing in Thornhill wagons, Standard sewing machines, White Lily washers and wringers, a full line of farm equipment, and buggies by Buckeye and Blue Ribbon. The second floor of the store carried furniture and rugs and even musical instruments. The article takes pains to note Mr. Swimley made every effort to stock high quality Christmas presents for the holiday season instead of “trashy” ones that would be soon discarded by the recipients.
At the corner of Cameron and Baker Street was Robert W. Schultz’s farm supplies store. Mr. Schultz is said to have taken over the business from Lohr Capper about four years earlier (1910). Not to be outdone, there are articles featuring the J.T. Brown and Son’s stoves and ranges store at 133 North Loudoun St. and J.F. Kremer’s groceries, glass and woodenwares store at 10 South Loudoun St. Aikin and Taylor also grabbed a spot to promote their relatively new granite and marbleworks yard on East Boscawen St., located just before the Mt. Hebron Cemetery gatehouse.
Rounding out the page are two articles on restaurants downtown. One features Barker’s Restaurant at 168 North Loudoun St., open just six weeks at the time of publication. The proprietor, R. P. Barker, had recently returned from working at Child’s Restaurant of New York, and his mother was noted as being the proprietress of Jordan White Sulphur Springs. Perhaps the best photograph of the set, however, can be found advertising the Dellis & Pappas authentic Greek restaurant at 151 North Loudoun Street, which opened about eight years ago (1907). The image shows the owners inside of their store, which was noted for several innovations. A section was set aside for ladies and their escorts so they could dine while shopping downtown. The restaurant was also noted for never closing, a “greatest convenience, especially for the travelling public and to automobilists, many of whom make it their headquarters.”
View the full set of photos at Flickr.