Please join us for our first Walk and Learn tour on Saturday, October 22. Jim Riley will lead a tour of the area’s oldest Quaker Meeting House. Learn the background on the Quakers and the history of the Hopewell Meeting house site. Weather permitting, the tour will include an outdoor component. The event is expected to last 1 to 1.5 hours. Water will be available.
Meet at Hopewell Meeting House, 604 Hopewell Road, Clear Brook, VA at 11 AM. The event is free and open to the public.
Tickets will be available for purchase at the Goose Creek Meeting House, 18204 Lincoln Road, Purcellville, VA, from 1 to 3 PM the day of the tour, $20 per person or $40 per family. Preorders may also be made via PayPal at the event webpage listing (scroll to the bottom of the page to find the PayPal instructions).
All proceeds from the tour support Loudoun Preservation Society’s Grants Program. Learn more about LPS at their website www.preserveloudoun.org.
Introducing a new spin on the Lunch and Learn series…Walk and Learn!
This fall, PHW has lined up two on site visits for a more hands-on learning experience. First, on Saturday, October 22, Jim Riley will lead a Saturday tour of the area’s oldest Quaker Meeting House. Learn the background on the Quakers and the history of the Hopewell Meeting house site. Weather permitting, the tour will include an outdoor component. The event is expected to last 1 to 1.5 hours. Water will be available.
Meet at Hopewell Meeting House, 604 Hopewell Road, Clear Brook, VA at 11 AM. The event is free and open to the public.
Second, Norman Baker of the French and Indian War Foundation will lead a tour of the site of Winchester’s Fort Loudoun on Thursday, November 10 at noon, weather permitting. The walking tour of the area once covered by the fort will last one hour, with time after for questions for those who can stay longer. On-street parking is limited, but parking is available at the nearby Loudoun Street Autopark.
Meet at noon at 419 North Loudoun Street, Winchester, VA. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP your attendance for this tour by November 3 to PHW at 540-667-3577 or phwinc.org@gmail.com.
Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes for both tours. For questions and RSVPs, please call 540-667-3577 or email phwinc.org@gmail.com.
This 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.
Every 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.”
Northern Virginia Tours is offering special Valentine’s themed historical scavenger hunts in downtown Winchester this February. There are three maps for various age groups, appropriate for kids to adults. Each track offers a different prize for completion.
Purchase your tour map (ranging in price from $9.99 to $19.99) at the Old Town General Store, 106 S. Loudoun Street, during regular business hours. The scavenger hunts are active through the month of February.
Learn more at www.visitwinchesterva.com.
Looking for something to do after Christmas? Join the American Guild of Organists and eight local historic churches for mini Christmas organ recitals and tours of the decorated sanctuaries on Sunday, December 27, from 2-5 PM. Donations from the event benefit the Winchester Area Temporary Thermal Shelter (WATTS program). The public is free to come and go to any church in any order during the stated hours.
Participating Churches:
First Presbyterian Church, 116 S. Loudoun St. (2-4 PM only)
Braddock Street UMC, 115 Wolfe St.
Centenary United Church of Christ, 204 S. Cameron St.
Christ Episcopal Church, 140 W. Boscawen St.
First Baptist Church, 205 W. Piccadilly St.
First UMC, 308 N. Braddock St.
Grace Lutheran Church, 26 W. Boscawen St.
Market Street UMC, 131 S. Cameron St.
The event will be helf between 2-5 PM. Organ recitals will be held on the hour and the half hour. Tours of the sanctuaries will be held on the quarter hour and three-quarter hour. Special organ programs for children will be held at 3 PM at Braddock Street UMC and at 3:30 PM at Grace Lutheran Church.
A map the the church locations and the flyer is available online at at First Presbyterian Church.
Civil War Weekend activities officially kicked off on Wednesday, but there are a number of other events taking place Friday-Sunday around the area. See if one of these events catches your eye!
History at Sunset: “Star Fort in War and Peace”
Park Day (Star Fort), Winchester
Friday, August 21, 2015, 7-9pm
This special program, led by Ranger Jeff Driscoll, will give an in-depth tour of the construction and history of Star Fort. For more information click here.
Newtown History Center: Post-War Lectures
Newtown History Center, Stephens City
Saturday, August 22, 2015, 11am-4pm
“Establishing a New Normal: The Fighting is Over, Now What?” Jonathan Noyalas will present “The African-American Community in Stephens City and Beyond,” at 11am, Ann Denkler will present “African-American Women in the Shenandoah Valley,” at 1pm, and Kenneth Rowlette will speak on “Civil War Chaplains During and After the War,” at 3pm.
Book Signing
Winchester
Saturday, August 22, 2015, 1:30-4pm
Author Jonathan Noyalas will sign his new book, Civil War Legacy in the Shenandoah: Remembrance, Reunion, and Reconciliation. 1400 S.Pleasant Valley Road.
Stephens City: Guided Walking Tour
Stephens City
Saturday, August 22, 2015, 1pm
Join the Newtown History Center for a special walking tour focusing on the Town’s Civil War history. For more information, click here.
Belle Grove Civil War Tours
Middletown
Saturday, Aug 22: 12:15pm & Sun, Aug 23: 3:15pm
Belle Grove in the Civil War Tours: These 45-minute tours will discuss the occupation of Belle Grove Plantation during the Civil War, especially in the Shenandoah Valley campaigns of 1862 and 1864. 335 Belle Grove Road, Middletown.
Battlefield Series: Civil War Entrenchment Tour
Cedar Creek Entrenchments, Middletown
Saturday, August 22, 2015, 2pm
A special 2-hour walking tour along some of the most well preserved entrenchments in the Shenandoah Valley. How were they constructed and what was their role during the battle. Meet at 7712 Main St., Middletown, Va.
Kernstown Battlefield Programs
Kernstown Pritchard Grim Program
Winchester
August 22-23, 2015
Quilt Show, Tea Shop, Cannon Exhibit, Battlefield and Pritchard House Tours: The Kernstown Battlefield Association will exhibit a unique collection of Shenandoah Valley applique and pieced quilts created in the era 1840-1900. A “Bonnie Blue” quilt raffle will be held, and concessions will be available. Pritchard House Tours will be conducted hourly.
House Tours and Outdoor Movie
Glory Long Branch Plantation, Clarke County
August 22-23, 2015, 10am-4pm
View the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s exhibit, Emancipation and Its Legacies, July-August. The focus of this exhibit is the story of emancipation from 1850 to 1964. Enjoy a showing of the movie Glory Saturday evening (8pm) to kick start Long Branch’s Outdoor Movie Series.
History Days at Stonewall Jackson’s HQ
Stonewall Jackson HQ Museum, Winchester
August 22-23, 2015, 10am-4pm
Family Fun and History Days at Jackson’s Headquarters. Experience the sights, smells and sounds of a Confederate Infantry encampment, including real musket firing. National Park Service Rangers will present on Stonewall Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign.
Celebrate the 151st anniversary of the Second Battle of Kernstown this Saturday, July 25 with a civilian lawn party. The free event will feature period lawn games with reenactors in period clothing. Visitors are encouraged to bring a picnic and wear period attire. Professor Jonathan Noyalas will conduct 90 minute tours from 10:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. focusing on the Second Battle of Kernstown and the Pritchard family and farm.
Where: 610 Battle Park Dr., off Valley Avenue in Kernstown, VA
When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Cost: Free admission, but reenactor registration is encouraged. Carnival-fare food will be available for purchase.
Questions: Contact Jennifer Jones at jenjonesagain@msn.com
Learn more at: Facebook or kernstownbattle.org.
Winchester’s Historic Garden Tour hosted by The Little Garden Club of Winchester and The Winchester-Clarke Garden Club is this Saturday, April 25th, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. This tour in the historic district features three private homes and gardens of distinctive architectural styles, Stonewall Jackson’s Headquarters, and the gracious historic home and 6-acre idyllic garden of Winchester’s founder James Wood.
Tour ticket also allows access to the Galleries at The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum and to the Handley Regional Library. All sites on the tour are within a three mile radius, an active walking distance on streets shaded by stately trees. Shuttles will be available to move visitors between tour sites.
Advance Tickets: $30pp. Tickets available until April 25 at The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum, and the Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center with check payable to The Little Garden Club of Winchester.
Questions? Contact Winchester@vagardenweek.org.
More information, including complete tour description, is available at www.vagardenweek.org/.