Graves Mill School in new location - Graves Mill, Virginia

In This Place: Graves Mill, Virginia - Part Two

 
The recent history of Graves Mill village has been shaped by the catastrophic flood of 1995. On June 27th of that year, 26 to 30 inches of rain fell on the western part of Madison County. Trees, mud, and boulders poured down the mountains in a massive debris flow which followed Kinsey Run right through the village of Graves Mill. Caught between the flooding Rapidan River and Kinsey Run, Graves Mill was devastated. Homes and buildings were flooded or washed away, and many residents were evacuated by helicopter. The voting house, garage, blacksmith's shop, post office and two abandoned country stores were completely destroyed. The old mill building and Graves Chapel survived.

The photo on the left shows Graves Mill prior to the 1995 flood. From near to far (east to west) are the voting house, the schoolhouse, and Graves Chapel. The voting house was destroyed by the flood. The schoolhouse, pictured in its current location above,  survived and was later moved about 100 yards to the south. Graves Chapel survived and is the only building in this picture that is in its original location.
 
The old road (Route 615) ran between the north side of the Chapel and Kinsey Run and was completely washed away. It was later rebuilt on the south side of Graves Chapel.

This picture of Graves Mill before the flood is  from the "Graves Mill: Virginia 2007 Community Program" document. The photographer is uncredited.

The photo on the right of Graves Chapel was taken in April, 2010. The driveway to the Chapel is about where the old state road was before the flood. Kinsey Run is parallel to the driveway just out of the right side of the frame. On the far left side of the picture there is a glimpse of the new Route 615 on the south side of the church.


 

On the left - Kinsey Run in March 2010.












See last Sunday's post about Graves Chapel here.