Mulberry Creek

Lancaster County, Virginia 

This picture was taken in Belle Isle State Park, where I stayed in my travel trailer last week during my visit to the Northern Neck. In the distance is the Rappahannock River.

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Lonely field

Lancaster, Virginia 

House and barn

Lancaster County, Virginia 

Last week I spent several days photographing on the peninsula that lies between the Rappahannock River and the Potomac River known as Virginia's Northern Neck. This region has a rich history going back to the earliest days of Colonial America. In the nineteenth century, steamboat transportation provided access to larger markets, particularly Baltimore, and fishing and agriculture thrived.

The steamboats are gone now, and the once bustling river ports are fading away. The farm pictured above is located on a quiet bay just off the Rappahannock River very near where it empties onto the Chesapeake.

Evening light

Lancaster County, Virginia 

Just after sunset . . .

Lancaster County, Virginia 

Boyce Depot

Boyce, Virginia 

The town of Boyce grew up around the Shenandoah Valley Railroad which later became part of the Norfolk and Western Railway. In around 1910, Norfolk and Western made plans to replace the existing station with a new small wooden station. The citizens of Boyce, in a spirit of community pride, raised money to help fund a large station and convinced the railroad to build elaborate station that still stands today.

The new station was completed in 1913. The November 26, 1913 edition of the Clarke County Courier boasted:

"The new N & W station, with fine concrete platforms and promenade, long train shed, electric-lighted throughout, with all modern conveniences for the comfort of patrons, is a great addition to the town."

The station is now home to the Railway Mail Service Library.

Have a relaxing (Memorial Day if you are in the USA) weekend and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Next stop

Boyce, Virginia 

A couple of miles down the track from White Post, the railroad passes through the town of Boyce. For a small town, Boyce has a surprisingly large and elaborate train station which we will get to tomorrow.

Beside the tracks

White Post, Virginia 

This unused building stands across the road from the White Post depot close to where the original White Post combination station stood..

Northbound freight

White Post, Virginia 

The tracks through White Post today are part of the Norfolk Southern's Shenandoah Valley Main Line, Hagerstown Division. While I was photographing the depot, I heard a whistle blowing in the distance and soon a northbound freight, led by locomotive 7547, a GE ES40DC, roared past the old building without slowing down. 

Depot

White Post, Virginia 

The depot at White Post was originally a part of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad which stretched from Hagerstown, Maryland to Roanoke, Virginia. The original station was dismantled in 1950 and this smaller structure replaced it. (The Norfolk and Western Historical Society archives has a picture of the first White Post station here.)

The Shenandoah Valley Railroad was chartered in 1867. It reorganized following bankruptcy as the Shenandoah Valley Railway in 1890 and later that same year was absorbed by the Norfolk and Western Railroad.

Third Sunday - May 2015

White Post, Virginia

Meade Memorial Episcopal Church - 1868

This elaborate Gothic Revival church is the centerpiece of the tiny village of White Post. The church was constructed by local craftsman around 1875 to honor Bishop William Meade, who was born at White Post in 1789. He was instrumental in the revival of the Episcopal Church in Virginia in the years following the War of 1812.

The town of White Post grew up around the crossroads marked by a white post erected in the 1760s by Lord Fairfax. The octagonal wooden post has been replaced several times but stands today in the same spot with its original form intact.

Dogwood

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia 

The May Third Sunday church is in a tiny village in the Shenandoah Valley. Stop by on Sunday to see this beautiful 19th century Gothic Revival church.

Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Spring trees

Greene County, Virginia 

Botanical #29

Liriodendron tulipifera

My wife came in this morning to tell me the tulip poplar on the corner was in bloom and that I should get a picture—the flowers do not last long. The flowers are large, about two inches tall and shaped like a tulip. I walked over with the camera but the wind was blowing too hard to get a good picture. I will try again and if I can get a better picture, I will replace this one later this week

Blue Ridge vista

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia 

Spring green

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Last week I drove along the Skyline Drive one afternoon to see how spring was coming along in the mountains. From where I live at the foot of the Blue Ridge to the top was a difference of about two weeks in terms of the spring foliage so I had a second chance to see the early spring colors. There were still a lot of bare branches, but the light green of the early budding trees was particularly beautiful against the just emerging background.

Blacksmith's shop

Frederick County, Virginia 

Among the most skilled and important workers on Belle Grove Plantation, the blacksmith not only shod horses, but fabricated and repaired the various tools and implements needed to work the farm. The shop at Belle Grove is housed in an open-sided shed adjacent to the smokehouse.

Read more about the history of the plantation at the Belle Grove Plantation website.

Enjoy the weekend, and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

More red barn

Frederick County, Virginia

This is the same barn as in yesterday's post, viewed from the road that leads to Belle Grove Plantation.

Across the road . . .

Frederick County, Virginia 

Across the road from the plantation house, this small barn was no doubt part of the original plantation but I don't know if it is still part of Belle Grove now. It appears to be in use.

Bank barn

Frederick County, Virginia 

Farming continued at Belle Grove Plantation until 1990. This bank barn dates from 1918 and is typical of northern Shenandoah Valley farm architecture which is influenced by Pennsylvania German styles. Bank barns are often built into the side of a hill to allow access to both the lower bay and the loft from ground level.

Belle Grove Plantation

Frederick County, Virginia 

Last month I spent a couple of days photographing in the northern Shenandoah Valley. Belle Grove is a late 18th century grain plantation owned by Major Isaac Hite and his wife Nelly Conway Madison, sister of President James Madison. In the fall of 1864, the plantation was the center of a major Civil War engagement known as the Battle of Cedar Creek.

Looking southwest from in front of the Manor House, this limestone overseers cottage was built around 1785.

Reflections

Currituck County, North Carolina 

Enjoy the upcoming weekend and thanks for reading Photography In Place.