Evening reflections

Lancaster County, Virginia

Red barn

Lancaster County, Virginia 

Nature dreams

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

Rectortown in the Civil War

Rectortown, Virginia 

A historical marker in front of this building reads in part:

"On November 5, 1862, several weeks after a tainted victory at Antietam, the Army of the Potomac's Commander-in-Chief Gen. Brinton McClellan established his headquarters here. That same day President Abraham Lincoln wrote the orders relieving McClellan of command. On the snowy evening of November 7 Gen. C.P. Buckingham arrived at McClellan's tent with Gen. Ambrose Burnside. Buckingham handed McClellan the dispatch. When he finished reading, McClellan declared, "General Burnside, you are now in command of the Army." After bidding farewell to his troops in nearby Warrenton on Nov. 10. Gen McClellan returned to civilian life. In 1864 he ran against Lincoln as the Democratic Party candidate for president."

Rector's Warehouse and Station

Rectortown, Virginia

The oldest part of this building dates to around 1835. Alfred Rector built the building as a store and warehouse. Later additions made room for a railroad depot and post office. During the Civil War, the building was used as a Federal Prison and graffiti scratched on the walls by prisoners is still visible.

This building is a rare example of an early 19th century stone commercial building with much of its interior intact.

Layers of time

Rectortown, Virginia 

Warehouse

Rectortown, Virginia 

This three story wood-frame building dates from about 1880. An old sign on the gable reads "Westwood Custom Farming" which established a business here in the 1920s. The building was originally known as Bedford Glascock's Granary. There is evidence that this building may also have been a mill at one time.

Note: Posting about Norfolk and Western's 611 steam locomotive last week I referred to Rectortown as Rectorville. The mistake has been corrected

Third Sunday - June, 2015

Gloucester, Virginia

Seventh Day Adventist Church

Norfolk & Western 611 - Return trip

Rectortown, Virginia 

After the Norfolk & Western 611 excursion train left Front Royal (see yesterday's post), I raced back to Rectortown where I had photographed the train headed west in the morning. A whistle in the distance, a column of smoke above the trees, and finally the glimmer of a headlight as 611 came into view. It was over too soon.

Rectortown is an interesting place, and after all the train watchers left, I hung around to take some pictures of the old buildings, one of which dates from the Civil War. More on that next week.

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

Norfolk & Western 611 - On to Front Royal

Linden, Virginia

After the train passed through Rectortown (see yesterday), I gave chase and caught up with her crossing the road on this highway bridge neat Linden, Virginia, just a few miles from Front Royal. Note the old "Southern Railway" sign embossed on the bridge.

Front Royal, Virginia

In Front Royal, 611 is backing up onto the wye at Riverton Junction to turn around for the return trip to Manassas.

Norfolk & Western 611

Rectortown, Virginia 

Norfolk and Western's J class steam locomotives were built in the N&W shops in Roanoke, Virginia. Completed in 1950, 611 retired from revenue service in 1959 but was used occasionally for excursions until the early 1990s. The locomotive is owned by the Virginia Museum of Transportation.

This spring, the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina completed restoration of 611 and at the end of May, she steamed home to Roanoke. On June 6th, the newly restored 611 led its first excursion from Manassas, Virginia to Front Royal Virginia and back.

I caught 611 as she came through the small village of Rectortown on the morning of June 6 pulling a trainload of passengers for the first time in over 20 years.

En plein air

Stanardsville, Virginia 

En plein air (in the open air) painting deals directly with objects in their natural settings. The artist is confronted with changing light and weather, the sounds, the smells, and the breezes that wander through the scene along with traffic, pedestrians and photographers.

The Artists

top - Carol Ziemer

middle - Nancy Lauler - click here for website

bottom - Page Peyton - click here for website

En plein air

Stanardsville, Virginia 

Last Saturday the Art Guild of Greene sponsored a "paint out" on the streets of my home town. Local artists set up their easels around town early in the day and created finished paintings that were exhibited in a community art show and sale at the end of the day.

I spent a couple of hours taking pictures and talking with some of the artists as their work progressed. The morning was hot and muggy, but everyone was gracious and friendly and very intent upon their work.

The Artists: 

top - Richard Wyvill - click here for website

bottom - Carol Weiss - click here for website

Passing through

Waverly, Virginia 

William Mahone was the chief engineer for the construction of the Norfolk and Petersburg railroad which was completed in 1858. William and his wife Otelia travelled along the newly completed rail line naming stations. Otelia was reading Sir Walter Scott's Waverly novels and named stations after names in the book. Apparently she and her husband failed to reach agreement on a name for one of the stations, and in the spirit of matrimonial compromise, settled on Disputanta. It's a lovely story, and may even be true.

The railroad tracks, now part of Norfolk Southern Railway, still pass through Waverly, Windsor, Wakefield, Ivor and Disputanta. Have an agreeable weekend, and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

117-119 West Main

Waverly, Virginia 

The Moss Hardware Building is on West Main Street just east of the railroad tracks. It was built in 1915. The building appears to be in use, but is no longer a hardware store.

Virginia is noted for peanuts, and Waverly is right in the middle of the peanut production region; thus the sign advertising Adams Peanuts which is located a few miles south of Waverly.

Empty storefronts

Waverly, Virginia 

There are still some businesses in downtown Waverly, but most of the commercial activity has moved east of the railroad tracks along Route 460. While I was photographing this building on West Main Street, a man stopped and ask if I was considering establishing a business in Waverly. "We sure could use it." he said.

First National Bank

Waverly, Virginia 

Like many small towns, Waverly suffered a disastrous fire in 1904 that destroyed most of the wood-frame buildings in the commercial district. Waverly would rebuild in brick. The well preserved Classical facade of the First Nation Bank, built in 1916, is an architectural gem. Most of the brick buildings that formed Waverly's rebuilt street-front are still standing.

Masonic Lodge

Waverly, Virginia 

On my way to North Carolina in April, I stopped for lunch in the town of Waverly. I have passed through several times, thinking that it looked like an interesting place to photograph but the weather was always wrong or I was in a hurry and couldn't stop. So after finishing my lunch, I decided to take some time and explore the town.

The first building that caught my eye looked like an old church, but I found out later that the boarded up building used to be the Masonic Lodge/Town Hall. Built around 1897, the two-story frame structure displays both Italianate and Classical Revival influences. In the early 20th century, it was Waverly's main venue for traveling shows, plays and meetings.

Explorer

Deltaville, Virginia 

In 1608 Captain John Smith and 14 men set out to explore and map the Chesapeake Bay in the shallop Explorer. A shallop is a small, open boat built to operate in shallow water under sail or oar. The Deltaville Maritime Museum has constructed a replica of Captain Smith's boat which is on display at the museum.

More information on the Explorer and its history may be found on the Deltaville Maritime Museum's website.

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

F.D. Crockett

Deltaville, Virginia 

The F.D. Crockett was built in 1924 in Seaford, Virginia. She worked the waters of the Chesapeake Bay hauling freight, operating as a buy-boat and dredging oysters until 1994. In 2005, the Deltaville Maritime Museum began a complete restoration of the boat. Today, the F.D. Crockett is on display in the water at the museum and travels up and down the bay, a living reminder of the past.

More information on the F.D. Crockett and its history may be found on the Deltaville Maritime Museum's website.

Boat shop

Deltaville, Virginia 

Miss Pette

Deltaville, Virginia

Her working days over, Miss Pette now rests high and dry on the grounds of the Deltaville Maritime Museum.

Stingray Point LIghthouse

Deltaville, Virginia

The screwpile lighthouse at Stingray Point was built in 1858 and was destroyed in 1965. This full size replica of the lighthouse stands on the grounds of the Stingray Point Marina about 1.8 miles from its original location. The lighthouse marked the shoals off Stingray Point where the Rappahannock and Piankatank rivers empty into the Chesapeake Bay.

In 1608 while exploring the Chesapeake Bay, Captain John Smith was seriously injured by the sting of a stingray and may have died without the help of local Native Americans who provided an antidote. He named the area Stingray Point.