Tiny house

Canton, Mississippi  -  photo by Allan Leese

Our Mississippi correspondent writes: "I took this picture in Canton, MS, in the backyard of the Nissan Plant, but out in the county. I was at a church for a funeral and saw this "building". An older gentleman I was talking to said that when he was a young kid, at one point, he and his family lived in this structure."

Blog Note

Frostburg, Maryland

I am pleased to have the above photo published in the current (March, 2016) issue of Railfan and Railroad Magazine. The photo was taken on October 21, 2015 in Frostburg, Maryland as the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad excursion pulled into the station led by two GP30 diesel locomotives. The photo originally appeared on Photography In Place (here).

19th Century interior details

Washington, Mississippi

These architectural details are from the first floor of the West Wing building on the campus of Jefferson College, which is now a historic museum and park. Completed in 1839, the West Wing included faculty apartments and administrative offices. The mess hall was located on the first floor.

Enjoy the last weekend in February and as always, thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Knee

Shenandoah River State Park 

Winter path

Shenandoah River State Park 

Well and pump

Washington, Mississippi 

This well is on the campus of Jefferson College. The building to the right in the photography is the back of the East Wing, which was completed in 1820. Classrooms and the library were located on the first floor, with dormitory rooms on the second and third floors. The the two story building next door is Raymond Hall which was a student dormitory dating from 1915.

President's house

Washington, Mississippi 

Jefferson College in Washington, Mississippi was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson. Chartered in 1802, the college operated until 1962. It is currently preserved on the National Register of Historic Places. Many historic buildings are still standing including the two story wood frame college President's house which was built in 1830. This picture was taken in April, 2013, showing the back of the house as seen from the main campus.

Third Sunday - February, 2016

Washington County, North Carolina 

Galilee Mission - 1924

In 1922, Charles Williams came to the nearby town of Creswell as the new parish minister of Christ Episcopal Church. Soon after he arrived, he started a mission in the old hospital building at Somerset Place plantation. In 1923 funds were donated to build a chapel and Galilee Mission was completed in 1924 on the edge of farmland very near Somerset Place.

Blue curtains

Washington County, North Carolina 

The pictures of North Carolina for the past couple of days are from my trip in December. The flat farmland was empty and lonely looking on a gray December Monday when I came upon a country church surrounded by winter fields. Plan to stop in on Sunday for our monthly Third Sunday post featuring this church.

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

December brown

Washington County, North Carolina 

December green

Washington County, North Carolina 

Early morning - Shenandoah River

Warren County, Virginia 

The hunt

Orange, Virginia 

This mural in downtown Orange was painted in 2001 and is signed by Hugo D. Oates, Boots Dunlop and Chase Heard. The fox is just visible near the corner of the building in the photo above. The odds are not in his favor.

G Cabin

Gordonsville, Virginia 

This former C&O Railroad interlocking tower was built in 1945, replacing an older wooden tower. This tower controlled all train movements through Gordonsville but its functions were eventually replaced by automatic interlocking equipment. The Buckingham Branch Railroad, which leases the property, has been upgrading the tracks around Gordonsville to improve service for the three times a week Amtrak Cardinal. Work is also being done to G Cabin. I am not sure how the railroad plans to use the building, but I am glad to see it being maintained. This picture was taken on January 1, 2016.

Stay on track for a nice weekend, and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

(For more information see: 
   The Life and Death of G Cabin
    C&O Piedmont Subdivision - Gordonsville)
 

House by the tracks

Gordonsville, Virginia 

Freight house

Gordonsville, Virginia 

In 2004, Historic Gordonsville, Inc acquired the former C&O freight house and moved it a couple of hundred yards to its current location. There is interest in restoring the building and perhaps establishing a railroad museum, but so far there has been little visible progress. Here is a link to a 2010 post with pictures of the freight house. Notice that the old signal tower has been removed.

Red caboose

Gordonsville, Virginia 

On New Year's Eve, I was on my way back home after spending a few days in coastal North Carolina. As I passed through the town of Gordonsville, I noticed a Buckingham Branch Railroad caboose sitting on the tracks in town. I wasn't able to stop that evening, but I went back on January 1st to take pictures of the activity on the railroad.

BB 223 is former Chesapeake & Ohio caboose 900251. Click here for a picture of it before it was repainted.

Leaning tree

Washington County, North Carolina 

This picture is from my trip to North Carolina right after Christmas. I spent all of one cloudy and cool day roaming around the flat farmland in the eastern part of the state. These trees are in the churchyard of the Galilee Episcopal Mission.

(I labeled this as being in Washington County, but I am not certain. The church's address is listed as Creswell, a small town nearby which is certainly in the county,  but the church building is located right on the boundary between Washington County and Tyrrell County. It may be in Tyrrell.)

Take some home today . . .

Orange, Virginia 

The town of Orange is most likely named for William IV, Prince of Orange, who lived from 1711 to 1751. William married Anne, the eldest daughter of King George II in 1734, the same year that Orange County was formed from Spotsylvania County.

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

Short Street

Orange, Virginia 

In the fall of 1863, General Robert E Lee's army took up winter quarters in the hills around Orange, which was then known as Orange Court House. Supplies were critically low over that winter, but in the spring of 1864 General Longstreet arrived from Tennessee with reinforcements. At the end of April, General Lee began the march to intercept General Grant at Wilderness, and the final great campaign of the war began.

Blue door

Orange, Virginia 

Around back

Orange, Virginia 

For the most part, the older and most interesting buildings in small towns served by the railroad is along the tracks. These buildings back up to the railroad in Orange.

After Culpeper county was formed out of part of Orange County in 1749, the county courthouse was moved to the town of Orange. President James Madison's estate, Montpelier, is located 4 miles from Orange.

A visit to the town of Orange

Orange, Virginia 

A couple of days before Christmas, I drove over to the town of Orange. It was a cold afternoon.

The Orange and Alexandria Railroad was established in 1854 to link Alexandria with central Virginia. The railroad was of strategic importance during the Civil War and the buildings surrounding the station comprise the earliest commercial structures in town. The tracks are now part of the Norfolk Southern system

Join me this week for a visit to the town of Orange and explore this historic district.