Since the holidays will look different for many families this year, let us look back and examine how Early Americans like Chief Justice John Marshall, his family, and the enslaved community who supported the household, celebrated the holiday. Which customs and traditions sound familiar to you and your family, and which have faded into obscurity? …
Bricks and mortar efforts toward saving Petersburg’s Jarratt house began earlier this fall on Pocahontas Island. The house is the oldest standing building within what is considered the oldest freed African American community in the nation. Talking to Wayne Covil, reporter for CBS 6 News, Kate Sangregorio, Preservation Planner for the City of Petersburg, said …
A few weeks ago, we posted an article about the Shiloh Rosenwald School in Mecklenburg County near Boydton. The Shiloh School was a two-teacher school built in 1923 that we previously thought had been demolished. It was one of 17 Rosenwald Schools built in Mecklenburg County, nine of which remain standing. The Rosenwald School Program was created …
It’s American Archives Month! As a preservation organization, we don’t just save buildings and objects. We save paper too! The archives and document collections of Preservation Virginia are an extraordinary record of our historic sites as well as the evolution of the institution over the last 131 years. Over that time, the Association for the Preservation of …
A school building we mistakenly thought was lost was recently found. During an ATV ride through the woods of Mecklenburg County, a family came across a school building near Boydton, Virginia. They provided photographs to Preservation Virginia, and after researching the images and the location, we determined that it was the Shiloh Rosenwald School. Photos …
Rassawek, the historic capital and sacred site of the Monacan Indian Nation located at the confluence of the Rivanna River and James River in Fluvanna County, is included on a national list of threatened historic sites. Threatened by a local water intake and pump station, the historic capital of the Monacan Indian Nation is receiving …
By Ben Lovelace, John Marshall House Interpreter Traveling the short distance from his home in the Court End of Richmond to the Constitutional Convention in June 1788, the future Chief Justice John Marshall arrived in new shoes, silk stockings, linen shirts, a coat, and a hat. Anyone who knew him, knew that John Marshall notoriously …
By Lea C. Lane, Curator of Collections It’s easy to forget the noise. A historic house is usually encountered as a quiet space, a silence broken only by the cadence of the interpreter’s narrative, and perhaps the footfall of a visitor on a wide floorboard. John Marshall’s Richmond home would have been filled with …
The Dr. Robert Walter “Whirlwind” Johnson’s house and tennis court in Lynchburg was added to the Most Endangered Historic Places List in 2005. At the time, the house was in a severely deteriorated state and was threatened with demolition by neglect. Since then the tennis court has been restored and is currently used by the Lynchburg …
By Sonja Ingram, Preservation Field Services Manager We recovered some interesting finds while recently monitoring for archaeological sites during the installation of a new phone line at Smith’s Fort, including what looks like two post hole features and a possible trash pit. Artifacts found included wine bottle glass, nails, oyster shell, fauna remains, brick and …
