historic charlottesville tour book

94 Pages·2011·62.03 MB·English

HISTORIC
CHARLOTTESVILLE
TOURB OOK
of CharlottesvilVler,g inia
rstortc
Charlottesville
TourB ook
Historic
Charlottesville
TourB ook
Charlottesville'Hs istoric
ResourceT hskF orce
-in conjunction with-
The Albemarle County
Historical Society
The Mclntire Building
200 SecondS treet,N .E.
Charlottesville,V irginia 2290 2
Contributors
Ac
EotroR- FrankE . Grizzardl,r . Aurnons - The memberso f the The publications
Committ
DEstcNE-R L orenaP erezo f AlbemarleC ountyH istorical tee membersR obertD . Cr
ImagineD esign. project. Specialt hankst o t
SocietyP ublicationsC ommittee: Director Lynne Heetderks,
C,cRrocRApH-E Jni m Herndon. AssistantD irectors for Ma
CoyB arefootE, ugeniaB ibb,V esta VolunteerC oordinatorS ara
PHorocnapuE-n R ickB ritton. guidancef rom the member
LeeG ordon,J oyP erry,G ayle Co-chairmen Mark Beliles
Puotocnepuen'sA ssrsreNr- FlorenceB ryant,M aryH ill
Victoria Britton. Schulmana, nd Co-chairmenR ick ::::l:, ex_MayorF rancisl
PRwrrR- LexisP ublishing. Britton and GarrettS mith. Lfln€ballrclho,t teIrs.v, Lillep Srntrea Hteegeitpcd laerrl.
This book would not haves t
graciousp roofreadelsa, pd,
TheA lbemarleC ountyH istoricaSl ociety vrctoria Britton,M ary HiJl(
Sue Howland, Arnold Jensen
)oyP erryp,e igi
,Y:,o'u:yi:!
Membershipin the Societyis opent o anyonein terest- yeber, SullyW haley,a nd Jear
ed in the history of Charlottesvillea nd AlbemarleC ounty. The Uary D. Langhornep rofessor
Society invites institutional as well as individual members.
The publications
Contributions to the Societya ret ax deductible. Committeer
rrrbutors: Lexis publishing,
County HInisqtuoirriiceasl rS eogcaierdtyino, grm aebmoubte irtss haipni nnu athl Me aAglbaezimneao rrle rNVleDisceimtronora'nsrt,l.B e Curoeuanut,y t hHeis ptoerrircyal
otherp ublicationss,h ouldb e madet o thed irectort,h eM clntire
Building,2 00S econdS treetN, .E.,C harlottesvil,lyea .22902,o r For F
caII( 434)2 96-1492.
For information about these,a
toric downtown_write
to th,
Jecond Street,N E, Charlotresv
lsBN 0-9722733-0-1 web-sitea t http://monticello.ar
The University of Mrginia offer
ru and I I a.m.,a nd 2,3, and4
o Copyright2 002 h:lt,top::/ /wwSwe.u rvvaicgeui daets o.r g(4.34)
By the AlbemarleC ountyH istoricalS ocietyI,n c.
IV
ofs Acknowledgemnets
HORS- The members of the The Publicationsc ommittee would like to thank GayleS chulman,a nd commit-
tee membersR obert D. cross and Ann L. Southwellf or their support on this
emarle County Historical project. specialt hankst o the staff at the Albemarlec ounty Historical Society:
Director Lynne Heetderks,L ibrarian Margaret M. O'Bryant, past and current
iety PublicationsC ommittee: AssistantD irectors for ManagementS andy DeKay and Sarah Hamseldt, and
volunteerc oordinator sarahL awrencew. e alsor eceivedm uch-neededh elo and
r Barefoot, Eugenia Bibb' Vesta guidancef rom the memberso f charlottesville'sH istoric ResourceTs askF orce:
co-chairmenM ark Belilesa nd coy Barefoota nd Jim wootten; Rick Britton,
Gordon, JoYP errY,G aYIe FlorenceB ryant, Mary Hill Caperton,B obbyeC ochran,H elenaD evereux, Jim
Lulman,a nd Co-chairmen Rick EHdedbilnicsh,, eJ xr.-,ML yanynoer HFreaentcdiesr Fkisfe,I n, gBreidn SFmoryde, rwK ienlslyto,a nn dc Ghuarrcrehtiltl S Gmoitohd, uinr-g*,. lFl red
tton and Garrett Smith' CharlottesvilleS trategicP lannerS atyendraS inghH uja. ",
This book would not haves eent he light of day if it had not beenf or our many
graciousp roofreaders,a nd volunteer tour-takers:J eanB arnett, Ned Berkeley,
victoria Britton, Mary Hill caperton, HelenaD evereux,o . Allan Gianniny,I r.,
{istorical SocietY sue Howland,A rnold ]ensen,B ob Kuhlthau, LeeL ewis and assistantM, argaret
M._O'Bryant,J oy Perry,P eigiR ockwell,C harlotte Shelton,A nn Southwell,S ue
WeberS, allyW haley,a nd JeanW ooley.W e gives pecialt hankst o K. EdwardL ay,
is opent o anyonein terest- Cary D. LanghorneP rofessoro fArchitecture, Universityo fVirginia.
nd AlbemarieC ountY.T he
ll as individual members' TheP ublicationsc ommittee is especiallyg ratefult o this project'sf inancialc on-
deductible. tributors: Lexis Publishing, the charlottesville-Albemarle convention and
visitor's Bureau, the Perry Foundation, the city of charlottesville.t he
bership in the Albemarle Albemarlec ounty Historical SocierSM r. John J. owen, and preservation
Piedmont.
,rt its annual Magazineo r
to the director,t he Mclntire
lharlottesvilieY, a . 22902,o r For FurthcrI nformation
For information about these,a nd other, tours-including guided tours of his-
toric downtown-write to the Albemarle county Historical society at 200
SecondS treet,N E, Charlottesville,yA 22902,c all (434) Zg6-t4gl, or visit the
Web-sitea t http://monticello.avenue.org/achs/home.html.
t733-0-1
The Universityo f Virginia offers tours, beginning at the Rotunda,e veryd ay at
10a nd l l a.m.,a nd 2,3, and.4p .m. For more informationc allt he universitv
Guide Service at (434) 924-3239 or visit the Web_site i,
http://www.uvaguideosr.g .
t2002
IistoricaSl ocietnIn c.
Introduction
Charlottesvilieis truly a remarkabiep lace.W ith its manyp arks,m use_
ums and art galleries-as well as countiessc uitural events_
charlottesviliev, irginia, is synonymousfo r quaiityo f 1ife.F oundedi n
7762,thec ity is also amazingrryi ch in history.F orevera ssociatewd ith
CentralV irginia'sm ost famousn atives on,T homasJ efferson_whose
mountaintopv illa, Monticello,w atcheso ver the city from the east_
charlottesvilleh as also been home to EdgarA rlan poe; Dr. warter
Reed,t he "conqueroro f yellow fever;"a nd AnastasiaM anahan,p re_
tendert o the last Russianr oyal family. Daniel Boone was captured
here( during the AmericanR evorution),M eriwetherL ewis (of Lewis
& Clark fame) was born near here, and fifth U.S. presidentl ames
Monroep racticedla w here.A mong the manyo ther notablesw ho have
walkedo ur streetsa re GeorgeA rmstrong Custer,w ho fought at the
Little Big Horn, well-known artist Geoigia O'Keeffe,a nd novelist
William Faulkner.
Wth this book we arep roud to offer l0 tours,s omew alkinga nd some
driving' thatg uidev isitorsa rongt heses amet ree-linedra nesc. hock-furl
of architecturald etail, the tours arsop rovide wonderfur grimpsesi nto
chariottesviile'hsi storic past.I t is our sincereh ope thai oui visitors
enjoyt hem asm uch asw e havee njoyedp utting them together.
Pleasneo tet hat asidef rom the pubricp arksa nd publicb uildingsl isted
in thesep agesm, osto f the structuresd escribeda rep rivateh omesT. heir
inclusiono n our toursm ustn ot be takena sa licenseto trespasosn pri_
vatep roperty.
TheA lbemarleC ountyH istoricalS ocietyp ublicatronsC ommittee
How To Uset his Book
The numbered stopsi n this tour book are keyed to the numbers located
on eacht our's map. Locate the map pagesi n the table of contents.T he
mapsa re coupled betweent ours (i.e. between tours A and B, C and D, E
and F,G and H, and I and I.) The,.While you are in the Neighborhood,,
sectionsi nclude sites that are nearby. Their stops are numb-ered only if
their locationsc an be found on that tour,s map.
Driving and/or walking directions between stops are printed in italics.
vii
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AlbemarleC ounty Historical Sociery
The N{clntireB uilding
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Map Tc,
\,Iossary of A rchj tect.rr.
uD'rto rl'rography
Hi{qtic CharlottesvillTeo urB oolc
trleT eurB ook
Tour A COURTHOUSDEI STRICT
1
MapT ourA
9
Tour B DOWNTOWNC 'M AIN STREET 11
MapT ourB
10
Tour C NORTH DOWNTOWN:H IGH, IST. 19
AND 2D STREETS
MapT ourC 25
Tour D NORTH DOWNTOWN:P ARKS TREET 27
MapT ourD 26
Tour E EASTERNC HARLOTTESVILTE_
WOOLENM ILLS_BELMONT 35
MapT ourE 41
Tour F WESTM AIN STREET/
RIDGES TREETD RIVINGT OUR 43
MapT ourF 42
Tour G THE CORNERT OUR 53
MapT ourG 61
Tour H SOUTHWESTERNS UBURBS
AND PLANTATIONS
63
MapT ourH 62
Tour I RUGBYR OAD THROUGH
GRADYA VENUE
71
MapT ourI
79
Tour I RUGBYR OADN ORTH 81
MapT ourI 80
Glossaroy f ArchitecturaTl erms 85
Bibliography
89
KmwfAfi
COURTHOUSED ISTRICT
i xploitation of resources,n ot the creation of commercial towns, drove
the initial British settlernento f colonial V:irginia.A lbemarle County,
formed in 1744w ith a courthouseb ut no town near the lames River.
gainede noughp .pulation for the GeneralA ssernblyo f the colony to subdi-
vide it in the spring of 1761.L ater, a new centrally located courthouse rvas
built atop a ridge closet o the RivannaR iver,a nd near the roa<ic onnecting
the greatv alley of Virginia to the markets of the Tidervater.T he government
autholized Thomas Walker, local member of the legislature, phl,sician,
explorer, surveyor, merchant, and a guardian of the youthful Thomas
Jeffersont o lay out a'd sell 56 half-acre l.ts for a torvn adjacent to the new
courthouse.C harlottesville'sn ame honors Charlotte of Mecklenburg-
Strelitz-t,h e b.ide of King George III. other exa'rples of ea'ly ties to England
include the naming of the Rivanna River tbr eueen Anne anil the ]ames
River for Ki'g James I. In the years since, the community has rveathered
frontier life' occupation by fwo different enemy forces, a'd has witnessed
the evolution of transportation, eco'o*ic challenges,a nd social chirnges.
ToursA and B describea circuit walking tour from the courthotrsea t park
Streeat nd leffersona ntl back,a bout 1.5 mileso r about 1.5 hours.D oins
the courthouseo r Downtown sectionss eparatelyc in shortcn this toui.
Takea s much asy our time and interesta llows or stopm idway for a snack
or rest, They reveal eyidence of both continuify and chttnge as
chnrlottesville-Albcmarleh as evolvedf rom a frontier neighborhoodi nto a
complexc ommunity that is asp roud of itsp ast as it is of its newly achieved
modernity. To learn more, cotne by or call the Alhemarle County
HistoricalS ociety( Tour A, site 1I ), (434) 296- 1492,o r t,isit itsv ,ebs ite at:
http : / / monticellon.v enueo, r g/a c hs/h om e.html.
A woodf ramec olonialc ourthousew asb uilt on a two-acrep ublic squareo n
a ridget hat continuest o the north on Park Street( seeT our D) and west of
the flood plain of the Rivanna River. comrrrerce was centered around the
courthouseT. wo-storied n.rercantiieb uildings housed shops dorr-nstairsa nd
residenceasb ove.c ourt dayso ccurredj ust oncea month, so the courthouse
serveda s a community center ancl place for public worship for several
denominationsa s weil as the legal and governmentalc enter.I n 1779 the
townc onsistedo fa courthouse,a tavern,a nd about a dozenh ouses.B y 1g35
therew erea bout two hundred comfortableh ouses( most made of brick),
four houseso f worship, three large hotels, one ta\ern, two book stores,t wo
TourA 1