News From The Heritage Center

On Sale:

Daisy Turner's

Kin

On Sale:

The Circle

Unbroken

Newly Acquired Collections

Can you help identify this photo?

Volume 9, Issue 5

May 2019

Central Rappahannock Heritage Center

Newsletter

A place that loses its history loses its soul

Message From The Chairman

The Heritage Center's website has a new look! Diane Ballman, our Information Technology Coordinator, has been working with our contractor and other volunteer staff over the past several months to accomplish this task. The website features improved graphics and typography, use of clear colors, and enhanced navigation across topics. Successive tests prompted various "tweaks" to the design. But the website now is officially launched. Additional features will be added, and further refinements will be made as necessary.

One feature that will be added soon is a page recognizing our Heritage Center sponsors. Sponsors whose logos appear on our website will appreciate this feature: visitors who click on the sponsor's logo will be directed immediately to the sponsor's website. That provides more "bang for the buck" to our sponsors.

Many thanks to Diane, Amy Olney, John Reifenberg, Donna McCague, and the other staff members who helped make this happen!

Barbara Barrett, Chairman

The Heritage Center

Welcome New Members

Jason & Heather Cohen

Zenith Aviation

Daniel Janzegers

Heritage Center memberships support the important work done by The Center.

The Central Rappahannock Heritage Center is a non-profit, all-volunteer archives whose mission is to preserve historically valuable material of the region and make it available to the public for research.

Please join us as part of the Heritage Center's preservation team. As a member, you will be helping to preserve our priceless local history.

Click here to become a member today!

Membership

Thank you for your support,

The Heritage Center

The Heritage Center Volunteers

The important preservation work of The Heritage Center would not be possible without our dedicated volunteers.

The Center currently has a staff of over 50 volunteers. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer at The Center, please email Donna McCague.

2019 Fredericksburg Wall of Honor Nominees

The Fredericksburg Memorials Advisory Commission is seeking nominations to the city Wall of Honor for 2019. The Wall of Honor recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the welfare of the city and the betterment of society. Nominees must have been deceased for at least one year prior to the nomination. Nominations may be submitted by any person, except immediate family members.

You can find the Wall of Honor Application on the city website: fredericksburgva.gov. If you have questions, email Tonya Lacey, Clerk of the City Council, at [email protected].

Deadline for submission is June 1.

Maps

Do you like maps? The Heritage Center has over 600. Many are of the surrounding counties. The State printed county road maps for decades. These maps put into perspective the growth and development patterns over the years.

We now Google to find locations and get directions. But, there is something about the paper map, the ones some of us still keep in the car, or perhaps mount on the wall. We can see what is being described, trace a route, see geographic features and get a sense of distance and space.

The Fredericksburg Development Company map of 1891 is a great example. It reflects the history, yet shows much of what we know in Fredericksburg today. The Company was formed to develop the property surrounding Kenmore, home of Fielding and Betty Washington Lewis. Captain M.B. Rowe, who owned Brompton at the time and is now home for the president of the University of Mary Washington, was president. William Seymour White was secretary, served as mayor and was instrumental in the founding of Mary Washington Hospital. The map was prepared by von Schon and Garner, Civil Engineers, Norfolk, VA. There are other copies, but the Center's is unique. When the Rappahannock River flooded in 1942, Caroline Street was submerged and the lower portion of the map was water-stained. It was hanging on the wall in the law office of Ross Gibson, a local attorney. The late William Scaife became Mr. Gibson's law partner and inherited the map which he donated to the Center in 2012.

The map shows the names of owners of the largest properties in 1891 (Rowe, J.P. and M.B., G.W. Elm, Miss L., R. and F. Smith, Forbes, Brulle and Stansbury), industrial features like the Canal and Turning Basin, mills (Silk, Woolen, Germania Flour, Bone and Bridgewater Milling), the Electric Plant, Fair Ground and Reservoir. The city boundaries for 1891 and 1851 are

marked.

It is indeed possible to see as it was Fredericksburg of 1891.

Beth Daly

Volunteer, The Heritage Center

Collections Report

As far as collection acquisition is concerned, t he summer doldrums have arrived early at The Center. While we have received a number of additions to collections previously accepted from the Fredericksburg Rotary Club, the Stafford Civil War Park and prominent individuals, newly submitted records are quite sparse. Please note we are always interested in viewing all records, be they family, business, or of general interest. They can be photographs, maps, plats, correspondence, business records; virtually anything that portrays or documents our unique local history. Photographs from any of the war years are most welcome: WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, or any of the more recent conflicts. Please consider a donation of records to The Center, where they will be professionally preserved and made available for research.

John Reifenberg

Collections Manager, The Heritage Center