Dairy, Cemetery, Bridge
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Check Granny's letters of the day
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Day 24: November 27, 2020 Dairy, Cemetery, Bridge Comment via blog Check Granny's letters of the day |
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Despite my less than solid schedule and last minute outreach, a plan was
formed to meet my friend Wes in Richmond. I arrived just early enough to
grab a picture of The Dairy Bar Diner before he pulled up in his daily
driver. The Anniversary Edition C5 is reserved for lengthier outings. Wes'
son, Jason, was not far behind. The restaurant began as a place to feed
employees of the dairy but eventually started serving the public as well.
The dairy shut down in the 1980s but the diner continues and remains
popular. The last time I saw Wes was in
2017 when he gave me a tour of Richmond
that included the statues on Monument Avenue. Most of those statues have
been removed from their pedestals and placed in storage. I didn't think
that would happen but it seems I just caught the end of an era.
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Wes and Jason had timed tickets to a train display and I had a tour to
catch in Fredericksburg. We packed a lot of catching up into two hours
then dashed off to our appointments. The Fredericksburg tour was narrated
by John who also drove the trolley. The city contains a phenomenal number
of historic buildings with many dating to the eighteenth century. John
provided details on many of them although I managed to forget much of what
he said. I do remember that the cobblestone paved street in the second
picture is the one Mary Washington, George's mom, climbed from the ferry
to reach her new house. That's it in the next picture with one of the
Friends of Mary waving from the doorway.
There is a classic operating soda fountain inside Goolrick's Pharmacy but when I stepped in to take a picture after the trolley, tour a somewhat embarrassed employee told me that was not allowed. John told us that Historic Kenmore is the most visited place in Fredericksburg, and it may be the most photographed, too. But it hasn't been photographed the longest. The Brompton Oak was photographed by Matthew Brady in 1864. |
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Last week in Florida, when Brian realized that my route would pass through
Fredericksburg, VA, he told me his brother lived there and got the two of
us in contact with each other. It was brother Bob Rowlette that suggested
the trolley tour. He also accompanied me on it then chauffeured me around
town on a more personal tour. In her letters, Granny didn't identify every
town they passed through and many of those she did identify received just
a mention. By comparison, she was quite wordy regarding Fredericksburg.
We came through Spotsylvania, an old battle ground and Fredericksburg. We stopped and went in the National Cemetery, it is on top of a hill, has terrases cut all around and graves on them, it covers 12 acres. The bodies are those that were picked up from the battle fields around. They had found 3 within the last 7 years.As soon as Bob read that, he knew where Granny's "terrases" were. The hillside that became a cemetery following the Battle of Fredericksburg was an un-terraced slope that held Confederate artillery during the battle. From there, Lee's cannons shelled Union troops as they crossed the river and came through the town. There's not much left of the manufacturing that Granny saw but a century ago this really was quite a mill town. The most distant white spot in the third picture, sometimes referred to as The Tower of Fredericksburg, is evidence of that. |
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I knew about the cemetery and was looking forward to visiting it, but Bob
also had a surprise for me. He had figured out where that 8¢ toll
bridge was and had even located an
article with an image of a token. The location is in
the first picture -- three bridges ago and two floors down. Something
called Scott's Bridge was built here around 1800. That bridge may have
been washed out and replaced by the time of the Civil War when the bridge
that existed then was detonated by Confederate troops. The "Old Steel
Bridge" that replaced it would be the one that Frank and Gertrude
crossed in 1921.
After that bridge was washed out by the flood of 1937, its replacement was elevated considerably in hope of avoiding a similar fate. The third picture, which was taken from the trolley, shows the third floor of a three story building whose first two floors are now below ground level. Evidence of the great fill-in can be seen in all the photos. That 1937 bridge was recently removed and its replacement is now in process. I know of many towns that Granddad and Granny drove through and even some that they camped in or near, but I know of only a few spots where they might have actually stood or passed over. Thanks to Bob, with an assist from Brian, I now know of two more. ADDENDUM: May 11, 2021 - It seems the article linked to above omitted a bridge. According to an article at Visit Fredericksburg, the first post-Civil War bridge was completed by October 1866 and destroyed by flood waters on June 1, 1889. It was the bridge that opened in December 1890 that was known as the "Old Steel Bridge" and crossed by Granddad and Granny. |
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Carl's is a
world famous for its frozen custard (and I do like my custard), but it
closes for a few months each winter. I'll check out the 2400 Diner
tomorrow. Today we checked out Spencer Devon Brewing.
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