Uploads from bakingbill, tagged hanovercounty

A little color on a gray day in Ashland

nobody@flickr.com (bakingbill) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:20:00 -0700

bakingbill posted a photo:

Ashland was developed in the late 1840's by the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad as a mineral springs resort. The railroad tracks run through the center of town, one block west of this photo, and are still busy with freight & passenger trains.
Virginia Street
Ashland, Virginia

Elmont

nobody@flickr.com (bakingbill) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:37:24 -0700

bakingbill posted a photo:

Here's an old store at the railroad crossing at Elmont. I usually take the backroads from my house to Ashland, and Elmont is about midway. This road, the old Washington Highway, is wildly popular with bicyclists.
It was near this place in June 1862 that Brigadier General J.E.B. Stuart led his troops in a 150 mile ride around Major General George B. McLellan's Army of the Potomac, capturing 165 Union soldiers, 260 horses, and various supplies & ordnance. This feat catapulted him to fame in the Confederacy, and Richmonders threw flower petals in his path when he returned.
Two years later, Stuart was mortally wounded a few miles southeast of Elmont at the Battle of Yellow Tavern. He was 31. His widow, Flora, wore black until her death in Norfolk in 1923. She went on to live a purpose-filled life, however, opening a school in a log cabin in Saltville, and later becoming principal at the Female Institute in Staunton. Both are buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.

On the outskirts of Ashland

nobody@flickr.com (bakingbill) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 06:11:46 -0700

bakingbill posted a photo:

I have been noticing this house just outside Ashland, Virginia, for several years, wanting to stop & take a picture. I resisted because, until I was on an errand last Saturday, the house was still occupied. It had looked abandoned for years at first glance, but now it is truly vacant, with the driveway secured and the yard untended.
Yowell Road
Ashland, Virginia

Downtown Hanovertown

nobody@flickr.com (bakingbill) — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:00:11 -0700

bakingbill posted a photo:

Nowadays, Hanovertown is not even a wide spot in the road. There is a small historical marker that is easy to miss along the side of a pleasant country road far off the main highways. No post office, no store, although there is an unattended fruit and vegetable stand at the head of a farm lane that operates on the honor system in the summer months; just make your selection and drop your money in the box. The truck pictured above rests in a small field.
Few people know that the Virginia State Capitol came just a few votes shy in the late 1700's of being moved here from Williamsburg. Instead, as we know, Richmond won the honor. Hanovertown was the first major settlement in Hanover County, founded in 1676 under the name Page's Warehouse. It's placement on the banks of the Pamunkey River made it a good spot for commerce and trading.
Cornwallis burned much of Hanovertown in 1781, but the town was still on the map in 1864 when the Army of the Potomac passed through on their way to the deadly Battle of Cold Harbor. Today, only a small monument on River Road marks the former existence of this town.