Tag: Historic Images

Friday Photos: The Old Frederick County Court House

Step back in time to the early to mid 2000s and remember the Frederick County Court House before it became the Old Court House Civil War Museum. Be sure to visit them on the web at www.civilwarmuseum.org, or even better, stop by the museum at 20 N. Loudoun St. in the heart of Old Town Winchester, Monday-Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or Sunday 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

From Old Frederick County Court House, 2006

Edit: If the wording of this post has caused confusion, the 2000-2006 dates reference the dating of these photos of the renovation work at the Court House, not the age of the building itself, which is 1840.

Friday Photos: 401-403 S. Kent St. and Blues House Showcase

PHW is sharing a selection of our photo collection online each Friday. This week, you can revisit 1999-2000 with the Blues House. As you may recall, PHW purchased the property at 401-403 S. Kent and performed the majority of the renovation ourselves. To do so, we started the Blues House Showcase to raise the necessary funds. The Blues House Showcase was an unexpected hit, attracting crowds far larger than anticipated. The event has since been taken up by other organizations for their fundraising needs, currently benefiting Habitat for Humanity of Winchester-Frederick County, but this is where it all started. Learn more about the event at winchesterblueshouse.com.

Link to the photo album.

Holiday House Tour in July

Holiday House TourIt’s always Holiday House Tour time at PHW! Take a look at some images from Holiday House Tours past that were discovered tucked away in a long-forgotten box. Photos from “A Candlelight Christmas” tour in 1982 have been scanned so far, plus a bonus image of R. Lee Taylor’s giant confectionery castle delight from 1978.

While you’re thinking holiday thoughts, don’t forget to mark your calendars for our 2012 Holiday House Tour, which will be held on December 8 and 9. We are always recruiting volunteers for the Holiday House Tour, so if you’d like to help out, please contact the PHW office at 540-667-3577 or phwi@verizon.net.

Click here to view the album on Picasa.

Construction of the Winchester Towers

A series of photographs were tucked in a long-forgotten album at the PHW office. When closely examined, they yielded a surprising discovery — a sequential look at the demolition of the Greek Revival style house and new construction at 200 North Cameron Street for the Darlington Motor Inn, better known today as the Winchester Towers.

Cameron, or Market, Street was once a mixed residential and commercial area and once sported homes and many classic commercial Italianate buildings in the locations where we now see parking lots and Modern construction. These images highlight the changes in Winchester that fostered the formation of PHW and our ongoing efforts to educate the public on the value in these older buildings on the streetscape. Can you imagine this home being replaced with the Winchester Towers today?


View the Album on Picassa.

Images from the British Embassy and Lafayette Square Tour, 1979

These images of a 1979 bus tour to Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., including the Decatur House were discovered on some long-neglected slides at the PHW office. While a guest list from this trip is in existence, we need your help pairing up faces to names. Take a look at let us know if you can identify some of the members!

View the album on Picasa.

Commercial Winchester, 1974

While going through our old educational materials at the office, we came across a collection of commercial building photographs dated January 1974. Take a look to see some stores that are now long gone, buildings and streetscapes that have been altered almost past recognition, and even spot some stores that are still in business at the same location! (Keep a sharp eye out for the Taylor Hotel, hiding under the McCrory’s facade treatment.)


Visit the album on Picasa.

New Face for an Old Place

Toll House
Do you remember when the Toll House on Amherst Street was blue? This image was taken in the late 1980s, shortly before PHW purchased the property through the Jennings Revolving Fund and placed restrictive covenants in the deed to ensure its continued preservation.

The building is getting a facelift with the removal of the stucco siding to reveal the wooden siding beneath. Similar projects have taken place on North Washington Street in recent years. We hope this stucco removal yields equally amazing results!

Document Digitization Project: July 29 and 30

The Civil War 150 Legacy Project is coming to Winchester on July 29-30 at the Winchester-Frederick County Visitor Center. The project is an effort to scan Civil War-era (or related) documents and photographs from private collections.

Citizens are encouraged to bring original family materials to be scanned and included in the Project. This is a unique opportunity to share original family Civil War documents and photographs with a wider audience – without giving up ownership or any rights to those original materials.

Please note:

  • Materials must be originals.
  • Materials must be from private collections.
  • Only flat materials can be scanned; no three-dimensional objects can be included.
  • This is not an appraisal opportunity. (Library of Virginia personnel will not be able to give any kind of valuation to the materials.)

    • Participants in the project should call ahead to make a scanning appointment. Appointments will be scheduled between 10 am and 4pm on both July 29 and 30. To schedule an appointment, participants should call the Winchester-Frederick County Visitor Center at 540-542-1326.

    The length of the appointments will vary depending upon the material to be scanned:

  • Diary: 30-45 minutes per diary
  • Letter – 5 pages or less: 10 minutes
  • Letter – 6-15 pages: 20 minutes
  • Photograph: 5 minutes per item

    • While the digitizing and display of the materials that have been scanned at previous events is an ongoing process, you can see a sample of what’s been scanned at the “Virginia Memory: CW Legacy Project” section of the Library of Virginia website at http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/cw150.

    1976 Architectural Survey Images

    With the first third of the Winchester National Register District Survey completed, PHW would like to share some images from the 1976 survey as we update to the new survey forms here at the office. East Boscawen Street (from the Loudoun Street Walking Mall to the Mt. Hebron Cemetery Gatehouse) is currently online. Cameron Street will likely be added next. Enjoy this “blast from the past!”