Friday Photos: Revisiting the Grim-Moore House

The Grim-Moore House

This week we revisit one of the largest undertakings in the history of PHW’s photo digitization project: The Grim-Moore House album. This set is nearly 550 photos taken between 1977-1982 by Virginia Miller during the renovation of this Jennings Revolving Fund house. The Millers documented almost every step they took to save the log and brick houses at 510 and 512 South Loudoun Street, from the initial walkthrough still showing the deplorable living conditions in the apartments, the Victorian details they removed to return the building to something closer to its appearance in the early 1800s, to their documentation of a building too far gone to save, and even a surprise setback when part of the foundation crumbled mid-rehabilitation. The album passed on to the new owners, Joe and Sharon Collette, and was digitized in preparation for a small PHW gathering in the home before the Collettes made some cosmetic updates and opened the house for the 2014 Holiday House Tour.

Part of what made this album both informative and challenging was Virginia Miller’s notes on the back of the photos. Her captions were extensive enough to date and explain what and where the photos were taken, but also rather idiosyncratic, making the transcription process involved. You may see in some of the captions a few unknown words or seemingly nonsensical sentences. The notes were transcribed to the best of our ability, and during the transfer from Picasa to Flicker a few typos and words were corrected.

As we noted when this album was first posted, “[t]his is a fascinating and telling example of how PHW’s Revolving Fund can save ‘junky’ properties from neglect and almost certain demolition and restore them to contributing structures in the Historic District.” If you missed it, only caught a portion of the slides during the Holiday House Tour, or just want to page through some amazing before and after photos, this album should keep you occupied this weekend.

Research Source: The American Woods

Via the Public Domain Review, we have learned about the digitization of a rare fourteen-volume work entitled The American Woods by Romeyn Beck Hough, published between 1888-1928, which features many plates of paper thin wood slices in addition to the usual written descriptions and lithograph drawings of the specimens. We receive the occasional question about identifying wood species, so this work may help you visually identify now-rare species potentially used in historic buildings.

There are two online sources to view the wood plates:
Internet Archive (Full books with text and plates)
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Plates only)

If you prefer a physical copy to peruse and buying an authentic set with real wood plates is out of the question, a reproduction using high-quality facsimiles of the original wood plates entitled Romeyn B. Hough: The Woodbook was released in 2013. This edition arranges the specimens in one volume alphabetically with descriptive text and accompanying lithographs.

Coming Soon: Art Exhibit and Mount Hebron Cemetery App

March is shaping up to be a busy month. First, on Saturday, March 5 at 2 PM in the Handley Library Auditorium, John Lewis, Maral Kalbian, and George Schember will present the “Mount Hebron Cemetery Introduction to Mobile Friendly App.” The presentation covers the recently completed Android and Apple GPS-based Memorials and Tour App which allows visitors to use their mobile devices to locate and learn about historical grave sites and places of interest in the cemetery. This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Handley Library and the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society.

Second, The Shenandoah Valley Tapestry Project presents “A Stitch in Time,” from March 1-April 30 at the Virginia National Bank. This is an exhibit of artwork to highlight many of the talented people working on The Tapestry Project. This show is organized by the Winchester Chapter of the Embroiders’ Guild of America (WEGA) and the Multicultural Club Collage and sponsored by the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, the Handley Regional Library and The Friends of Handley Regional Library, and the Shenandoah Valley Chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild.

You are cordially invited to the opening reception on Thursday, March 10 at 2:30 pm, 186 N. Loudoun St., Winchester, VA. For more information, call 703-608-3924.

Friday Photos: Smorgasbord Edition

Continuing our transition from Picasa to Flickr, PHW has an incredible array of photos for you this week.

Monmouth Street

Over thirty brand new additions have been made to:
North Avenue
Stewart Street
Boscawen Street
National Avenue
Indian Alley
Monmouth Street
Cecil Street
Kurtz Cultural Center Exhibits

Over 240 photos have been transferred from Picasa to the following albums:
Kurtz Cultural Center Exhibits
Salvaged Greenhouse
Kent Street
Hiram Lodge Frescoes
311 1/2 South Kent Street
Lovett Building
PHW 1973 Grand Event
1975 Chamber of Commerce Event
Cedar Creek Battlefield
Abram’s Delight

Happy viewing!

Architectural Mysteries: What’s That Hook?

Chandelier Hook During the Holiday House Tour, a few people commented on the hook in the center of the kitchen lighting fixture at the Hexagon House. Before the chandelier’s transition to electricity, the hook likely held a smoke bell to catch any soot from burning the oil or gas fuel before it could stain the ceiling.

Hexagon House Chandeliers Although not identical to the chandelier at the Hexagon House, you can see a number of gas fixtures with smoke bells in the National Park Service’s Gaslighting in America book. Plate 82 in particular is quite clear. Still not convinced? There is one other smoke bell installed downstairs at the Hexagon House. You can view this smoke bell at close to eye level by partially climbing the stairs to the second floor.

Friday Photos: Picasa Albums Migrating to Flickr

PHW learned last week that the Picasa service will be retired by May 1, 2016. In anticipation of this closure, PHW has been working to migrate the albums and photo captions to Flickr. Although PHW has no plans to remove the existing images from Picasa or their replacement service Google Photos, we want to provide a backup for as much of the information there as possible. The photos will also be consolidated into one source – always helpful for researchers.

In addition to approximately 60 new digitized slides, most in the Architectural Details and Court Square albums, we have also transferred approximately 270 photos from Picasa to Flickr:
Vanished Winchester
Willow Brook
British Embassy Trip, 1979
Commercial Winchester, 1974
Loudoun Street, circa 1980

Please note that due to the size constraints on Picasa, some of the transferred images may be of lower quality and smaller size than you have come to expect.

Vanished Winchester

Coming This Weekend: Two Free Events on Saturday

PHW is pleased to pass along two free historically-minded activities this weekend:

MSV Day
Admission and activities are free at the MSV Day 2016. Be sure to see the “Cut! Costume and the Cinema” exhibition before it leaves on Feb. 28! Learn more at themsv.org
Place: The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 901 Amherst St.
Time: Saturday, Feb. 20, 10 AM-4 PM

“Telling Our Story” with Nancy Finley Barbour
In celebration of Black History Month, Nancy Finley Barbour will share stories of growing up in Winchester’s North End. After graduation from John Handley High School and James Madison University, Nancy has continued to do community service in her home town. Learn more at www2.youseemore.com/handley/
Place: Handley Library Auditorium, 100 W. Piccadilly St.
Time: Saturday, Feb. 20 from 2-4 PM.

Reminder: Lunch and Learn Lecture on Feb. 23

LecturesPHW will kick off our 2016 lecture series with “An Orientation to the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center,” presented by Chris Robinson, Superintendent of the Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick, Maryland. He will speak to the preservation construction services offered and how they dovetail employee learning and development into this work. As part of their presentation, he will spotlight their current initiative to employ youth programs in this work and their mission to develop the next generation of historic resource stewards.

Date: Tuesday, February 23

Time: Noon-1 p.m.

Location: June E. Jeffrey Education Center at OakCrest Companies, 126 N. Kent Street, Winchester, VA. The Education Center is at the upper parking lot, in the addition closest to the Winchester Star building.

Cost: The Lunch and Learn lectures are free and open to the public!

RSVPs: Appreciated but not required.

Parking: There is no off-street parking available at OakCrest. We recommend utilizing the George Washington Autopark at 131 N. Kent St.

Questions? phwi@verizon.net or 540-667-3577