Author: PHW

Architectural Historians Survey Historic District

A team of architectural historians from EHT Traceries were interviewed yesterday by TV3 News. The historians are surveying the buildings as part of PHW’s and Winchester City’s ongoing efforts to update the National Register nomination for the historic district.

To them, the buildings are a glimpse into a past life. It’s a source of pride. [Lauren Trice, EHT Traceries Project Assistant,] says “when you walk out and people see you out there looking at buildings, you sort of instill a sense of pride in them. It’s like yeah I live in Winchester I live in the Historic District, people care about this.”

Click here for the full story.

BAR Annual Report

Winchester’s Board of Architectural Review (BAR) presented its annual report to the City Council on March 15. The report detailed the ways the BAR works to fulfill the objectives of Winchester’s City Council, outlines the relevant ordinances, and enumerates the applications approved, denied, and withdrawn from 2006-2010 among other data.

If you missed the meeting, click here to see the slide presentation (pdf).

VA’s Most Endangered Historic Sites 2011

Preservation Virginia is accepting nominations for its 2011 Virginia’s Most Endangered Historic Sites list. The list is issued annually to raise awareness of Virginia’s historic sites at risk from neglect, deterioration, lack of maintenance, insufficient funds, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy.

Nominations must be received by April 7, 2011. Application information and forms may be found by visiting: http://www.preservationvirginia.org/EndangeredSites/

The Taylor’s New Look

News on the future look of the old Taylor Hotel were revealed on March 26 by Vic Bradshaw of the Winchester Star.

When the work is completed, the property should have:

A three-story, 7,500-square-foot building facing the Loudoun Street Mall with a restaurant on the ground floor and about five apartments upstairs. . . .

The pavilion and lawn space, which could seat 400 to 500. The city government will pay $42,500 annually to lease the space until the commercial loan is paid down to $600,000. At that time, the pavilion and open space would be conveyed to the city at no cost.

A nine-bay farmers’ market that vendors can pull their trucks into and sell from. When the site is not in use as a market, up to 150 people could be seated there for performances.

A seven-story, 14,000-square-foot building bordering Indian Alley in the renovated former fly tower. The partnership would lease the first floor for retail or possibly restaurant use.

Read the full story here (login required).

Simple Gifts Dinner

Preservation of Historic Winchester is proud to sponsor the Simple Gifts Dinner, to be held March 26 at 7 PM in the Hopewell Meeting House, Clearbrook, Virginia. The meeting house, built in 1759, has been in continuous use since its construction. After 250 years of service, the interior plaster is in need of a complete restoration. The dinner is part of the fundraising efforts for the Hopewell Meeting House plaster project.

The event will include an informational presentation by PHW Board Member David Logan of Vintage, Inc.  Mr. Logan will explain the magnitude of the project, which is beyond that of a normal patch and repair. The dinner will be a traditional colonial affair by candlelight, accompanied by fiddle tunes and Shape-Note music of the Valley.  The dinner and presentation is $75 per person. All the proceeds from the event will go toward the interior restoration project, scheduled to begin in the spring of 2011.

To attend the Simple Gifts Dinner,  please include your name, address, telephone number, number of guests, and a check payable to Hopewell-Centre Society of Friends. RSVP by March 14 to the Hopewell-Centre Society of Friends:

Hopewell-Centre Society of Friends
Carol F. Melby, Clerk
3240 Cedar Creek Grade
Winchester, VA 22602

If you cannot attend the dinner but wish to contribute, donations may also be made to the above location. Help the Hopewell-Centre Meeting Society of Friends reach their fundraising goal of $100,000 to restore the oldest place of worship in the Northern Shenandoah Valley. Thank you for your support!

Virginia Civil War Legacy Project

The Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission and the Library of Virginia are partnering in the Civil War 150 Legacy Project to identify and locate original source materials in Virginia that are related to the Civil War and emancipation. The project will be visiting Winchester and Frederick County on July 22 and 23. Start looking for relevant items now!

Materials may include letters, memoirs, pension materials, military passes, discharge papers, diaries, hand-drawn maps, and selected memorabilia and other Civil War era manuscripts. Of particular interest to the project are global and pacifist perspectives and the viewpoints of individual African Americans and women. Items must be owned by the individual presenting the materials for digitization.

Follow the project and see a sampling of the scanned items at The Virginia Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the Civil War website.

American Freedom, 1865-1965: A History

Join Dr. Warren Hofstra for a free lecture on February 16. Is a single, finite definition of freedom the immutable bedrock principle of the American republic? Or is freedom an idea with a history that has changed in meaning with time and varied political circumstances? This talk explores how Americans have understood freedom in the critical century following the Civil War.

The lecture will be held on February 16, 7:30-9 PM at Shenandoah University’s Halpin-Harrison Hall, Stimpson Auditorium.  For more information, call (540) 665-5442 or e-mail jmille3@su.edu.

This event is sponsored by The Center for Lifelong Learning.

The Shenandoah Valley Book Festival

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Winchester

If you love books and are interested in Civil War history, you will not want to miss the Shenandoah Valley Book Festival! In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, this year’s event at the MSV will focus on the Civil War in print

What:       Shenandoah Valley Book Festival

When:      Saturday, January 22

Where:    Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 901 Amherst St., Winchester

Cost:          $8, $6 for senior/youth (includes gallery admission).  Free to MSV members.

More Information:  Available here or by calling 540-662-1473, ext. 235.

Website:  www.ShenandoahMuseum.org

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