Around the Town

There is so much gorgeousness around my hometown. You can't help but stop and drool over all the lovely homes. Columns, wrought iron gates, plate glass windows...and if legend is correct...a ghost or twenty.

I live in a small town that played a major role in the Civil War. As a matter of fact, my hometown is actually mentioned in Gone With the Wind...by Margaret Mitchell, in case you didn't know.

There are houses that are Pre-Revolutionary War and houses that are Pre-Civil War. Lots and lots of history here. And with history comes beauty.








Now...how often do you see something like that!






See the black plaques located near the front doors? These are historical foundation markers for houses that are over 100 years old. Each plaque tells when the house was built and it's history. How cool is that!





This Pre-Revolutionary War home was built in 1770 on the foundation of an old jail. In 1781, Lord Cornwallis occupied the house as his headquarters shortly before his defeated surrender at Yorktown, Virginia.


There are many underground tunnels in our historic district which lead to the river. The tunnels were originally constructed as a viaduct to keep the flow of creeks and streams off the streets while the water ran towards the river. In this house is a little hatch door that leads to one such tunnel. Legend says the hatch was used as an escape route to hide from the British soldiers during the Revolutionary War and the Union soldiers during the Civil War. As the story goes, the tunnels throughout the city were also used as clandestine meeting places for forbidden lovers, slaves running towards freedom, and the occasional murder victim.





A gorgeous Greek Revival style house built in 1841 by one of the city's most prominent citizens. It was designed by the nation's first great architects...Latrobe, Strickland and Walter. It's sits atop a hill in the heart of downtown overlooking the river known for it's pirates and later, it's blockade runners.


The owners of the house loved to entertain, so the architectural plan was designed with this in mind. I can only imagine the southern gentleman and southern belles who danced the night away in this beautiful home.





Now this house...this house is my dream home. As far back as I can remember, I had big plans of buying her. And as much as I still love her today, I can truthfully say that I am glad THAT dream did not come true. First of all...can you imagine cleaning her. And second of all...she's haunted. And me being the world's biggest chicken...I just don't think it would have worked out.




She was built by free and enslaved black artisans beginning in 1859. Her family, a physician, his wife and nine children, moved in on the eve of the Civil War. In 1865, Federal troops commandeered the house as their headquarters during their occupation of our city. Once the war was over, the family had to petition the government to re-gain their house back which remained in their possession until the death of the last surviving child in 1946.




There have been numerous ghost sightings at this grand home. A Union soldier has been spotted wandering the grounds...once during a Civil War re-enactment. Another uniformed figure and a lady wearing an antebellum gown have been seen peering through the windows at night. And the daughter of the original owner has been spotted several times since her death at the home in 1946.

Can you imagine the stories she can tell!





Even my church contributes to the history of my hometown as well as to the beauty of it.

The first two buildings, both destroyed by fire, were built in 1818 and 1821 just a few blocks from the present site. The third building was constructed at the present site and dedicated in 1861...just a few weeks before the start of the Civil War. It burned on New Year's Eve in 1925. The present building was completed in 1928.

In the chapel, displayed on the front of the Lectern is the Lectern Bible. It is one of the few physical links left to the original congregation. It was the Pulpit Bible of the 1861 church and thankfully escaped the 1925 fire because it was stolen during the city's occupation by the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1928, a descendant of the Union Officer who's hands the Bible ended up in, returned it to our church.

Neat, huh!

And this is only a small sample of the amazing history and gorgeous homes around my town.