Got Snow?

The restoration dept went to the Hollow the week of 1/26/09 to clean out the detritus between the first floor ceiling and the second floor. There was about 4 inches of snow and ice that fell in Fauquier while we were there. We removed about 200 pounds of material (dirt and feces) from the voids. It was disappointing that we found no period artifacts when we sifted through the debris. It was a crappy job, but somebody had to do it.

1801 Reenactment takes shape at the John Marshall House

This Friday guests will get a chance to go back into time and experience John Marshall swearing in Thomas Jefferson as it was March 4, 1801. Marshall inaugurated more Presidents than any other Chief Justice----five heads of state resulting in nine inaugural ceremonies! Mark Greenough will portray John Marshall and Bill Barker will serve as Thomas Jefferson during the 11:30am event. Even Marshall's clerk, Jacob Wagner and his good friend Daniel Call will be in attendance. The ceremony will culminate with dancing by the Richmond Colonial Dancers. Parking will be available outside on Marshall and 9th Streets. Come early, as seating is limited and the response has been strong.

Taking Care of Company Business

Now that the Hollow job has been suspended for the winter, the restoration crew is working on company owned properties. In this picture, Jon Miano is putting the finishing touches on a sill replacement at the apartment located behind Farmer's Bank. This building is a modern reconstruction, so we replaced the heart-pine sill with a pressure treated yellow-pine one. We have noticed that the resawn heart-pine is not giving us the life expectancy that we were hoping for, so rather then use pricey material needlessly, we are going with an easily available and affordable alternative when we can. The crew also replaced the threshold at the carriage house of the Cole-Digges with pressure treated material. The door opening was a modern alteration to the carriage house, which once again enabled us to use material of our choosing.

Hollow season ended?

In the two weeks of November 10th and November 17th the restoration dept restored and rehung the badly damaged right front door and finished the installation of all the siding for the West gable end. Winter has set in in Fauquier, and the dept was unable to finish priming or painting. The crew is still waiting on the delivery for the siding necessary to do the back of the house. A tarp has been rigged over the chimney shoulders to prevent water entry until spring, when the mason can tuck point between the chimney and the siding. The restoration crew plans to make bed molding for the front of the house, consolidate the period bed mold for the back, and make backband for the windows and the center front door. The crew hopes to catch some good weather this winter to paint and install the aforementioned trim, but it may have to wait until the next phase of restoration in the summer of '09.

It's Halloween

APVA Preservation Virginia has come a long way in 119 years - at least our ladies smile now!!

Hollow Affronted

The front siding for the Hollow was installed and primed this week of 10/27/08. The restoration crew received enough siding to finish the west gable end next week, but are still waiting on material for the back side. The Hollow is finally starting to look like an 18th century house. Windows and interior restoration is planned for next year.

Jamestown Archaeological Conference, Nov 20

2008 Jamestown Conference

The staff of the APVA Preservation Virginia’s Jamestown Rediscovery Project, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Archaeology Department are pleased to announce that the 2008 Jamestown Conference will be held on Thursday, November 20, in Williamsburg, VA. The conference, by and for regional archaeologists will be held at Colonial Williamsburg's Lane Auditorium in the Bruton Heights complex from 9:00 am to approximately 4:00 pm.

As is traditional, the conference will be an informal sharing of recent archaeological work work. Presentations consist of 20 minute papers from any discipline with a bearing on the archaeology of the Chesapeake Region (c. 16th-19th centuries.) Many papers will be fairly technical in nature, but the conference is free and open to all interested persons.

If you know anyone who wishes to present an archaeological paper, please have them contact jamie@apva.org before Nov. 5.

Conference information including the schedule will be posted by November 7 at http://www.apva.org/jr.html

For additional information, contact the 2008 Jamestown Conference Organizers: Jamie May jamie@apva.org; David Givens dgivens@apva.org; Meredith Poole mpoole@cwf.org; Andy Edwards aedwards@cwf.org; Ed Chappell echappell@cwf.org