Revisiting Previous Most Endangered Sites: The Battle of Mt. Zion, Loudoun County

This is the second blog article in a series of articles that will provide updates on sites previously listed to Preservation Virginia’s Most Endangered Sites list.

Preservationists oftentimes personify buildings but when I read about Mt. Zion Church near Gilbert’s Corner in Loudoun County my personification intensified until I actually wanted to be the church and witness the history that surrounds it.

Mt. Zion Church, built in 1851, stood witness to two Civil War battles— the 1863 Battle of Aldie and the Battle of Mt. Zion which took place in 1864. Both battles were the scenes of artillery and cavalry duels and fierce hand-to-hand fighting.

Mt. Zion Church was used as a hospital for wounded Union troops. Graffiti still exists on the church walls, left behind by Union soldiers. Pews were converted to hospital beds and some were used to make coffins for those that did not survive.

The Church burial grounds are the final resting place for twelve Union cavalrymen, thirteen Confederates who died after the War, and sixty-three African-Americans who were slaves or freed men buried prior to 1865.

The church is also where Colonel John Mosby, or the Gray Ghost, first met with locals to form the Mosby Rangers, a ranger unit noted for its lightning quick raids and its ability to elude Union Army pursuers and disappear, blending in with local farmers and townspeople.

Another interesting historical fact is Mosby was almost killed during the Battle of Aldie when he was attacked by a Union soldier with a saber. He was saved when Thomas Richards, one of his Rangers, jumped in front of the blade and was stabbed in the shoulder himself.

This rich history was threatened by a proposed residential development in 2006 which prompted the Mt. Zion Church Preservation Association to nominate the Battle of Mt. Zion to Preservation Virginia’s Endangered Sites List in 2006.

The development of dense housing on the battlefield would have destroyed the integrity of the battlefield as well as of Mt. Zion Church.

Luckily, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, working closely with the Commonwealth of Virginia, Loudoun County, Piedmont Environmental Council and the Mt. Zion Church Preservation Association, was able to purchase the site in 2009 and protect it from development.

The Battles of Aldie and Mt. Zion as well as Mt. Zion Church are now part of the Gilbert’s Corner Regional Park, a 155-acre public recreational park.

The Park Authority owns and operates many historic and recreational sites in Northern Virginia including the Aldie Mill Historic Park, very close to Gilbert’s Corner, which contains a beautiful four-story brick mill with metal waterwheels.

Tracy Gillespie, the Historic Site Supervisor of Gilbert's Corner Regional Park and Aldie Mills Historic Park, agrees that, while it didn’t happen overnight, this Endangered Site Program listing is one that has had a very positive outcome.

Can You See it, Now?

The Restoration Crew has moved their gutter installation operation to the North side of the Memorial Church on Historic Jamestowne. As part of the process, the crew uses the scaffold set-up to inspect and replace damaged slate shingles. The lichen growth on the North side of the church was so thick and extensive as to make the slate inspection impossible. Therefore, the decision was made to remove the lichens. Internet research on lichen removal revealed that a solution of two quarts bleach added to a gallon of warm water and TSP might work. As you can see from the left side of the photo, when this solution was applied with a garden sprayer and then scrubbed with brushes, it was mildly effective. Dissatisfied with the results, the crew treated the right side of the roof with the same solution, then used a 1700 psi pressure washer with a 25 degree fan tip. As all Americans obsessed with instant gratification, the crew was pleased with the results. Great care was used to spray in a top-to-bottom motion, so as not to drive water under the slates. An EDPM underlayment, which had been applied to this side of the roof after an earlier roof repair, gave the crew added confidence that the pressure washer wasn't going to cause interior leaks. Since lichens produce an acid that allows their root to grow into stone, it is hoped that its removal may increase the life of the slate shingles. Don't forget to "lich" Preservation Virginia on facebook, for more exciting adventures.

Keeping Up With Mandy

At our awards ceremony this year, Mandy Matherly Stowe was awarded Preservation Virginia’s Young Preservationist of the Year Award for 2011.

Mandy’s dedication and work on establishing Virginia’s first high school preservation clubs at George Washington High School and Galileo Magnet School, starting a historic preservation scholarship fund for high school students in the Danville Region and being the youngest board member ever to serve the Danville Historical Society are all reasons Mandy received the award in the first place.

But Mandy’s continued good work has made us decide to keep track of her and report back what she has been doing since she received the award in September.

One of the Mandy’s recent endeavors is working with students from the high school preservation clubs on a project to paint plywood that covers windows in houses in Danville’s Old West End Historic District. The students used stencils and also painted free-style designs on windows to help beautify the neighborhood and to let others know that the houses and neighborhood are still being cared for and not forgotten.

Mandy also helped Danville Historical Society with a membership drive at the local mall and organized a field trip for the Galileo School Club to the local Genealogy Department at Danville’s Public Library.

As Mandy continues with all of her preservation efforts we will continue to keep our readers informed. Who knows, maybe another young person interested in history and preservation will be inspired!

How's It Hanging?

The Restoration Department has spent the better part of three weeks installing a six inch, half-round gutter on the South side of the Memorial Church at Historic Jamestowne. The .032 inch thick, aluminum gutter is a factory finished "Mansard Brown" color, to mimic the color of oxidized copper. Because of the large crown molding on the church, the gutter could not be hung from the fascia, but had to be hung from straps screwed to the roof sheathing. This installation required the starter and first course of slate shingles be removed along the entire 55 foot length of the roof. The crew repaired and replaced damaged sections of the roof sheathing and crown molding as needed. They then applied 30-pound roof felt to the exposed roof section until the starter and first course of slates could be reapplied. Stainless steel gutter hangers, roof straps and screws were used in the installation process, so this won't have to be done again for a great while. Stainless steel "snow catchers", painted black, were also installed, to protect the roof gutter, and guests visiting Jamestowne, from ice sheets sliding off the roof. It is hoped that the roof gutters will reduce the moisture that is wicking up into the foundations of the frame church of 1617, that are displayed under glass in the memorial church. The gutters should also the keep the roof runoff from soaking into and migrating through the brick buttresses, where it is damaging plaques that are set into the interior masonry walls. While the scaffold was set up, the crew used the opportunity to inspect and replace about 10 damaged slates on the upper parts of the roof.

Revisiting the Most Endangered Sites in Virginia

Pocahontas Fuel Company Store

This is the first blog article in a series of articles that will provide updates on sites previously listed to Preservation Virginia’s Most Endangered Sites list.

Each year, scores of historic resources are lost due to demolition, alteration, inappropriate development, insufficient funding or neglect. One way to bring attention to these resources is endangered sites programs. Many statewide historic preservation organizations, as well as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, have endangered sites programs to raise awareness and help save historic resources.

Preservation Virginia has had a Most Endangered Sites in Virginia Program since 2005. Previously the Preservation Alliance of Virginia had an endangered sites program in 2000 and 2002. The program has helped bring attention to a variety of Virginia’s historic resources including antebellum mansions, battlefields, forts, mills, churches, schools, archaeological sites, rural places, cemeteries and entire towns. But what happens after a historic resource is listed?

Unfortunately, in some instances, after the dust settles, the bulldozers are called in; however, this is not always the case and many of our listed historic sites end up stabilized and protected. Some of our listings seem to take an in-between route, for example, the 1880s Pocahontas Fuel Company Store, which was listed in 2005 on Preservation Virginia’s Most Endangered Sites List.

The Pocahontas Fuel Company Store was opened in 1883 by the Southwest Virginia Improvement Company to supply food, tools and necessities for the coal miners working in the Pocahontas Mine. The mine is now a National Historic Landmark and includes an exhibit and museum.

The town of Pocahontas, located in Tazewell County, is a vital part of Virginia’s Coal Heritage Trail, and is where the region's coal boom got its start, partially due to a spur line that launched the Norfolk and Western Railroad into national prominence during the 1880s. Also located in Pocahontas is the Pocahontas Cemetery, which contains a mass grave of coal miners who were killed in a mine explosion in 1884.

Over the years, the Pocahontas Fuel Company Store has sustained significant damage from storms and neglect. In 2007, the roof collapsed and left only an intact front façade.

Tom Childress, of Historic Pocahontas Inc., said that after the roof collapsed volunteers helped clean out debris and saved as much of the original and usable wood as possible.

Childress also stated that although it is not yet known, the Town of Pocahontas may be able to utilize a Community Development Block Grant to stabilize and repair the store’s façade, as well as stabilize four other downtown facades built of cast-iron. Plans also exist to possibly reuse the original façade of the Company Store for construction of a new restaurant.

Many people in Pocahontas, including Historic Pocahontas Incorporated, agree that the store’s front façade still has the potential to contribute to the streetscape of the town; however, the Store’s stabilization and rehabilitation is not without its opponents— some in the community think it is too far gone and the funds should go elsewhere.

The Store’s history is significant for many reasons, but perhaps most noteworthy is it was the center of Pocahontas’ community for many years. Hopefully, with stabilization, repair and a possible new use, it could be reborn as a prominent part of the historic streetscape and the center of the Pocahontas community once again.

Note: The image of the front of Pocahontas Company Store is by Jon Bolt, Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Bacon’s Castle Charrette

char·rette

noun

a final, intensive effort to finish a project, especially an architectural design project, before a deadline.

At the beginning of the year, Bacon’s Castle went “dark”, meaning we are not offering tours to the general public for all of 2011. Preservation Virginia has been using this twelve month period to study and reevaluate the interpretation and use of the entire forty acre site; including the vernacular outbuildings, slave quarter, grounds, farm land, 17th-century garden and Jacobean brick house. When Bacon’s Castle reopens in March 2012, it will serve as a sustainable resource and a vital destination site that will positively impact Surry County.

How do we know this? Well, because we are asking Surry County residents to take part in this new phase in the life of Bacon’s Castle. Seems simple enough, since this community of 7,000 residents has relied on Bacon’s Castle for four centuries. This site has served Surry County as a site of commerce, as a working plantation and later home to generations of tenant farmers, and in the 20th century as a tourist site drawing thousands of visitors to the region annually. Going forward we hope to continue to serve as a community resource. Clearly, Bacon’s Castle and Surry County are integrally linked in the past and the future.

On October 26th, Preservation Virginia held a charrette, inviting experts in the fields of sustainable agriculture, 17th-century architecture, museology, tourism, archaeology, and more to talk with Surry County business and government leaders and Preservation Virginia staff. Our intention was to find out what Surry County needs and what we can provide. By the end of a full day of touring the site and facilitated discussion we are a step closer to reopening Bacon’s Castle as a productive part of the Surry Community and a fantastic resource for tourists and locals alike. The long-term survival of Bacon’s Castle depends on community engagement and we look forward to working with Surry county residents and leaders as we plan for new programming at the site.

We will keep you posted as we prepare to reopen the site to visitors soon!

New Gutters for the Historic Jamestowne Church

The Restoration Department has started the process of rain gutter installation on the Memorial Church on Historic Jamestowne Island. After scaffold set up, the crew scraped loose paint from the wood cornice,then washed it with TSP to remove dirt and oxidized paint. After a day of drying, the cornice was painted with an alkyd primer. The next step will be caulk and a latex top coat. Only after proper cornice preparation will the gutter installation begin. While the crew waits for paint to dry, it has several broken slate shingles to replace. We are also adding "snow catchers" just above the newly to be installed gutters, because we do not wish to revisit this job after it is done. 132 snow catchers were required to do both sides of the 55 foot long church. Since stainless steel snow catchers were half the price of copper, they were ordered. The crew will paint them black before they are installed. The catchers are for a "retrofit" roof, meaning they have long straps with downward sloping grooves in their sides, designed to slide under slates and hook onto their nails. The gutters themselves are 6 inch, half-round aluminum, factory finished in a "Mansard Brown" color, to mimic the look of weathered copper. They will be hung from stainless steel straps attached to the roof sheathing, which necessitates the removal and re-installation of the lower shingle courses. We estimate the job will require three technicians about two weeks per side, if the weather is kind.