Markers of History

Museum
Colonial National Historical Park
Yorktown Visitor Center

Location: Foot of Colonial Parkway, Yorktown, VA 23690

Visited: July 4, 2009, 11:45am

My impres­sions: Not much in the way of pho­tog­ra­phy for this one: I don’t like to take pho­tographs (even flash-free) in muse­ums unless I’ve researched their pho­tog­ra­phy poli­cies ahead of time. Since I didn’t real­ize there was a museum here, I hadn’t done any research.

The main pur­pose of stop­ping here was, I think, to get my wife’s Access Pass to the National Parks. And we were both pleas­antly sur­prised at the ease with which that hap­pened. After that, we stopped at the gift shop and I got my National Parks expe­ri­ence off on the right foot with the pur­chase of an Explorer’s Edition parks pass­port. So, we duti­fully stamped my pass­port and then headed through the museum. It was inter­est­ing to see the cam­paign tent (pic­tured in the pre­vi­ous link) and some of the arti­facts, includ­ing part of a neat dis­play that tried to show the events that took place there, using a model of the bat­tle­field, lights, and narration.

We didn’t take in any of the bat­tle­field itself: being the 4th of July, the place was VERY busy. (In fact, we heard one of the NPS employ­ees tell another cou­ple who was ask­ing about the audio dri­ving tour that any other day, he would rec­om­mend it, but given the busy­ness that day and a cou­ple of road clo­sures, this was the one day of the year that he would not rec­om­mend it.)

But this was far from the end of our his­tory for the day. Tomorrow, we’ll start down the Colonial Parkway towards Williamsburg and Jamestown.

Markeroni sta­tus: Not yet logged.

One other way of deal­ing with the back­log (and the sense I have of some series of posts get­ting repet­i­tive) is to try to com­bine some posts where mul­ti­ple mark­ers are in the same place or on the same sub­ject. I don’t have hard and fast rules about when to com­bine, but this is one of them, where there is a state his­tor­i­cal marker which is for a build­ing in the same loca­tion which is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

State Historical Marker
Virginia Q-8-V
St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church

National Register of Historic Places
St. Paul’s Catholic Church

Location: 518 High St, Portsmouth, VA 23704

Visited: June 23, 2009, 2:55pm

Transcription of state marker: St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church was first built by French and Irish immi­grants between 1811 and 1815 and was the first Catholic con­gre­ga­tion estab­lished in Portsmouth. Increasing mem­ber­ship neces­si­tated the build­ing of new struc­tures in 1831 and 1851. Fire destroyed the third build­ing in 1859; that same year the con­gre­ga­tion began con­struct­ing a fourth struc­ture, com­pleted in 1868. It burned in 1897. The cur­rent Gothic Revival church here, noted for its stained glass win­dows, was designed by John Kevan Peebles and ded­i­cated in 1905. It was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Department of Historic Resources, 2003

Transcription of another plaque beside the state marker:

A bur­ial ground for early paris­hon­ers and clergy of St. Paul’s Catholic Church was located on this site dur­ing the nine­teenth cen­tury. Among those buried here were:

Patrick Robertson, who bequeathed the funds to pur­chase this prop­erty in 1810 and con­struct the first St. Paul’s; Rosalie and Bartholomew Accinelli, found­ing mem­bers of this con­gre­ga­tion; Antonio Sylvestre Bilisoli, a found­ing mem­ber of this con­gre­ga­tion who fought dur­ing the American Revolution; Rev. Francis Devlin, pas­tor from 1844 to 1855, who died min­is­ter­ing to the cit­i­zens of Portsmouth dur­ing the Yellow Fever epi­demic of 1855; and Rev. Joseph Plunkett, pas­tor from 1855 to 1870 and dur­ing the con­struc­tion of the fourth St. Paul’s.

My impres­sions: This is cer­tainly a strik­ing look­ing build­ing (and given their past his­tory, they seem lucky that it has stood for more than a cen­tury). I liked the tiny plaque in the gar­den beside the state marker, because it helped move my thoughts from the grand build­ing to the fact that there were peo­ple con­nected to this site. It was even bet­ter because it explained why each per­son named was impor­tant to the his­tory of St. Paul’s. And, since I’ve been going through mark­ers from Portsmouth, nice to see some con­nec­tions, includ­ing the men­tion of the Yellow Fever epi­demic, which I think I first read about in a marker in Fort Nelson Park (that appeared on this blog over the hol­i­day weekend).

Markeroni sta­tus: I’ve logged both the state marker and the loca­tion from the National Register of Historic Places, but have not sub­mit­ted the other plaque tran­scribed here.

Welcome back, and I hope you had a great hol­i­day week­end. We’re most of the way through my June 23 trip to Portsmouth, but I’m begin­ning to get a back­log, so I hope to post two sites each day for a while to catch up. Once we fin­ish with this Portsmouth trip, there will be a cou­ple from Norfolk that I found on the way home, there will also be one we found unex­pected in Virginia Beach on our way home from Virginia, and then there are sev­eral that I found in Norfolk on Friday when I was there for the re-opening of Town Point Park and the start of Harborfest and on the Fourth of July when we trav­eled to Yorktown and Jamestown. I hope you’re enjoy­ing these as much as I’m enjoy­ing find­ing them!

National Register of Historic Places
Cedar Grove Cemetery

Location: Bordered by Fort Ln, Firehouse Ln, and Effingham St, Portsmouth, VA, 23704

Visited: June 23, 2009, 2:45pm

Transcription of marker:

Cedar Grove Cemetery
Est. 1832
has been placed on the
National Register of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior

My impres­sions: I feel almost funny about includ­ing this. I didn’t actu­ally get in to the ceme­tery, but I did stand at its gates for a moment look­ing in. I believe there is a Path of History marker for the ceme­tery, but I didn’t man­age to see it that day. I was in a bit of a hurry to get away from a cou­ple of peo­ple I passed on my way to the gates, as well as to get back to the ferry and on my way back home.

I do hope at some point to go back for a proper visit.

If you’d like more infor­ma­tion about the cemetary and the rea­sons for its inclu­sion on the National Register of Historic Places, you can read the cemetery’s nom­i­na­tion form (PDF), which includes details about the his­tory of this place.

Markeroni sta­tus: Logged.

National Register of Historic Places
Francis Land House

Location: 3133 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23452

Visited: June 22, 2009, 5:20pm

Transcription of markers:

Marker #1:

The Francis Land
House
has been reg­is­tered as a
Virginia
Historic
Landmark
pur­suant to the author­ity vested in the
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
Act of 1966.

Marker #2:

Francis Land House
circa 1732
Placed on the
National Register
of
Historic Landmarks
1975

Marker #3:

The Francis Land House
circa 1732
Marked by
Princess Anne County Chapter
NSDAR

Bicentennial project
Nov. 13, 1976

My impres­sions: This is a very quiet, peace­ful place next to the loud and busy Virginia Beach Blvd. One of the things that stuck in my head, as some­body who has only quite recently come to this area and knows the Boulevard as quite a built-up place, is how quiet the area around the Francis Land House was when it was built. While I think very lit­tle of step­ping onto a bus and arriv­ing in down­town Norfolk a few min­utes  later, that trip would have taken days in the 18th cen­tury! A very good job has been done of devel­op­ing the area in such a way that the peace­ful­ness of these his­toric grounds are main­tained and there is lit­tle vis­i­ble sign of more recent devel­op­ment, which is actu­ally close to the grounds.

On a per­sonal note, this place is also spe­cial to me, because the only other time I had been here, I was with my par­ents and my then-fiancée the day before our wed­ding. (So it was nice to go there un-chaperoned! wink)

It was also nice to log a quick snarf on the way home from sup­per, on the spur of the moment, espe­cially since my wife and I have both been feel­ing under the weather for the past sev­eral days.

Markeroni sta­tus: This was the first time I man­aged to log a snarf while Markeroni con­sid­ered it the same day (since Markeroni lives in UTC, so its day ends in early evening).

National Register of Historic Places
and State Historical Marker
Virginia Q-8-B
Monumental Methodist Church

Visited: June 1, 2009, 1:55pm

Location: Corner of Dinwiddie St & Queen St, Portsmouth, VA 23704

Transcription of State Historical Marker:

This church, founded 1772, is one of the old­est Methodist churches in Virginia. The first build­ing was erected, 1775, at South and Effingham Streets. The church was moved to Glasgow Street near Court in 1792. It estab­lished the first Sunday school in Portsmouth in 1818. Monumental was moved to this site, Dinwiddie Street, in 1831.

Virginia Conservation Commission 1948

Transcriptions of other markers:

Marker #1:

Monumental UMC
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Nov. 14, 1772

Marker #2:

A. D. 1772
Methodist Society formed by Rev. Robert Williams of England and Isaac Luke of Portsmouth, Virginia

1775
Built at South and Effingham Streets

1792
Moved to Glasgow Street near Court

1818
Formed first Sunday School in Portsmouth

1831
Moved to this site and erected Dinwiddie Street M. E. Church

1856
Built Emanuel M. E. Church North Street for col­ored members

1866
Erected Sunday School chapel

A. D. 1872
Built Monumental Church in mem­ory of the founders 

My impres­sions: It’s there. The exte­rior of this church isn’t a type that moves me. (Yet.) I say that because I would have had a sim­i­lar reac­tion to the inte­rior of my cur­rent church before it became my church. And that non-reaction is prob­a­bly inten­si­fied by the fact that I was get­ting tired. I’d taken a lot of pho­tos and seen a lot of his­tory in the short time since I’d arrived in Portsmouth and it was at this point in the day that I started head­ing back towards the ferry home. And, for me, the inside of most churches is more impres­sive than the outside.

Notes for future snar­fers: It’s Portsmouth, there are LOTS of his­toric sites. If you’re local, just come on over and go wild. If you want to get as much as you can, do the research before you arrive

Markeroni sta­tus: My visit was logged today.

National Register of Historic Places
Commodore Theatre

Visited: June 1, 2009, 1:50pm

Location: 421 High St, Portsmouth, VA 23704

Transcriptions of markers:

Marker #1:

The Commodore Theatre

built 1945

has been placed on the

National Register of Historic Places

by the United States Department of the Interior

Marker #2:

The Commodore Theatre

Opened on November 14, 1945, the Commodore Theatre was designed by noted Baltimore archi­tect John J. Zink and built and oper­ated by William S. “Bunkie” Wilder, a Portsmouth native, as his flag­ship the­atre. It is named for Commodore James Barron, vet­eran of the War of 1812, who is buried in the church­yard next to the theatre.

The Art Deco the­atre has a nau­ti­cal theme and two large murals depict­ing local and national history.

The Commodore showed motion pic­tures and hosted com­mu­nity stage pre­sen­ta­tions until 1975, when it closed for twelve years.

In 1987, Fred Schoenfeld pur­chased the the­atre and spent two and a half years restor­ing it. He re-opened the Commodore on December 21, 1989 as a first-run movie the­atre with full-service din­ing — the first such cinema-eatery in the United States.

Meeting strin­gent exhi­bi­tion cri­te­ria for sound, image, and audi­ence expe­ri­ence, the Commodore Theatre earned THX-certification for excellence.

Marker #3:

The Commodore Theatre

has been reg­is­tered as a

Virginia Historic Landmark

Pursuant to the author­ity vested in the Virginia Board of Historic Resources

My impres­sions: This is a very eye-catching build­ing. The church­yard men­tioned in Marker #2 is that of Trinity Episcopal Church, which is also on the National Register of Historic Places. I do like that there are very promi­nent mark­ers at the front to alert one to the his­tory, and to explain why it is impor­tant. It’s also the type of his­tory that I think can be far too easy to ignore: it doesn’t have to do directly with politi­cians or mil­i­tary men, but with local history.

I am always find­ing inter­est­ing tid­bits when I look up the paper­work sub­mit­ted for the reg­is­ter list­ings (Virginia has those on a web site arranged by city/county). In this case, I find the theory:

…that mate­ri­als were made avail­able for for the con­struc­tion of the Commodore despite grave wartime short­ages. The Commodore’s loca­tion in Portsmouth meant that it would pro­vide enter­tain­ment to the many sailors sta­tioned there…

There’s also one fact that is glossed over in the plaque on the front of the the­atre (prob­a­bly because it wouldn’t make com­mer­cial sense to high­light that part of it his­tory). Why did the Commodore close for a dozen years?

Despite the fan­fare of its open­ing, the the­ater declined and became an X rated movie house before clos­ing its doors in 1975. [Emphasis added.]

Ah, yes! One last thing, as a Canadian (who grew up with mostly British English spellings), I always like when places use the –re spellings I grew up with!

Notes for future snar­fers: The the­ater is on the south side of High Street, next to Trinity Episcopal Church, though with the over­hang of the mar­quee, you prob­a­bly need to be on the north side of the street to take most photos.

Markeroni sta­tus: When I fin­ish blog­ging about my Portsmouth snarfs (which should be in the next day or two), I’ll sub­mit info on those not already included in the Markeroni database.

Because I’m being metic­u­lous and want­ing to have every­thing just so, I hadn’t pre­vi­ously included this church, though I had vis­ited it last sum­mer when my wife (who was then my fiancee) and I met with some friends of ours for a meal, one of whom attends Trinity. Also fit­ting that this is posted this week, as yes­ter­day was Trinity Sunday in the church year!

State Historical Marker
Virginia Q-8-A
Trinity Church
and
National Register of Historic Places
Trinity Episcopal Church

Location: The church is at the cor­ner of Court St & High St, Portsmouth, VA 23704. The marker is down the block, closer to the cor­ner of Court St & Queen St.

Visited: June 1, 2009, 1:45pm

Transcription of marker:

Built in 1762 as the parish church of Portsmouth parish, estab­lished in 1761. Later named Trinity; enlarged in 1829; remod­eled in 1898. Colonel William Crawford, founder of Portsmouth in 1752, was a mem­ber of the first vestry. Buried here is Commodore James Barron, com­man­der of the U. S. frigate Chesapeake when attacked by H. M. S. Leopard in 1807; the result was his cel­e­brated duel with Stephen Decatur in 1820. The graves of many Revolutionary patri­ots are here.

Virginia Conservation Commission 1948

My impres­sions: I love the area of Trinity Church, with its church­yard enclosed by a short brick wall. But this seems to be a “throw every­thing in but the kitchen sink” marker with a whole list of dates and peo­ple and no story to tell. It describes the impor­tance, but in spread­ing itself so thin, can’t devote enough detail to any of the peo­ple or facts men­tioned to really bring color to them. (I guess I’m turn­ing into a “his­tor­i­cal marker reviewer.” I don’t think that will work as a career choice, though!) But apart from the his­tory, there’s a sim­ple beauty to the exte­rior of Trinity and the trees in the churchyard.

Notes for future snar­fers: Don’t miss the plethora of other mark­ers in the area.

Markeroni sta­tus: My visit to the his­tor­i­cal marker was logged yes­ter­day. When I have time to orga­nize my “miss­ing snarfs,” I’ll sub­mit the NRHP snarf to be included in the database.

National Register of Historic Places
Confederate Monument

Location: In the mid­dle of Court St (just north of High St), Portsmouth, VA 23704

Visited: June 1, 2009, 1:35pm

Transcriptions:

To Our Confederate Dead (on the south side of the monument)

The years of the Civil War are included on the four sides of the mon­u­ment, fairly high, with the first and last year both on the south side.

Just north of the mon­u­ment is a small stone, dif­fi­cult or impos­si­ble to read, with a newer plaque next to it to clarify:

The weath­ered stone reads:

This tablet is placed here by Stonewall Camp C.V. in mem­ory of Maj. F. W. Jett C.S.A. to whose labor and devo­tion the erec­tion of this mon­u­ment is prin­ci­pally due.

June 19, 1992
Portsmouth Civil War Roundtable

My impres­sions: If the American Revolution stuff puts me at a loss for words, the Civil War stuff does, maybe even more. Because my state of Civil War knowl­edge is such that you could tell me any­thing and I might believe it, but I also wouldn’t know enough to avoid trip­ping over those top­ics that are seen dif­fer­ently by dif­fer­ent peo­ple. So for impres­sions, I’ll just say that it is a beau­ti­ful, tall mon­u­ment that ben­e­fits from being in the mid­dle of the street, so you can get far enough back to view it well, with­out obstruction.

I like the idea of a sturdy, leg­i­ble plaque to tran­scribe the aging, now-illegible stone. I won­der how that came to hap­pen be and spent a few min­utes with Google, dis­cov­er­ing that Civil War round­ta­bles are appar­ently quite common.

In that process of research, I also dis­cov­ered that this mon­u­ment is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, though I didn’t see any mark­ers or signs to indi­cate that while I was there. But I also learned more about the moun­ment from read­ing the write-up pre­pared to nom­i­nate the mon­u­ment for the Register (pp. 10 – 11 of PDF):

Unlike most Confederate mon­u­ments con­tain­ing stat­ues, the fig­ures on Portsmouth’s mon­u­ment are not generic. Following the cor­ner­stone lay­ing, four local men were cho­sen to pose for the fig­ures. Photographs were taken at the Davis Studio at 316 High Street, Portsmouth and were used by the Monumental Bronze Company [of Connecticut] to cre­ate the statues.

…

The sailor’s statue is par­tic­u­larly sig­nif­i­cant. It is one of three stat­ues in the South hon­or­ing the Confederate sailor.…

About my only wish was that there was some way to make more of this infor­ma­tion known to the casual vis­i­tor. Though hav­ing said that, I’m not sure how. A marker seems obvi­ous, but I don’t know where it should be placed. Perhaps next to the county cour­t­house marker I described in my pre­vi­ous post. That way, it wouldn’t visu­ally inter­fere with the appre­ci­a­tion of this memorial.

I def­i­nitely want to return, now, to look more care­fully at those bronze fig­ures around the pedestal.

Markeroni sta­tus: To be sub­mit­ted, once the site’s whelm level decreases.