This time we're driving the entire trip instead of taking the train. So we left home on Friday night, stayed in Wilkes Barre, PA overnight, and continued on to Front Royal, Virginia the next day. We're staying at the Holiday Inn, and apparently most of the hotels in the area are full, because not only is it Columbus Day Weekend, but two local colleges are having Homecoming/Parents' Weekends, so there are people everywhere. Still, our reservations were made in advance, so we had rooms waiting for us.
Our first "tour" stop was actually the local Catholic church, St. John the Baptist. We actually attended mass in the "new" church (below), right next to the original church (picture left). The original building was erected in honor of John Carroll Jenkins, a young man from Maryland who joined the Confederate Army during the Civil war. After he was killed in battle, his family donated mone
y to build the church; they also donated a number of related items. The above link goes to the parish website. (Note: scroll down a little to find the information. For some reason, the top part is blank.)The advantage to finding the church is that the historic area is right down the block. The next day we returned and found the Visitors Center, where we picked up a brochure for the walking tour, which took about an hour. The Center is a former railroad station, with a park around it. There is a caboose you can walk around and climb on.
Visitors Center
Gazebo in the park.
Most of the historic buildings date from the Civil War era; the rest are from the early 1900s. At right is Chester House, named for the man who ran a ferry over the Shenandoah River beginning around 1736.
The Petty-Sumption House, so named because of the two owners. Henry Petty purchased it in 1873 for his parents. In 1923, the lot on which the house stood was sold to the local school board. Charles Sumption purchased the house and moved it across the street, where it remains today. The Sumptions were renowned blacksmiths.
The Belle Boyd home. Ms. Boyd is a local heroine for spying on Union forces and aiding the Confederate Army early in the war. She was eventually captured and imprisoned, was later released, and spent time in England. She returned to the US and became and actress.
This building is located just behind the Warren Rifles Museum, which features the largest collection of Confederate artifacts in the country. An entire case there is devoted to Ms. Boyd, including an opera gown on display.
The museum also hosts displays on the Warren Rifles brigade, part of the local militia, which fought in various Civil War battles. Other displays show Confederate money and medals, dolls of the period (which were originally used as "fashion catalogs"), letters and cards from soldiers, and actual surviving Confederate flags.
After the walking tour, I took time out in the afternoon to do some horseback ricking. My steed here is John Henry, and we did reasonably well, except for the one point where I managed to fall off at the end of a jump. (Yes, I am fine, though I was sore in the morning.)
