Today I went on an excellent Walking Tour of Staunton from 10 a.m. until noon which was presented by a volunteer with the Historic Foundation. The weather was just perfect for our morning walk up and down the hills of the city.
Our little tour group consisted of four ladies from Richmond, one lady from Michigan who recently moved here locally to Stuarts Draft, and an older couple visiting from Massachusetts for their son's wedding taking place this afternoon.
I'll mention just a few of the main areas we covered; my pictures are downloaded to a photo album on the left sidebar, and commentary explains the tour in more detail.
We started the tour outside Woodrow Wilson's Birthplace and Presidential Library, which would make a good afternoon excursion another day. The guide focused on types of architecture of various homes throughout the area such as Greek Revival, Jacobian Revival, Italian Venetian, Italian Renaissance, Romanesque Revival, Renaissance Revival, Gothic Revival, and Colonial Revival (all of which I know nothing about). These types of buildings and homes filled the downtown area and actually were pretty interesting compared to your typical modern structures.
We traveled through Gospel Hill (where religious meetings were held at Sampson Eagon's blacksmith shop in the 1790's) and stood on the corner of Kalorama Street("beautiful view" in Greek) to watch a trolley pass. The Beverley area is actually "Main Street" and has many neat shops, the famed Dixie Theater, and a few restaurants.
Oldtown includes historic Trinity Church built in the 1850's. We were allowed to go inside to see the 12 Tiffany stained glass windows--a few special ones actually signed by Tiffany. Across the street from the church stands Stonewall Jackson School--Staunton's first permanent public school. We stood in the exact spot where President-elect Woodrow Wilson stood to watch a parade in his honor in 1912.
The Wharf area included the old C & O train station which is now two restaurants (Pullman Station and Depot Grille) using the train platform and the old benches in their design. White Star Mills also is located in this area and is a major landmark in an unusual trapezoidal shape.
Gypsy Hill Park, Thornrose Cemetery, Mary Baldwin College, Stuart Hall School, Marquis Building (features an unusual corner entrance with a big black umbrella, which I've never noticed until this tour even though I've driven by this corner dozens of times), National Valley Bank, the Clock Tower, and the Stonewall Jackson Hotel are all part of the interesting sites seen on this tour.
I scribbled tons of notes and took lots of pictures and came away feeling that I knew the city of Staunton much better than I did before. I guess the notepad and camera made me look pretty intelligent; several folks at various times throughout the morning came up to me and asked if I was an "educator." I guess they figured anyone this interested must be a teacher; I didn't tell them I was "just a blogger" who needed pictures and commentary for a blog post! :)
We finished the tour in front of the Visitor Center, and a trolley was just stopping by to drop off and pick up riders. I decided to hop on and took the 12 minute ride around town to review myself on all the places we had walked during the past two hours. Then I pulled the little red cord, and the trolley dropped me back at the Woodrow Wilson parking lot where I started.
It was definitely a very fun morning. I'd love to go again and take you on a tour with me another Saturday morning. Come visit.
~Deb
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