Category: 1700’s
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Why The River Bends
by Adam Robinson The magnificence of the James River gives metaphors pause. To navigate its waters as fireflies gather on the cusp of a July evening, to thread a course through an autumn colonnade of poplars dipped in molten gold, is to understand why this river carries the lifeblood of Virginia within its embrace. And…
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Scottsville Baptist Church
Scottsville Baptists built their red brick church high on Harrison Street in 1840 with property and funds donated by Anna Maria (Barclay) Moon and her husband, Edward Harris Moon. Before the church was built, Anna held services for her family and slaves in her own home at Viewmont, near Carter’s Bridge. Interest in the Baptist…
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Mt. Zion Methodist Church ~ Esmont
1700’s, 1800’s, 1900’s, 2000’s, Architecture, Churches, Communities, Esmont, People, Scottsville SunMt. Zion Methodist Church in Esmont began as a log meeting house built by the slaves of Benjamin Childress in 1828. When it was finished, Mr. Childress donated the house to the Methodist Conference. Later the congregation erected a brick building but because of a defective foundation, the church became unsafe, and the central part…
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Scottsville Brick Company at Snowden
The Scottsville Brick Company was once located on Snowden’s low grounds, just across the James River from Scottsville. Snowden’s long frontage along the James River contained rich siliceous sand which produced superior quality bricks. The initial company, Scottsville Sand and Silica Co., Inc. was formed on February 21, 1920, and, later that year on December…
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Isaac A. Coles ~ Twilight Tours 2017
Less than two weeks to the 2026 Twilight Tours! We’ll be posting highlights from past Tours to get you in the spirit in this season of spooks and spirits. Get details and tickets here:https://www.scottsvillemuseum.org/2026/09/09/twilight-tours-2026/ For the 2017 Tours, Kit Decker portrayed Isaac A. Coles, a true native of Southern Albemarle from the prominent Coles family.…
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The Old Tavern
The Old Tavern is located on the north side of Scottsville’s Main Street and across the street from the Herndon House and Colonial Cottage. This two-story brick building shows the pioneer split-level composition of a single and double gallery, connected by a covered outside stair. Although the exact date of its construction is unknown, the…
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Life of a James River Batteauman
Text and photos by Barry Long The James River has been a watery highway of boat transportation since before John Smith sailed into its mouth in 1607, whereupon he was greeted by people traveling in dugout canoes. It remained the single most important avenue of transportation in the Colonies for hundreds of years, not only…
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Colonel Henry Gantt of Valmont
by Richard Ludlam Nicholas “On the afternoon of July 3, 1863, Henry Gantt bravely led the regiment assigned to Garnett’s Brigade of Pickett’s Division up Cemetery Ridge in the battle of Gettysburg – arguably the most famous charge in American history.” Perhaps the most overlooked and forgotten man in Scottsville’s history is Colonel Henry Gantt,…
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Let’s Roll a Hogshead!
by William E. Trout, III,Virginia Canal Museum, Madison Heights, VA A picturesque phase of tobacco marketing in the Colonial and Early National period in Virginia was the practice of rolling the hogshead of tobacco from the plantation to the place of inspection and sale. Transportation of tobacco in this manner was considered by William Tatham…
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Crossing the James River via the Scottsville Bridge
by Evelyn Edson, President Scottsville Museum Scottsville was founded in 1745 at the horseshoe bend, a traditional crossing point where there was a gap in the bluffs lining the James River. I suppose most of us, who have lived in Scottsville for a while, have waded across the James when it was at its lowest…
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