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Volume 12, Issue 9

September 2021

Central Rappahannock Heritage Center

Newsletter

A place that loses its history loses its soul

Message From The Chairman

“One Step Forward, Two Steps Back”

In my last message, I reported on our first in-person Board meeting in over a year. Unfortunately, the emergence of the Delta variant and the possibility of breakthrough infections require our next meeting to revert to a virtual one. Virginia remains in the high community transmission category.

September is a very important month for the Heritage Center because we elect new Board members to replace our departing members. We are fortunate to have four outstanding candidates: Denise Benedetto, Yvette S. Blake, Phillip N. Jenkins and Carol G. Walker.

The annual meeting for our membership will be held via Zoom at 5:00 pm, Tuesday, 21 September 2021. A Board meeting will be held beginning at 4:30 pm.

A quorum is required to elect new Board members. I encourage all to participate. Nominations from our general membership may be made during the meeting. However, the nominees must have consented to serve and be a current member of the CRHC.

Finally, I am pleased to report that our guest speaker, Jervis Hairston, will be giving his talk during the meeting.

Hopefully, my next message will carry a heading of “Two Steps Forward, One Step Back."

Jack A. Apperson, Chairman

The Heritage Center

Become a Member Today!

Heritage Center memberships support the important work done by The Center.

The Central Rappahannock Heritage Center is a non-profit, all-volunteer archive whose mission is to preserve historically valuable material of the region and make it available to the public for research.

Please join us as part of the Heritage Center's preservation team. As a member, you will be helping to preserve our priceless local history.

Click here to become a member today!

Membership

Thank you for your support,

The Heritage Center

MANY THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS

2021 HERITAGE CENTER SPONSORS

Barbara Barrett

Barbara H. Cecil

Dovetail Cultural Resource Group

Kitty Farley and Vic Ramoneda

Jim and Betsy Greene

Mary Katherine Greenlaw

Lucy and Wayne Harman

Mary Jane O'Neill

Hon. and Mrs. J.M.H. Willis

To become a Heritage Center Sponsor, please visit our website. If you have any questions, please contact The Heritage Center at (540) 373-3704.

Freshets

Just what is a freshet? It is an antiquated word for a spring flood; usually a wall of water caused by the melting of snow and ice during a spring thaw. Reviewing the history of flooding in the central Rappahannock region, freshet was used for any flooding.

When locals hear flood, the older residents usually think of the Flood of ’42 (1942), but, the area has a history of freshets and floods predating the first European settlers. A major flood in 1917 washed out bridges connecting Fredericksburg and Stafford. Another in 1937 may have been even worse than the 1942 flood, but there isn’t as much documentation. Technology improved between the two floods. There are many photographs and even a short film clip of the Flood of ’42; nothing like this exists for the 1937 flood. The consequences of the 1942 flood may have been even worse had not the 1937 flood wreaked destruction five years earlier. An example is Lauck’s Island. The 1937 flood destroyed a causeway connecting the island with Fredericksburg and some of the outbuildings. It also swept away what was left on Pleasure Island or Brown’s Island just north of the Chatham Bridge. Adding to the drama of the Flood of ‘42, which occurred during World War II, fuel tanks at City Dock caught fire and floated down the river.

Living in a riverfront community, people are watchful and wary of heavy rains and rising water. Although there hasn’t been a flood of such extreme consequences since the 1942 flood, there have been several of significance. Flooding caused by hurricanes has impacted the area, but with more warning, people were better prepared. In 2018, a heavy rain in Culpeper caught residents by surprise. It had not rained in Fredericksburg, but 12 hours later, the rising water from the Culpeper caused flooding in Fredericksburg and Stafford. The damage was likely mitigated by modern flood warning systems and the removal of the Embrey Dam (2004).

We live in an area surrounded by water and we are subject to the vagaries of the weather. Want to know more? Investigate the resources of the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center and see how the rivers and streams have been a boon and a bane.

Beth Daly

Volunteer

Collections Update

As new collections continue to come in, please remember we are in the position to accept new records of all types. We have had them delivered, we have picked them up, and we have some in the pipeline at this time.

One relatively recent collection contained quite a few interesting photographs. As an example, study the top photo. It was found inside an invitation to commencement exercises to be held at James Monroe High School for the year 1953. It was mailed by Miss Anne Martin Wilson (the late Anne Wilson Rowe). Her mother and father were Katherine M. Stroffegen Wilson and Dr. Fielding Lewis Wilson.

We love identifying locations such as this, and we love putting names to all the faces. We figured out the location (any ideas?). CRHC Board Chairman Jack Apperson identified the young women as Betty Fay King, Anne Wilson (Rowe), Elaine Hirsch, and Margaret Castle, all classmates of his at James Monroe High School. Many thanks to General Apperson for shedding light on this beguiling image!

The photograph on the bottom is a current view. The landscape has changed enough to prevent us from accurately reproducing the original. If you would like to comment on the photographs or have records you would like preserved, please contact me at contact@crhcarchives.org. And remember, history is made every day.

Thank you for your interest in the Center's collections.

John Reifenberg

Collections Manager