Historic Winchester and Stephens City

Front Royal, Virginia High 70 Low 50

Last night it got cold enough that we had to turn on the heater for a while.

We wanted to see a couple of quilt stores, one in Winchester and one in Stephens City. The first was a nice store and the people running it we very nice. Cindy bought a pattern she wants to try. She likes to find quilts designed by local quilters.

While we were in Winchester, we wanted to see George Washington’s office, which he used while he was constructing Fort Loudoun. He used it from the fall of 1755 until December of 1756. The sign said he was a colonel in the Virginia Militia and was responsible for protecting Virginia’s 300 miles frontier from the French and Indians. We walked around the grounds and looked at the statuary and signs posted. The actual building wasn't very much to see.

 

We got to see a lot of old buildings, including the home where Patsy Kline was born. It didn't look like it was very big, and I mentioned how modest her beginnings were. Cindy told me that lots of the stars had very modest beginnings. She reminded me of the home where John Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa. It is now a museum to him, and it is very small.

People waiting for a tour of Patsy Cline's birth place.  

There is also an old railroad station in the middle of town.

We then went south to Stephens City, a town that was founded in 1758. It also had a lot of old buildings and I had read that the quilt store we were going to was a pre-Civil War home. When we got there we were disappointed, in that the old logs had been covered with siding. The inside was mostly remodeled. We both thought the integrity of the old building was lost, but we did hear an interesting story. The lady running it told us that the two boys that used to live there, used to go into the back yard and dig up artifacts from when the building behind it was a Civil War hospital.  Next door, however, there was an old log home. It didn't have any dates on it, but looked like it was from the same era. While driving around we saw some other log homes and other old buildings in the town.

It would be interesting to know how old and some of the history of the buildings  that have been remodeled.

  

It is hard for me to imagine all the history that took place is this area more than 250 years ago. I’m sure both towns were probably very small back then. They had a Historic Downtown area in both towns that we might have to go back and see while we are in this area. Winchester had an area for pedestrians only, but we didn't have time today to explore.

It's looking more like fall.

Thanks for visiting.