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Spotlight on History
Early Summer 2010
by Lynette Johnson
The Shenandoah Valley is rich with American history, from its Native American heritage to pre-Revolutionary times, through the Civil War, to today. Museums, historical markers, and events showcase that history along every mile of your Valley travels. This summer, we’ll take you to two museums that need to be on your “must visit” list while you’re here.
The Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton provides a fantastic introduction to Shenandoah Valley cultural history—it is a living history center, depicting the roots and blending of the cultures and people who settled the Valley. Enjoy an outdoor learning adventure, as you roam the grounds experiencing period farm life at authentic German, Scots-Irish, English, West African, and American farms, actively worked by costumed interpreters. Each structure here was brought from its country of origin and reconstructed in perfect detail.
East of Staunton, over scenic Afton Mountain, lies Charlottesville, home of President Thomas Jefferson. Head up Rt. 53 to Jefferson’s mountain top estate, Monticello—meaning ‘little mountain’ in Italian. The name is certainly appropriate, as you’ll discover, winding your way up its steep mountain drive! Monticello was Jefferson’s ‘work in progress’, from 1768 to 1809, when Jefferson retired from the presidency and Monticello was completed. (You know how those home repair projects just stretch on!) The home was purchased in 1923 by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and has been improved and restored continuously since then.
Inside the home you will see, in addition to Jefferson’s own possessions, items collected by Lewis and Clark on their exploration of the West. Thomas Jefferson, a man with an amazing breadth and depth of knowledge, has been described as a statesman, architect, author, inventor, archaeologist and horticulturist. The home contains many unique ideas and inventions of Jefferson, including an apparatus that allowed Jefferson to duplicate his writing! I particularly like the great clock, built by Jefferson. It’s in the entrance hall, and its mechanisms extend through the first floor, all the way down into the kitchen below.
While you are here, tour the home, grounds, and slave quarters, to learn not only about Jefferson but also about the culture, society, and daily plantation life of his day. The gardens still carefully tended, with flowers in season and vegetables being harvested daily. Opened in 2009, the new Visitor Center provides an excellent introduction to all things Jeffersonian.
The historical legacy of the Shenandoah Valley and central region of Virginia is extensive. Choose your era and focus—Appalachian settlement, Revolutionary War, Civil War, Presidents, industrial revolution, African American, World Wars I & II, architecture, or railroading would be some excellent possibilities—and plan your vacation this summer. The memories preserved here are too important to forget!
Article text ©2010, Shenandoah Specialty Publishing, LLC.
May be printed for personal use only.
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