Hiatus

Taking a short hiatus ... posting will resume in a few days.

Courthouse resolution #3: Materials

Third in my series of "10 things I can find to like about the new Rockbridge County Courthouse" at Nelson and Randolph streets: The final design incorporates characteristic Rockbridge area granite (dark grey prominently veined with white), red brick (an ubiquitous building material in these parts) and the white Tuscan columns so often seen on local Roman Revival buildings (albeit ersatz, alas -- you can see the vertical seams quite clearly in person).

This view is from Nelson St., looking toward what used to be Davidson Park.

Man and nature

The spring house at Brushy Hill preserve.

The city of Lexington owns over 500 acres in Rockbridge County, about three miles from town, kept as a nature preserve, with former logging roads now forming a network of trails. This old stone spring house (with its shiny new roof) sits down by Union Run, next to the small parking area. It's a little bit of man-made that is not out of place in its natural surroundings, I think.

And three more...

...chimneys, that is -- on three successively smaller parts at the back of Stono. (There's actually a fourth chimney, if you count the one to the right side.)

I wonder how many chimneys I can work up to?

Theme Day March 2009: Glass

The rose window of R. E. Lee Episcopal, through the snow.

Today is the first of the month, and city daily bloggers around the world are posting on the March theme: Glass. Since my Sunday post is usually of a church, it was easy to combine the two this week.

It may not rival Chartres, but the church keeps this window lit every night, and it's a pretty and comforting sight on an after-dark ramble through the town. Particularly so when it is snowing (March is "coming in" lion-like), as it was last night.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in this month's City Daily Photo theme.

Bachelor's quarters

A huge, fantastic tree casts a black shadow on red-gold brick as the sun goes down.

One last post from Stono, for now: I believe this is the former office, now listed as "bachelor's quarters" under faculty housing at VMI. Not a bad bachelor's pad.

Stone, brick and wood

Materials mellowed by time give this old outbuilding at Stono a romantic quality.

A number of Stono's dependencies have survived. This fascinating circular one was the ice house.

Around back

Additions and an outbuilding make for appealing lines and massing at the back of Stono.

I especially like the chimneys in this photo. I'm working my way around to showing the front of this landmark Lexington house from 1818 (now part of VMI). When I can get myself out there in the early morning, I'll get a shot of the imposing double Tuscan portico that faces the Maury River.

Camera tricks

The chaplain's residence at VMI appears very lonely on the hill above North Main St.

It's interesting that this photo seems to represent a solitary house in somewhat wild surroundings, and even might be thought to have an air of Gothic melancholy. In truth, this gracious house sits rather convivially between two others (you can see the roof line of one of them at left), overlooking the old VMI stables across Main St., and not far from the center of town.

Church on Sunday: Old and new at R. E. Lee

The steeple of the R. E. Lee Episcopal Church with the twilight moon.

The stone church dates to 1882 (see it from the front in an earlier post, here), but the steeple was replaced in 2007. The new steeple is 57 feet tall and covered in 1,800 hand-pressed metal shingles. The crown of the weathervane (salvaged from the original steeple), which was newly-covered in gold leaf by church parishioners, still shows bullet holes, reportedly from soldiers discharging their weapons a final time upon returning home from war. (More details on rebuilding the steeple here.)

Near Stono

A stone pillar and walls near Turman House (also known as Stono) at the Virginia Military Institute.

This part of the VMI Post is like a trip back in time. You can walk an abandoned road up from the far north end of Main St., to a small lane along the side of the hill above Jordan's Point. From there, among the handsome 19th C. houses, it is not hard to imagine that it is 150 years ago, if you train your eyes to the right views.

Church on Sunday: St. Patrick's

An image of Saint Patrick before the Catholic church bearing his name on Nelson St.

Lexington's sole Catholic church is St. Patrick's, built in 1953. (Like much of the valley, this area was settled by the Scots-Irish; as a result, Protestant churches - particularly Presbyterian - are much more numerous than Catholic.) The parsonage that adjoins the church is much older than the church itself, having been built in the Gothic Revival style in 1840. A glimpse of that tomorrow.

Church on Sunday: Hands to work

The First Baptist Church at Main and Henry gets a new roof.

The workers appear to be hired hands, unlike those who originally built the church in 1894. First Baptist was founded as Lexington African Baptist Church in 1867, by the black membership of Manly Memorial (then Lexington Baptist) who wished to form their own congregation after the war.

It is said that they surveyed the church architecture in town and in that way put together a design for the building. All of the original construction work is reported to have been performed by the parishioners themselves, a feat that is especially impressive from this angle.

All is calm

Christmas afternoon light on the side door of the First Baptist Church on N. Main St.

This church has an interesting history that I will have to save for another time. We're off to the big city for a couple of days. (I'll still be posting, though.) I'll catch up with everyone when I return.

Gravestones and Holly...

...make a moving combination, I think.

This large holly tree is growing in the middle of an old family plot in Stonewall Jackson Cemetery in the center of town. Guess who else is buried in this cemetery?

Robert E. Lee

Lexington, Virginia -- a town of 7,000 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia -- is home to Washington and Lee University and the Virginia Military Institute, resting place of Civil War generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and at the center of one of the prettiest counties in Virginia: Rockbridge County. I hope this blog will capture something of the unique character of Lexington.

Today's photo is of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church, lit by the late afternoon sun. This church sits across the lawn from the house on the campus of Washington and Lee where General Lee spent his last years as president of Washington College. The church was built and named in his memory after his death.