Church on Sunday: Boxwoods

The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church on Main St. hides its c. 1850 manse from view.

The church, built in 1963, is sited on what was once the long front lawn of a Gothic Revival cottage on South Main St, formerly known as "Boxwoods." The church's use of an existing Gothic building as a manse for a much newer church building resembles St. Patrick's Catholic Church and rectory on Nelson St. -- both cottages are even painted a similar shade of yellow.

A very Happy Easter to all!

(Here's a closer look at "Boxwoods":)

Church on Sunday: Zack

Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Zack (built 1879), dressed for Easter.

This clean white clapboard church, with its churchyard in back, is the larger of two in tiny Zack. The other, and a little about Zack, here.

Church on Sunday: A different view

The back side of the Randolph Street Methodist Church has but three openings: a red door (with sidelights), a small Gothic window, and an even smaller round window up top. Makes you wonder what's up there....

(The front has a much larger window.)

This photo was taken from the east end of the Nelson St. bridge.

Premium parking

The new parking lot above N. Main Street at VMI.

A year or so ago, a row of charming, if not "historically" old, houses was demolished to make way for this new parking lot at the Virginia Military Institute. It would be amusing to know what the cost was per parking space, all told. Parking has become a persistent problem in Lexington, as it is so many other places.

The view of the campus once you have parked your car is rather pleasant, though. And the silver lining for me (since I'm not permitted to park here), is that structures such as this lovely old house are now visible as one drives down North Main on the route out of town.

Five, if you can find them

The Presbyterian Manse on White St. has five identical and unusual chimneys.

There was no good vantage point from which to catch all the chimneys (from up in the air would have been best!), but this shot has pretty light, and shows the inspired shed with matching trim work hidden behind the house.

The Manse, built in 1848 for the Lexington Presbyterian Church in the up-and-coming Gothic Revival taste -- and in strong contrast to the Greek style of the church itself, completed just 3 years earlier -- is one of my favorite houses in Lexington. (I'll show the front in a later post.) The site chosen was then on the outskirts of town, in an almost pastoral setting several blocks from the church. As the small lane or alley on which it fronted attracted new construction over the next couple of decades, the road was eventually widened and named White St., after the first occupant of the Manse, Rev. William S. White.

The Manse remains the residence of the minister of Lexington Presbyterian Church.

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.

A Shenandoah fortress

The southeast facade of the VMI Barracks against a backdrop of Hogback Mountain.

This photo was taken from the high point on Maury St., shooting out over the playing fields, Main St., and Cocke Hall to get a clear view of the Barracks. It is a very low resolution image, due to the fact that I had to zoom the maximum to get it, and still had to crop about a third of the width to get the composition I wanted. But I like the clouds and shadows on the mountain, and I managed to get out early enough in the morning to catch some east light. So here it is.

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.)

Blue and gold II

The "carpenter Gothic" central gable of the St. Patrick's parsonage.

Built in 1840, the painted brick parsonage predates the church it serves by 113 years. It's possible there was another church on the site before the present one, but I haven't yet found evidence of it. (A small church on Henry St. - now the Gospel Way Church of God - is referred to as "Old St. Patrick's," which suggests that the congregation moved here from there at some point.) It seems likely that this was originally a private residence adapted by St. Patrick's for its purposes.

Whatever its history, the parsonage has charm. Here it is, tucked beside and behind the more modern stone church:

Theme Day Feb 2009: Paths and Passages

Jackson Arch, entrance to the Barracks, Virginia Military Institute, taken from beside the pedestal of Moses Ezekiel's Stonewall Jackson.

Today is the first of the month, the day that city daily photo bloggers from around the world post on a single theme. February's theme is "paths and passages."

One of the most significant passages we have in Lexington is Jackson Arch, through which pass, each fall, new VMI cadets to begin their four years of rigorous physical and mental training. First year cadets, nicknamed "rats" since the 1850's, will endure for the entire year a demanding system of initiation known as the "ratline." The VMI website states: "The system is designed to remove wealth and former station in life as factors in one's standing as a cadet, ensuring equal opportunity for all to advance by personal effort, and to enjoy those rewards that are earned."

Upon entering the first day through Jackson Arch, each cadet will see the words of Stonewall Jackson inscribed within: "You may be whatever you resolve to be."

To see the paths and passages of other bloggers, click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

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.

Church on Sunday: Randolph Street

Window of the Randolph Street Methodist Church.

I can find out very little about this church, other than that it was built in 1892, and suffered a fire in 1929 (according to my copy of "The Architecture of Historic Lexington" by Lyle and Simpson). Like many Methodist churches I have seen, it does not have a spire, but rather a bell tower, which can be seen (from a distance) here.

This graceful window faces the street, and is surrounded by some simple yet imaginative brickwork (of a beautiful, rich orange-red), which makes for nice shadow lines.

School colors

The view from the Superintendent's box at the stadium at VMI. Center left is the rear side of Jackson Hall, the VMI chapel. This was the light on an unseasonably warm Christmas afternoon, showing the school colors of red, yellow and white (with a little blue thrown in).

North Main St. separates the larger part of the VMI campus (or "Post") from the stadium and other buildings on the east side. At lower left you can see the footbridge that cadets use to cross above the street.

Time for change at VMI

A female cadet checks her watch as the new addition to the VMI Barracks rises in the background.

Yesterday's photo showed the old barracks; today's shows the latest addition, almost complete. Female cadets are slightly less new: the first women graduated from VMI in 2001.

In 1990, the U.S. government brought a discrimination suit against the school. The case went to the Supreme Court, and VMI was finally forced to admit women, after 158 years as an all-male institution. There is still controversy about the change, especially among some alumni.

VMI has just adopted "gender norming" in physical training, after ten years of requiring women to meet the same standards as men. Do you think men and women ought to be held to the same physical standards in military training?

Update: I received some good advice about cropping from Benjamin Madison in the comments section, and did some experimenting. Do you prefer (A) above; cleaned up around the edges (B) below; or radically cropped (C) below that? [I think I like (B). I like the depth the tree gives.]

The Barracks

Jackson Arch and the Barracks at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), seen from across a corner of the parade grounds.

VMI is the country's oldest state military college, founded in 1839 on the site of the former Lexington arsenal. The first Barracks, designed by Andrew Jackson Davis in the Gothic revival style that characterizes the entire "Post" (as the campus is called), was not built until 1850; it was burned beyond redemption by General Hunter in 1864, during what came to be known as "Hunter's Raid." Almost the whole of VMI was left in ruins.

The Barracks was rebuilt after the war, and a new facade facing the parade grounds - with a central arch in memory of General "Stonewall" Jackson (who taught at VMI from 1851 until the outbreak of the Civil War) - was added. Later additions have had to keep pace with the now 1,300 cadets, all of whom live in the Barracks, in spartan conditions, for their full tenure.

For pictures that capture something of the spirit of this unusual school, see the slideshow on the home page of VMI's newly-redesigned website: Here