Random Thoughts on a Sunday Evening

* Where some media outlets seem to be more interested in cheeky/gotcha journalism than intelligent reporting and thoughtful analysis of the issues, Charlottesville Tomorrow consistently impresses me as the kind of information agent that every community would be blessed to have, yet few are fortunate enough to do so. Their staff are top-notch and their reporting is like chocolate for wonks. I don't know where they get their money, but whoever funds them, please keep the dollars flowing.

* Yesterday's Daily Progress piece about Charlottesville's declining African-American population came right on the heels of a very insightful article in last week's New Republic about the "demographic inversion" that many cities across the country are experiencing. The gist of the article is that as more and more people of means are choosing to put down roots in city centers (which is a good thing), more and more low-income families are finding themselves displaced to the suburbs. I've long argued, and still strongly believe, that there are ways to invest in urban revitalization that don't necessarily lead to wholesale gentrification and broad displacement of long-time residents, but it takes more time and often more money to do it "the right way" and few communities have been willing to sacrifice enough of either. I just became Chair of the Redevelopment Committee of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA), which is about to undertake an ambitious Master Planning process to guide the revitalization of our City's seven public housing neighborhoods. Redevelopment of public housing is the best opportunity we have for expanding our supply of affordable housing, improving the quality of life for our public housing residents, and changing the very dynamics of poverty in our community. But it has to be done the right way lest we continue down the wrong path. I believe we can do it right.

* On a much lighter note, I recently registered for (and started training for) the Richmond Half Marathon on Nov. 15; my ultimate goal is to do the Charlottesville Marathon next April. Now that I've actually put those words in print for the whole world to see, there's a better chance I will actually follow through on them. Or, not.

* Starting in the next week or so, I'll be kicking off a weekly "Mayor's Corner" morning gig on 106.1 The Corner. Being a big Corner fan, and eager to find new ways to engage and inform area residents on issues of the day, I'm excited about the opportunity. It won't be more than 10-15 minutes or so each week, just a chance to talk about local goings-on in a fun and creative environment. Including one feature that every Charlottesville resident is just dying to know: What's on the Mayor's iPod? Each week I'll get to choose a different artist/album to take me in and out of commercial break, which gives me a chance to put in a plug for some of my favorite musicians. I'll mostly be highlighting local acts, or folks with local connections (like Lunasa and Vieux Farka Toure, who are headlining the "Stand Up Charlottesville for Darfur" concert at the Paramount on Sept. 12).

* One of the primary reasons I started this here blog was to show off my collection of vintage Charlottesville postcards, but it's been woefully devoid of such material of late. Herewith, appropos of nothing (other than, perhaps, Gate Pratt's recent commentary on the need for a revisioning of this particular intersection), a circa-1909, pre-Lewis & Clark statue image of the intersection of Ridge and Main Streets, featuring the old Midway High School (where Midway Manor now stands):

* What do you get when you combine Cleo salads from Bodo's, hiccup-inducing green curry, the men's marathon in Beijing, trails at Walnut Creek and a nice cold bottle of Star Hill Love? A happy welcome home.

Webb for VP and Other Random Thoughts

* Are the stars aligning for an Obama-Webb ticket? Jack Landers makes a very compelling case for Webb as VP and I note with interest this blurb by Marc Ambinder from TheAtlantic.com. Webb also passes the crucial "Don Norris litmus test" -- i.e. he's a Democrat that even my Republican father seems to like and respect, which bodes well for cross-over appeal.

* Speaking of my father, I see that a 19-year-old college freshman has just been elected Mayor of my father's hometown of Muskogee, Oklahoma. And people tell me I'm too young to be Mayor of Charlottesville -- I'm almost twice that kid's age!

* I've been very lame about posting images from my Cville postcard collection the last few months. Here's a quickie (below, circa 1955) in honor of UVa's graduation ceremonies this weekend. Congratulations to all grads -- especially my excellent Intern, Catherine Tobin (a future Governor of Virginia, you heard it here first).

* Sending positive energies out into the universe for Emily H.

I Vant You in Charlottesville, VA

This is cute (circa 1913)...

Hotels & Motels Long Gone

As Dave McNair reported back in November, the old Air-Port Motel on Rte. 29 North (at Proffit Rd.) was recently slated for demolition to make room for a new Walgreen's. (I hear tell they call that "progress.") Here's what the place looked like back in the 1950s:














Well, I drove by the site the other day and sure enough, the Air-Port Motel is now gone. Dustbin of history and all that.

I have dozens of postcards of old Charlottesville hotels & motels (from back in their heyday) and it's sad to see how few of them are left. The ones that are the most interesting to me are the hotels that have been converted to new uses. How many of you have been out Ivy Rd. (Rte. 250 West) and driven by the small retail/office complex now known as "Ivy Commons"? Did you know that for decades it was better known as...













Siesta Motor Court? (Owned for a time, incidentally, by the same H.N. Neeley who used to operate the Air-Port Motel.)

And how many of you have ever browsed in the aisles of the Quest Bookshop on West Main St.? Perhaps you did not know that you were standing in what used to be the ground floor of...




















The Albemarle Hotel -- here pictured in the 1920s. (Description on back says: "A cordial welcome awaits you at THE ALBEMARLE HOTEL. Rates $1.50 to $2.50. Fire Proof--Free Parking. Our Air Conditioned Coffee Shop is widely known as Charlottesville's Smartest and Best Eating Place.")

I could go on -- there are many interesting examples of adaptive re-use around here. I'll post some more sometime. Too bad the Air-Port Motel was not able to meet a similar fate....

The Medina

Came upon this card recently and just had to buy it. I'd never heard of this establishment, but it sounds like it was an interesting place to shop. (Postcard appears to be circa...oh, I don't know, 1980??) From the blurb on back:

THE MEDINA -- Shopper's World -- Route 29 North -- "Charlottesville's Exclusive Import Shop" -- Exquisite Middle Eastern handcrafted brass, leather, wood, and ceramic items...ideal for home & office decorating and gift giving. For the Ladies: gold and silver jewelry, brocades and silks.

Anyone remember THE MEDINA?

Lewis & Clark & Historical Hysteria

I've been awfully remiss in not acknowledging the early-November debut of the wonderful new "Hysterical Society" blog, birthed by the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society before their Executive Committee got wind of it and summarily orphaned it (disappointingly so).

The blog kicked off with a great post about the landmine-laden (yet necessary) effort to devise some signage that would put the Lewis & Clark statue at Ridge & Main into more accurate historical context, particularly as it relates to its portrayal of Sacagawea -- see images below. Good discussion ensued.

I'm adding Hysterical Society to my blogroll and I applaud its rebellious creator for doing his part to help make Cville history come alive!



















Lewis & Clark Statue, 1954 -- you can barely see poor Sacagawea, who's cowering...er, tracking?...at the rear.














Here's the statue as it looked shortly after its 1919 unveiling, with the old Midway School in the background. Can't even see Sacagawea here, but then Meriwether Lewis gets short shrift too ("William Clark Monument").

Wahoowa

I have to admit, I'm not much of a football fan (my father, who lives and breathes OSU football, still doesn't understand how we're related), but in honor of the Cavaliers' big nail-biter of a victory over Wake Forest today and the accomplished season they've been having overall this year, I thought I'd offer a little postcard history tour of the UVa football program.

Since 1931, the Cavaliers have called Scott Stadium home. But the 61,500-seat Scott Stadium we see today bears little resemblance to the much smaller Scott Stadium of 50 years ago (or even the version of 25 years ago, for that matter). And yet the Scott Stadium of 50 years ago was a giant compared to the previous home of UVa football -- Lambeth Athletic Field, located behind today's Lambeth Dorms.

Taking it back even one step further -- for the first 15 years or so after the program's inception in 1888, UVa played its home football games in the "Mad Bowl" behind Madison Hall.

The earliest image I have of Lambeth Field, circa 1905 (prior to construction of the colonnades you see below).

Here's Lambeth just a few years later (circa 1916). At least one journal of that era, according to this excellent history of Lambeth Field from the Cavalier Daily, described it as "the finest athletic stadium in the South, and one that compares very favorably with the stadiums at Syracuse and Harvard." Season tickets back in 1913 could be had for the bargain price of $7.50 for students and $9.50 for alumni.














Lambeth again, circa mid-1920s. This structure had 8,000 seats and cost $35,000 to build.

Scott Stadium was 10 years old in 1941, when this postcard was mailed. At the time, the stadium held 25,000 people. Look how much green space there was! (Vivid contrast to today.)

Circa 1951. According to its wikipedia entry, Scott Stadium is the oldest Division I football stadium in Virginia.














Back in the late 1960s, Scott Stadium was on the far edge of UVa's grounds. Not so much anymore!

Scott Stadium, 1970. I wonder whatever became of those two young people at the bottom left...


And just for kicks, here's Scott Stadium today (photo by Mike Ingalls of TheSabre.Com):

A Hospital and Its Neighborhood

Martha Jefferson Hospital has special meaning for me, since that's where my son entered into this world (11 years ago this coming Friday). The hospital means a lot more, however, to the people who live in its shadow.

I spent part of yesterday afternoon taking a walking tour of the Martha Jefferson neighborhood, courtesy members of the Martha Jefferson Neighborhood Association (MJNA). The folks at MJNA are pursuing historic designation status for their lovely neighborhood and are rightfully concerned for its future, given the looming departure of Martha Jefferson Hospital to a new suburban campus east of town. MJNA wants to make sure that whatever takes the hospital's place respects the historic and aesthetic fabric of their neighborhood, which seems like a mighty reasonable request to me. The hospital's leadership has said time and again that they want to leave a positive legacy and wish to involve the neighborhood in the transition process, and I take them at their word.

Big changes are coming to the Martha Jefferson neighborhood (as referenced in this week's C-Ville Weekly), and hopefully the net result will be something we can all look upon with pride.

******************

One of the things that I like about collecting vintage postcards is that you can see how a particular building or site has evolved over time. Given the increasing interest in the future of the Martha Jefferson Hospital property, I thought I'd share some images from the property's past. Enjoy!

The original hospital building, opened as a 25-bed sanatarium/training school for nurses at 919 E. High St. on July 11, 1904.

Circa 1918.

On December 9, 1929, Martha Jefferson opened its new, 50-bed facility on Locust Ave. Reported the Daily Progress: "The new $100,000 Martha Jefferson Hospital . . . was formally opened this morning. All equipment and patients were moved from the old building Saturday. The new plant . . . is well and modernly equipped. Eleven rooms have already been furnished by funds from people interested in the institution. The structure itself is considered one of the handsomest in the city. The old hospital will be utilized as a home for nurses." (courtesy http://www.marthajefferson.org/cent.php)

Circa 1940. (Random deltiological aside: for some reason unbeknownst to me, there seem to have been more prints made of this particular postcard than of any other in Charlottesville history. If I had a dime for every time I've come across this postcard for sale, I could buy the old hospital myself.)

Circa 1950, shortly before the Rucker wing was added in 1954.

Circa 1970, before construction of the South wing began in 1972.

The new, $14.5 million South wing, dedicated on July 11, 1977. 24 years later, in April of 2001, Martha Jefferson Health Services agreed to purchase 84 acres in Albemarle County and soon began planning for the hospital's move to the 'burbs.

Jefferson School Rebirth

At our City Council meeting tomorrow night (Monday, Aug. 6), we will be taking a big step forward in the revitalization of Jefferson School. It's been a long time coming. Assuming Council approves conveyance of the property to the non-profit partnership that has been established to renovate and redevelop the historic building, Jefferson School will be on its way to reclaiming a new life as a cultural, educational and recreational center. If you're not aware of the importance of this historical landmark to our community (and to our African-American community in particular), the City has some good info. up on its website.

Pardon me a brief digression. In all my years of collecting postcards, in which time I have probably seen over 1,200 different images of life in Cville, I have never come across a single postcard image that features, in any prominent way, a building or business or church or school or park or neighborhood "belonging" to Charlottesville's African-American community. You do see local African-Americans pictured as maids:













Village Cabins, circa 1940

And as waiters:

Michie Tavern, circa 1960

And as servants from Mr. Jefferson's day:















Monticello, circa 1960

Meanwhile, the closest I've come to finding a good postcard image of Jefferson School is the one below (circa 1981). If you squint your eyes and look real close, you can see the school in the top center of the photo. And that's only because the Omni hadn't been built yet.























Why did I feel compelled to digress so? It's because the teachers at Jefferson School taught their charges that they did not have to grow up to be maids, waiters or servants. Many graduates of Jefferson School went on to become teachers, doctors, librarians, police officers, social workers, and other distinguished professionals. Of the 32 African-Americans who graduated from Jefferson High School in 1936, according to this history of the school, 23 went on to college. In 1936! We need to tell Jefferson's story. We need to reclaim Jefferson's history. And we need to learn from Jefferson's successes and apply them in our school system today. We cannot let Jefferson School be but a small blur in Charlottesville's background any longer.

Park Street (pre-Traffic Calming...er, pre-Traffic)

Lynn Rainville ruminates on the origins of "Park Street." Here are some images of the street from approx. 100 years ago...

Risen from the Ashes

Excellent news, courtesy Sean Tubbs, about one of my favorite watering holes:

http://seantubbs.blogspot.com/2007/05/court-square-tavern-opens-this-week.html

Hope they still have the Paulaner Hefeweizen on tap. Mmm.....



















Monticello Hotel, home of today's Court Square Tavern, circa 1920

They Begin Rather Young in Charlottesville (1912)

My posts have been a little on the serious side the last few days, so it seemed like a good time for a little whimsy...

A Postcard Tour of Cville (via Google Maps)

At Waldo's prodding, I have followed the lead of Lynn Rainville and others in creating a Google Map Postcard Tour of Charlottesville. As I upload new images onto my blog, I'll add them to this funky new map as well....

Hotel Clermont, Then and Now

The Starr Hill Building (801 West Main St.), adjacent to Continental Divide and home to Charlottesville Players, Capital Real Estate and several other tenants, sits on the site of a beautiful old hotel -- Hotel Clermont -- which is pictured here circa 1905:











and here again in 1912:











This is what the property looks like today:












(courtesy http://www.cvilleofficespace.com/starr_hill.JPG)

Back in the early 1900s, hotels up and down West Main St. did a booming business thanks to their proximity to the bustling Union Station, where the Southern Railroad intersected with the Chesapeake & Ohio. They were also well-served by the streetcar line that ran along West Main St., which carried up to 1,500,000 riders per year at the time the above images were taken.

From the front door of the Hotel Clermont, one could walk right across West Main St. and onto the elevated pedestrian bridge (seen below, circa 1915) over to the station depot -- which now, of course, serves as the home of...Wild Wing Cafe.

Fabric of History

Bill Emory and Victoria Dunham have launched a great new blog that focuses on the rich history of Charlottesville's Woolen Mills neighborhood.

Check it out: http://www.historicwoolenmills.org/fabric.html

In honor of their new blog, here's an image from my collection that shows the Woolen Mills as it looked in the 1910s:


I look forward to seeing what treasures Bill and Victoria dig up!

Chesapeake and Ohio R.R. Depot, 1909

In today's Daily Progress, Seth Rosen writes of my friend Lynda Kennedy watching out the windows of the City's brand-new Transit Center yesterday for her bus to arrive. Had Lynda been looking out those same windows 98 years ago, she would have had a much different view of her transit options:

Deltiology on High

So I was dining with my friends David and Jenny Robinson the other night, and David happened to mention that they had moved their company (Birch Studio Graphics, a most excellent design firm by the way) into a building on High Street that supposedly used to be a church. Well, it so happens that I have in my collection a postcard of a "High Street Baptist Church," and I've never been able to visualize where on High Street this church may have been located. So the next day, I went to the Charlottesville Assessor's on-line listing of Cville properties and found this image of Birch Studio's new home at 619 E. High St.:


And I compared it to this postcard (circa 1905) from my collection:


There are clearly a lot of differences between the two pictures, but David was convinced that it was the same building. (His exact words, when I e-mailed him this image, were: "Bingo! That’s our building. What a find!") I've since confirmed, via the 1907 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, that this is indeed the same location. David's going to enlarge this image and print it out on canvas for display in their foyer. Pretty cool!

Serpentine Wall at UVa, 1952

The Serpentine Walls, only one brick thick, are one of my favorite architectural features at UVa. There have been many postcards made of these distinctive walls over the years, and for some reason I'm particularly fond of this one, from 1952. (Can you imagine today's UVa students wearing coats and ties to class every day??)

Interestingly, the image of the Serpentine Wall has been appropriated by groups as diverse as the Darden Private Equity Network ("Jefferson realized that by building a wall that curves, one uses 25% fewer bricks as compared to a straight wall. The curved wall can support itself while being only one brick thick instead of two. Jefferson's ingenuity and his prudent, economical and careful use of resources correlate with the skills needed to become a successful investor in the world of private equity") and the Serpentine Society, UVa's LGBT alumni association ("Serpentine walls are not straight, and neither are we"); the wall was also recently cited by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as an analogy for the tortuous line between church and state in this country. This is clearly one multi-talented, sinusoidal, crinkle-crankle stack of bricks!

Loco for LoCo

Lynn Rainville has started a great new blog (LoCoHistory) that focuses on Charlottesville and Albemarle history. Being a bit of a local history buff myself, I expect to be a regular visitor to Lynn's site. In honor of yesterday's LoCoHistory post on the Ragged Mountain Reservoir, I thought I'd share this postcard of the Reservoir from 1920:

Executive Plaza Motel, 1960s

Located on Emmet St. across from the (then) brand-new U Hall, the Executive Plaza Motel is to today's Econo Lodge-University as the Gridiron Restaurant is to today's Carmello's Ristorante Italiano.