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Current exhibit: Online Exhibit: Woolen Mills Road--Photography, Maps and Legends
Previous display: Jefferson School
Next display: Franklin

Woolen Mills Road: Photography, Maps and Legends

“The Woolen Mills neighborhood is one of the earliest textile mill villages in the South, and though the neighborhood is threatened by development pressures, it remains largely intact,” says Historical Society executive director Dr. Douglas Day. “This exhibit is a labor of love, by a neighborhood with a mission, it is the kind of project we’d like to encourage from each of the area’s historic neighborhoods.”

This textile mill village was rooted at the confluence of Moore’s Creek and the Rivanna River at the foot of Monticello Mountain. With Woolen Mills Road as its axis, the village grew west toward Charlottesville.

For more than one hundred years this village, known to residents as “The Place,” was home to families who worked in the mill. The community was unified by kinship, church, workplace and agrarian traditions in the rapidly evolving post-war world.

The exhibit is a scrapbook of stories and images from “The Place.”

The Historical Society will host an opening reception for the Woolen Mills Road exhibit on Friday, October 6, from 5 to 8 p.m. On the following day, Saturday, October 7, from 2 to 4 p.m., there will be an informal reunion of folks from the neighborhood, with refreshments provided by Cakewalk.

A feature of the exhibit is a digital slideshow of images of the Woolen Mills neighborhood, both historical and contemporary. This display was made possible in part by the Crutchfield Corporation.

It Takes a Village: Thanks to the following individuals for generously providing photographs, memories, and written work for this exhibit. And thanks to neighbors, family, and friends for an unfailing supply of inspiration and encouragement. This is your exhibit. Andy Myers, Carolyn Addy Marchant Walker, Barbara Lou Marchant Ankey, Katherine Merle Marchant Hedick, Victoria Dunham, Lola and Moses Knight, Annie Marion Baltimore, Jean Baltimore Strauss, Brenda Baltimore King, Bill Emory, Roy and Louise Baltimore, David Baltimore, Chris and Dena Baltimore, Woodie and Jane Pritchett, Shannon Emerick, Mabel Pritchett Marrs, Betty Lou Scruggs, Ann Bibb, Allan Gianniny, Fred Dove, Bettie Amiss, Gladys Taylor Gatlin, Joyce Hall Page, Rick Britton, Lara Day, Charles W. Taylor, Pat Powell, Patricia Brookshire, Jan Karon, Georgeann Wilcoxson, Deandra Dodd, Mark Klalo, Beecroft & Bull. Finally, thanks to Henry Clay Marchant, for his vision and to the people of the mill village who gave substance to this historic district.