The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society is proud to announce the opening of a new exhibit in the McIntire Building at 200 Second Street, NE, on the history of the Woolen Mills neighborhood. The exhibit will run through the first week of January (EXTENDED THROUGH FEBRUARY).
“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.
