A SURVEY OF HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE IN DINWIDDIE COUNTY, VIRGINIA CONDUCTED FOR Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia and the Dinwiddie County Planning Department conducted bY 3north, Architects AUTUMN 2009–SPRING 2010 A Survey of Historic Architecture In Dinwiddie County, Virginia 3north Architects Autumn 2009 – Spring 2010 PAGE 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 3 Acknowledgments 4 List of Figures 5 List of Plates 6 Introduction/Description of the Project Introduction 9 Description of Study Area 10 Historic Context Introduction 14 Previously Identified Historic Resources 15 Historic Overview of the Survey Area 20 European Settlement to Society (1607-1750) 21 Colony to Nation (1751-1789) 27 Early National Period (1790-1830) 44 Antebellum Period (1831-1860) 58 Civil War (1861-1865) 71 Reconstruction and Growth (1866-1916) 71 World War I to World War II (1917-1945) 94 The New Dominion (1946-Present) 112 Survey Results by Theme and Period 116 Research Design Introduction 126 Methodology 126 Expected Results 127 Survey Findings 127 Evaluation Potential Historic Designations and Boundaries 128 Eligibility Standards 128 Properties Eligible for Listing 132 Preservation Planning Recommendations 133 Glossary 145 Bibliography 150 Appendices Appendix One - Numerical Inventory of Surveyed Properties 153 Appendix Two - Alphabetical Inventory of Surveyed Properties 161 Appendix Three - Inventory of Surveyed Properties by Construction Date 169 PAGE 3 ABSTRACT Dinwiddie County, Virginia is a developing rural community to the southwest of the city of Petersburg in Southside Virginia within the primary service area of the Capital Region Preservation Office, a branch of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR). While information on the county’s resources has long been collected by individuals and by the Dinwiddie Historical Society, the county has not been the subject of a professional, comprehensive survey effort. In the fall and winter of 2009, 3north Architects surveyed 162 properties within the county to the Reconnaissance Level, including 31 properties that had been previously surveyed and are included in the indices and tabulations. This effort, although not a comprehensive survey, covered most of the geographic area of the county and documented a wide variety of building types and buildings representing a range of construction dates. While there are important properties from the era of settlement to the antebellum period, the predominant historic period represented by the surveyed resources is that of Reconstruction and Growth (1866-1916), reflecting the era of economic expansion in the late nineteenth century, during which time industrial, commercial, and residential growth transformed parts of the county into commercial centers. Domestic buildings were the most extensively documented resource type, although commercial buildings, mixed-use buildings, industrial and mining sites, mills, churches, schools and rural landscapes were identified. Historic themes associated with the resource types identified for the survey thus included Subsistence/Agriculture, Architecture, Commerce / Trade, Transportation/ Communication, Religion, and Ethnicity/Immigration. The survival in the county of agricultural landscapes and rural open spaces is one of its character-defining historical features and is evidence of its history as an agricultural support area for the city of Petersburg. In more recent decades, Dinwiddie has been affected by growth in response to southwestward expansion of the city of Petersburg. Today, while its rural character is retained to a significant degree, its unspoiled rural landscape is threatened over the long term by unrestricted residential and commercial development as well as the erosion of traditional attitudes toward the pursuit of agriculture. Ongoing expansion at Fort Lee has been an important source of development in the region. It is this rural character and the landscapes associated with it that distinguish Dinwiddie from the other counties to the north and that add significantly to the quality of life for the county’s residents and visitors. The county’s rural landscapes, open spaces and significant view sheds are as much a part of its historic resources as its historic dwellings, crossroads communities, churches, schools and those places associated with its industrial and transportation history. Many of Dinwiddie County’s standing structures are clearly worthy of additional study and continued preservation. Its historic rural landscapes and open spaces are deserving of the same. This report provides a chronological historic context for the county’s historic PAGE 4 resources. It is not a county history, but can be used to identify the resources associated with particular periods in the county’s history. The report identifies properties, areas, and collections of resources that may be eligible for listing in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places and makes recommendations for preserving the built environment and rural landscapes that define Dinwiddie County. This report and its recommendations can be a significant preservation planning tool to help the county retain those significant properties and open spaces that form its character- defining features and contribute to its quality of life while at the same time responding in appropriate ways to economic growth and proposals for change. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank those persons responsible for the project at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the Dinwiddie County Planning Department, and the Dinwiddie County Historical Society for their interest and assistance, most notably Susan Smead, Virginia Department of Historic Resources survey program coordinator and Ann Miller Andrus and Kristin Kirchen of the DHR Capital Region Preservation Office. Mark Bassett of the Dinwiddie County Planning Department guided the project at the county level and drove the survey area with us at the start of the project and offered helpful suggestions along the way. Betty Bowen of the Dinwiddie County Historical Society provided assistance in identifying houses and in meeting owners. Many owners, and in particular Dan Robbins of Bonneville, went out of their way to provide important information on survey sites. Erin Webb and Braxton Worsham assisted in the field work and data management portions of the survey. LIST OF FIGURES PAGE 5 1. Project Location and County Map from the eve of the modern era of development. 13 2. John Henry. Detail of “A new and accurate map of Virginia wherein most of the counties are laid down from actual surveys: with a concise account of the number of inhabitants, the trade, soil, and produce of that Province,” 1770. Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. 17 3. John Wood. Map of Dinwiddie County, 1820, Library of Virginia 18 4. Thomas F. Rives. Map of Dinwiddie County, Virginia. 1878. 19 PAGE 6 LIST OF PLATES Illustrations are incorporated through the text. They have not been selected with a view to comprehensive depiction of Dinwiddie County’s historic architecture. Most are of the buildings that were selected for survey due to lack of previous attention. Thus those buildings that have already been documented are often mentioned in the text but are not necessarily illustrated, unless needed to assist in discussing the surviving buildings. All photographs were taken by Gibson Worsham, except in cases where the buildings were not surveyed as part of this project or are no longer standing. Other photographs are from Department of Historic Resources files or are credited to their source. The cover illustration is of the Roney House (026-5163) on Flatfoot Road. Mansfield (026-0012), from southeast 23 Sapony Church (026-0019), from southwest 26 Eppington, from northeast 29 Bollingbrook, 1850 30 Bollingbrook, 1907 30 Burlington (026-0001), from southeast 31 Plan of Burlington from Zehmer: 1970 31 Mayfield (026-0027) from DHR files 33 Battersea (123-0059) from south 34 Wales (026-0024), from southwest 35 Wales (026-0024), detail of southwest corner of center section 35 Plan of Wales (026-0024) from American Architect, May 1933. 35 Mansfield (026-0012), wing from northeast 36 Mansfield (026-0012), first-floor interior looking north 36 Plan of Mansfield (026-0012) from DHR files 37 Kingston (026-0010), from southeast 38 Kingston (026-0010) detail of basement vent from south 38 Harper House (026-0007), from southwest 39 Harper House (026-0007), stair in passage from northeast 39 Stony Creek (026-0092) from northeast 40 Stony Creek (026-0092) from southeast 40 Stell-Wilkerson House (026-5165), from northwest 41 Rice’s Tavern (Raceland) (026-0085), from southeast. 46 Quarles House (026-5117), from southwest 47 Wynn-Chappell House (026-0101), from north 47 Crowder-Perkins House (026-0048), from northeast 49 Crowder-Perkins House (026-0048), interior of passage looking northeast 49 Fairview (026-0055), view from southeast 50 Rose Bower (026-0090), view from south 51 Montrose (026-0031) from southwest 52 Burnt Quarter (026-0025) from west 52 Cedarhurst (026-0044), view from southwest 53 Wales (026-0024), wash house from southwest 55 Wales (026-0025) slave house from south 55 PAGE 7 Dependency at Old Pine Forest (026-0017) from northeast and 55 Outbuildings at Rose Bower (026-0090), from west 55 Dinwiddie County Courthouse (026-0004), view from southwest 59 Puryear’s Store (026-5111), from southeast 61 14002 Old Cox Rd (026-5126), from south 61 Moody House (026-5109) from west (right)