Entries by HFFI Staff

Upper Caroline Neighborhood History

Researched by Jan Waltonen & Roger Engels, HFFI Marker Committee Written by Jan Waltonen Article compiled for the 2019 Candlelight Tour. Properties on the tour included the Rising Sun Tavern, 1308, 1309, 1310, 1513, and 1517 Caroline Street. This year’s Candlelight Tour (CLT) explores a neighborhood whose history began more than a hundred years before […]

Historic Bricks and Mortar 

by Natalie Chavez and Danae Peckler; edited by Linda Billard The Lewis Store, HFFI’s headquarters, is the embodiment of honest brick construction in a classic Georgian architectural style from the mid-eighteenth century. This mass masonry brick building has multiple wythes, or vertical sections of brick wall, laid in two different bonds. The Lewis Store’s elevation […]

Library marks Golden Anniversary

Written by Nancy Moore Fifty years ago this month, the Central Rappahannock Regional Library was launched as a demonstration library serving Fredericksburg and surrounding counties. Trustees of Fredericksburg’s Wallace Library, established in 1908, realized that the small city library could not adequately serve the area’s growing population. The Wallace trustees considered building a new library on Washington Avenue […]

“Battle of the Silversmith House” fought in 1962

Written by Wendy Migdal, Edits by Linda Billard, HFFI Volunteers Soon after the Revolutionary War, a small one-and-a-half story wooden house was built on Sophia Street. Its address would not become 813 until years later. It rested on a shelf of shale by the river and had two levels of basements. Other than that, it […]

It Takes a Village…To Save an Old House

It Takes a Village…To Save an Old House By Wendy Migdal, HFFI Volunteer Sometimes houses, like people, fall on hard times. Life throws challenges their way, and they don’t always have the resources to keep up. If they have a network of people willing to labor on their behalf, they can bounce back. If not, […]

Cooperation for Preservation of Historic Properties

Cooperation for Preservation of Historic Properties by David James, HFFI Board President Since 1955, the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. (HFFI) has been devoted to protecting and preserving historic structures and landscapes of our city that give it a true sense of place and authenticity. Recognizing that each modification of an historic building could impact the […]

Ducking Stools in Fredericksburg

Ducking Stools in Fredericksburg By: Michael Spencer   Ducking stools, “an instrument of punishment for nags, gossips, witches, and difficult individuals”, often consisted of a “…chair suspended from a sweeplike pole” that would be lowered into water.[1] While used throughout Europe during the medieval period, it was also used here in Virginia until the 19th […]