Doorknob inside the Carpenter House.
Despite having decidedly limited time to devote to the exploration of Augusta County’s endangered buildings, the three of us nevertheless managed to investigate two buildings over the holiday season. Both buildings remain largely un-researched, meaning we cannot marry what we see with facts from archival records. Despite this, both buildings are clearly historic and offer insight into two very different historical narratives.
In the week leading up to Christmas, we followed a lead from Nancy that led us to the Buffalo Gap area to investigate a house believed to have been built by a free African American following emancipation. The house was a goldmine for lovers of vernacular architecture. Long abandoned, the house was a hodge-podge of architectural pieces. Numerous types and sizes of doors and windows abounded, clearly indicating that the residents were apt to reuse. After we braved the cold for as long as we could, we called it quits – but not before taking both interior and exterior photographs as well as basic exterior footprint measurements. We have yet to get inside the courthouse and uncover a detailed history of the house – once we do, it should all make a bit more sense.
Kitchen house at the McClure homestead.
Days after Christmas, the same team converged on the McClure homestead, located in the vicinity of Spottswood. The main house, a two-story, circa-1910 frame farmouse, was not our main interest. The stone kitchen house, connected to the main house, was the reason we made the trip. According to the owner, a team of architectural historians who visited years back stated with some certainty that the kitchen house dated to the 18th century. That assertion is a fair one for any historic stone building in Augusta County, as brick became the building material of choice in the early 19th century (see Ann McCleary’s Historic Resources in Augusta County, Virginia, Eighteenth Century to Present).
As more information is gathered, each of these building’s pages will be updated on the website. To access the Carpenter House (Buffalo Gap area) page, click here. To access the McClure Homestead (Spottswood area) page, click here.
Lost Buildings of Augusta County 