DHR

Quarterly Meeting of the Virginia Board of Historic Resources & State Review Board (September 2023)
2023-09-21 09:30 - 15:00 UTC | The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, 150 Slayton Avenue, Danville, Virginia, 24540
The joint quarterly public meeting of the Virginia Board of Historic Resources and the State Review Board convened at 9:30 a.m. September 21, 2023, in The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, Conference Room 207 (2nd Floor), 150 Slayton Avenue, Danville, VA 2454. See below for the final agenda of the meeting and additional details.

Meeting Recording, password: [REDACTED]
Final Agenda
Draft 2024 Meeting Schedule
Nominations Presented: See below, by region.
Preliminary Information Forms (PIFs) Presented: See below, by region.
Highway Marker Program Memo
Easement Program Board Packet

The places below were nominated and approved for listing on the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR). The Department of Historic Resources will forward the approved nominations to the National Park Service for review and listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Nominations (National Register of Historic Places/Virginia Landmarks Register)

Eastern Region

Cape Charles Rosenwald School, Town of Cape Charles, Northampton County, DHR No. 182-0003
Granby Street Suburban Institutional Corridor, City of Norfolk, DHR 122-6154
Gwynn’s Island Historic District, Mathews County, DHR No. 057-5467 Detailed Sketch Maps

Northern Region

Elkton Historic District, Town of Elkton, Rockingham County, DHR No. 216-5097
Long Meadow, Augusta County, DHR No. 007-0147

Western Region
No nominations from the Western Region were presented during this Board Meeting.

Virginia Archaeology Month
2023-10-01 - 2023-10-31
Virginia Archaeology Month is in October 2023!

Lab Nights with Fairfield
2023-10-03 18:00 - 21:00, 2023-10-17 21:00 - 2023-10-18 00:00 | The CAPE, 6783 Main St., Gloucester, VA, 23061
The public is welcome to join us on lab nights at the CAPE. Lab activities cater to all ages, ranging from cleaning the artifacts, processing cleaned artifacts, and occasionally mending pottery! These are at the Center of Archaeology, Preservation, and Education (CAPE) in Gloucester, VA.

Behind-the-Scenes Walking Tours with Historic Germanna Archaeology
2023-10-06 13:00 - 15:00, 2023-10-13 14:00 - 16:00, 2023-10-20 13:00 - 15:00, 2023-10-27 13:00 - 15:00 | Historic Germanna, 2062 Germanna Highway, Locust Grove, VA, 22508
In celebration of Archaeology Month, Historic Germanna’s Archaeology team will host special behind-the-scenes walking tours on each Friday morning in October of Germanna’s archaeological dig sites located in Orange County, Virginia.The dig sites feature the ruins of the “Enchanted Castle” – home of Virginia’s Colonial Lt. Governor, Alexander Spotswood – as well as the potential sites of the 1714 Fort Germanna, which were constructed by the first German immigrants to Virginia, and the original Spotsylvania Courthouse. See and hear the latest findings including, uncovering the herringbone walkway of the Enchanted Castle. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience history in the making as the Germanna archaeological dig sites are not normally open to the public.Join the archaeological team for these exclusive walks each Friday in October at 10:00am. Event dates include: October 6, 13, 20, and 27.Learn more and RSVP at Germanna.orgAttendees should meet the archaeology team at the Historic Germanna Visitor Center at 10:00AM to follow the archaeologists to the dig site nearby. The Historic Germanna Visitor Center is located at: 2062 Germanna Highway Locust Grove, VA 22508. Guests are requested to dress for the weather and wear close-toed shoes. Event rain or shine unless severe weather.

Fairfield Fridays
2023-10-06 14:00 - 20:00, 2023-10-20 13:00 - 19:00 | Fairfield, 5777 Fairfield Lane, Hayes, VA, 23072
Come visit the Fairfield Archaeology Park! We will host tours at the structure where you can learn about a colonial site! Occasionally, we will have excavations during these Fridays, but predominantly guided or self-guided tours around the structure and the natural trail.

Friday Field Days
2023-10-06 17:00 - 19:00, 2023-10-13 17:00 - 19:00, 2023-10-20 16:00 - 18:00, 2023-10-27 13:00 - 15:00 | Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, 1776 Poplar Forest Pkwy, Lynchburg, VA
The 1857 Slave Dwelling Restoration project is a community-engaged effort in collaboration with Poplar Forest’s African American Advisory Group to begin restoring a two-story brick building originally inhabited by enslaved and free African American residents of Poplar Forest plantation. Visit during September and October to learn about current archaeological work each Friday at 1 p.m.
Every Friday at 1 p.m. from Sept. 8- Oct. 27

Archaeology in the West End
2023-10-07 14:00 - 18:00 | Southern Towers Farmer’s Market, 4901 Seminary Road, Alexandria, VA, 22311
Southern Towers is surrounded by history! Visit the Southern Towers Farmer’s Market between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to see artifacts from nearby sites, meet City archaeologists, and try your hand at an archaeology challenge.

Monticello Archaeology Open House
2023-10-07 14:00 - 20:00 | Monticello, 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy, Charlottesville, VA, 22902
Help celebrate Virginia Archaeology Month!
Join us as Monticello’s Archaeology Department hosts its annual open house, featuring displays, exhibits on recent discoveries in the field and the lab, engaging activities for all ages to learn, and walking tours of the vanished Monticello Plantation landscape. Archaeology staff members will be on hand to answer questions. Displays and exhibits are found in the Visitors’ Center courtyard outside of the Farm Table café.
This year’s Walking Tours will visit Site 30, an archaeological dig that is revealing important information about enslaved agricultural laborers at Monticello as well as the precolonial activities of Indigenous communities on this landscape.
Walking Tours leave from the Bronze Plantation Model in the Visitors Center at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. These are complimentary tours to celebrate Virginia Archaeology Month, and they will replace the regularly scheduled and ticketed 2 p.m. walking tour that day. This walk follows an historic road that is fairly flat, with uneven terrain in some areas. Sturdy shoes and a water bottle are recommended. In the event of rain, discussions with archaeologists will be held at the plantation model outside of the Monticello Farm Table café at the visitor center. Walk is approximately 1-mile round trip. The open house and tours are included with any ticketed tour admission. No reservations needed. This event is weather-dependent. If rain is forecasted, a cancellation notification will post on our webpage by 5 pm on October 5.
This event will take place in Monticello’s David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

The Great Pottery Puzzle
2023-10-11 19:30 | James M. Duncan Branch Library, 501 Commonwealth Ave, Alexandria, Virginia, 22301
How do archaeologists study the past? Sort artifacts and learn about archaeology tools. Ages 6 – 12. Free, no registration required.

Public Dig at Abingdon Episcopal Church
2023-10-13 14:00 - 20:00, 2023-10-14 14:00 - 20:00 | Abingdon Episcopal Church, 4645 George Washington Memorial Highway, Gloucester, VA, 23061
The Fairfield Foundation is excited to collaborate with Abingdon Episcopal Church on a new public archaeology experience for the parish’s anniversary celebrations in 2023, 2024, and 2025. We aim to unite the congregation and our broader community searching for the 17th-century Abingdon Church. Students and the general public are encouraged to work alongside Fairfield staff.

Archaeology Behind the Scenes Tours
2023-10-13 15:00 - 19:00, 2023-10-14 15:00 - 19:00 | Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, 1776 Poplar Forest Pkwy, Lynchburg, VA
An amateur archaeologist known to have studied Native American material culture, Thomas Jefferson would surely be fascinated by the more than 300,000 artifacts found on the Poplar Forest grounds since 1986. Join Poplar Forest’s archaeologists for a walking tour focused on the latest archaeological dig sites and discoveries on the plantation, including a rare up-close look at some of the artifacts in the Poplar Forest Archaeology Lab. Admission is $25; reservations are encouraged as spots on the tour are limited.
Tours at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday October 13th and Saturday October 14th.

Free Family Day at the Sargeant Museum of Louisa County History
2023-10-14 - 2023-10-15 | Sargeant Museum of Louisa County History, 214 Fredericksburg Ave, Louisa, VA, 23093
It’s Archaeology Month in Virginia! Learn all about archaeology in Louisa County with our hands-on history fun! Each month Free Family Day focuses on a different topic and features living history demonstrations with children’s activities, and an old-fashioned, one-room schoolhouse lesson. This month features archaeological discoveries in Louisa County and explains how archaeologists can teach us about Louisa’s past. We’ll feature a special presentation on the history of 19th century mining in Mineral, VA.
Entrance to the day’s festivities, as well as the Sargeant Museum of Louisa County History, is FREE for all attendees!

The Archaeology of the Potomac River Valley: A View from the National Parks
2023-10-14 14:00 - 16:00 | James Lee Community Center Auditorium, 2855 Annandale Rd, Falls Church, VA, 22042, United States
Lecture: In the late 19th century, William Henry Holmes and his associates began the first archaeological survey of the Potomac Valley. Almost 100 years later, professors William Gardner, Robert Humphrey, and Charles McNett and their students followed-up and expanded on Holmes’ earlier efforts, resulting in theses, dissertations, papers, and articles. Starting in 1995 and continuing to the present day, the National Park Service has been conducting overviews, assessments, identification, and evaluation studies of 10 major parks in the Potomac River basin. These investigations were planned as a connected series of studies moving westward up the river from Prince William Forest Park to the terminus of the C&O Canal National Historical Park. Highlights from this research include the discovery of new prehistoric and historic archaeological sites spanning over 13,000 years of changing human lifeways and different cultures represented by campsites, villages, workshops, stone quarries, domestic sites, taverns, kilns, mills, armories, forges, fortifications, and battlefields.
Dr. Stephen R. Potter
Archaeologist
Sponsored by Fairfax County Park Authority Archaeology and Collections Brance, the Friends of Fairfax County Archaeology and Cultural Resources and the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia
Saturday, October 14, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Location: James Lee Community Center Auditorium
2855 Annandale Rd, Falls Church, VA 22042
*Registration Opens at 9:30 a.m. (with coffee and light breakfast). The program begins at 10:00 a.m.

Archaeology on the Waterfront
2023-10-14 16:00 - 20:00 | Robinson Landing, 7 Pioneer Mill Way, Alexandria, VA, 22314
Celebrate Virginia Archaeology Month with Robinson Landing and Alexandria Archaeology! Archaeologists excavated a full city block ahead of the construction of Robinson Landing. Learn what used to be at the site, including Hooe’s 18th century warehouse and store, the 19th century steam-powered Pioneer Mill, and the remnants of three merchant ships. Explore the area as a family with a self-guided scavenger hunt or register in advance to take a free guided tour of the waterfront with an archaeologist. The event is free and open to the public from 12 – 4 p.m., but guided tours are limited. Register for a guided tour at shop.alexandriava.gov/events.

Alexandria Forum
2023-10-14 16:00 - 20:00 | Alexandria History Museum at the Lyceum, 201 S. Washington St., Alexandria, VA, 22314
This day-long symposium will explore the theme of revisiting the history of the Alexandria Waterfront through new research lenses, technologies, excavations, and sources. Learn more and register at shop.alexandriava.gov/events. $60/person and $40/OHA members and students.

The Surprise That Shouldn't Be: Archaeological Evidence of a Slave Occupation at the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace in Staunton
2023-10-16 22:00 - 23:30 | WWPL Archive & Research Center, 235 East Beverley Street, Staunton, VA, 24401, United States
The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum is inviting the public to attend a presentation by Dr. Dennis Blanton, who will be discussing the work of students and researchers from the James Madison University (JMU) archaeology field school, which took place at the museum over the summer. An archaeological exploration of the rear yard of the Presbyterian manse at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library has revealed far more about the human history of the property, and of Staunton, than was anticipated. Powerful evidence of a slave-related occupation has been recovered in a portion of the property. The findings will provide rare archaeological perspective on the lives of enslaved persons in the Shenandoah Valley. Together with other evidence that reflects aspects of the lives of the ministers’ families who lived in The Manse, a more holistic interpretation of the property becomes possible.
Dr. Dennis Blanton
Associate Professor of Anthropology at JMU
For questions or more information, please contact Karen Dodson at kdodson@woodrowwilson.org, or call 540-885-0897 ext. 113.

Sandusky Archaeology Laboratory Open House
2023-10-17 17:00 - 21:00 | Historic Sandusky, 757 Sandusky Drive, Lynchburg, VA, 24502
Historic Sandusky presents Virginia Archaeology Month Laboratory Open House. Our laboratory and museum are open for free to the public for Virginia Archaeology Month. Come interact with artifacts from local Virginia sites dating to the 18th & 19th centuries, and meet and mingle with our laboratory staff. The event runs from 1:00 – 5:00 PM and is entrance is free. Tours of the main house will also be available at regular cost.

New London Day
2023-10-21 14:00 - 19:00 | New London Museum, 672 Alum Springs Road, Forest, VA, 24551
Don’t miss New London Day 2023! Archaeology at Mead’s Tavern (1763) will be a feature.

Tour historic buildings with guides dressed in period clothing.
Catch up on the latest developments in the restoration of Mead’s Tavern and learn what we’ve discovered through archaeology and research.
Explore the historic African American Church.
Experience life in the Revolutionary War with our reenactors.
Witness 18th-century the handcrafting of the 18th century and learn about the remedies of a 19th-century doctor.
See and touch some of the equipment and small arms used in the World Wars.
Watch the children experience hands-on history and enjoy the petting zoo.
Enjoy a variety of music and new options for food.

All events are free of charge. Donations are welcome.Sponsored jointly by Friends of New London and the History Department at Liberty University.

Slip Into the Past at Art Safari
2023-10-21 15:00 - 19:00 | Alexandria Archaeology, 105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA, 22314
Experiment with 19th-century ceramic slip designs, like marbling and dendritic patterns, and apply your own temporary tattoo in the style of transfer printed porcelain, while supplies last.

Science Underground at Burke Library
2023-10-25 18:30 - 19:30 | Burke Library, 4701 Seminary Rd, Alexandria, VA, 22304
How do archaeologists study the past? Sort and identify artifacts. Recommended ages 4 – 7. Free, but limited to 20 participants.
