HISTORY TO GO

The History of a Virginia Community in Pictures

The full proceedings of the June 7 Historical Marker dedication at North Pamunkey Baptist Church

The proceedings of the recent 60th anniversary celebration of the Orange County (Virginia) Historical Society with a keynote address by Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey of Montpelier and the awarding of the first Frank S. Walker Jr. Historic Preservation Award.

Mertz recently retired from a 40-year career as a historian and interpreter with the National Park Service in Gettysburg, PA and Fredericksburg, VA. He has authored the book Attack Them at Daylight and Whip Them: The Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862. Currently, Greg conducts tours for Battlefield Tours of Virginia and serves on the boards of Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, the Brandy Station Foundation, and the Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table.

Using the latest technology, Dr. Bryan Green and Will Rourke take us on a fascinating journey through the Jefferson-designed Barbour family mansion that now lies in ruins

John Maas, Historian at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, describes the various comings and goings of Lafayette and his army during the summer of 1781 that led to the victory over Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Bill Speiden talks about his late wife, Sandra's 17-year effort to return a ceremonial pipe to the descendants of its rightful owner, Sitting Bull

Sam Biggers of Dominion Traditional Building Group tells the fascinating story of rebuilding this 18th-century Colonial-Georgian ruin.

Bill Schwetke of Sons of the American Revolution tells the story of the Culpeper Minutemen from Orange, Culpeper and Fauquier Counties and the role they played in the American Revolution.

Russ Roberts tells the story of how a small airport and the people around it, led him to become an airline pilot

Jennifer Conley tells us about this second oldest church in Orange County, VA

Here are the proceedings of the April 13 Edna Lewis Historical Marker dedication.

Robert Lookabill, of Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, tells us about the implications of the casualties at the Battle of Chancellorsville on Robert E. Lee's future military plans

The Archaeological Site Director at Historic Germanna, Kelly Arford-Horne, tells us about discoveries made during 2023.

The story of the restoration and salvage at this historic Orange County property

Orange County Historian, Frank Walker explains the difference between land patents and grants.

Gordon Lohr talks about and shows slides of historic structures in Virginia that he has saved using the Preservation Virginia Revolving Fund

The renovated Sandra and William H. Speiden Auditorium is now official!

Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy shares her research and genealogical knowledge. A technical difficulty lost the audio for the first few minutes of the program, but was restored about five minutes in.

James Madison Museum Director, Bethany Sullivan takes us on a tour of what may be the oldest still standing dwelling in Orange County

Here's the latest edition of History to Go...a twofer: First is a presentation by Douglas Sanford, a Co-Director of the Virginia Slave Housing Project, second is a presentation by his cousin, Steve Sanford about the history of his family home since the 1850s, Woodley.

A History of Grymes Memorial School on the 75th anniversary of this independent K-8 educational facility, as told by Margaret Hill, former graduate, teacher, librarian and now archivist.

Mayhurst owners Jason and Casey Cashell hosted the Orange County Historical Society recently. Here's Jason's presentation about their historic home in Orange, VA

Eighth generation Clore descendant, Troy Coppage, tells the fascinating story of his family furniture business that dates back to 1827.

Dr. Matt Reeves, Director of Archaeology at James Madison's Montpelier, discusses excavation at the Home Farm site.

Here is Ann Miller's thorough study of the "before, during, and after" of the 1716 Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition where Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood led a company of men over the Blue Ridge Mountains from Germanna.

On June 3, 1872, the village of Orange Courthouse in the Piedmont area of Virginia became an incorporated town. On June 12, 2022, the town celebrated the 150th anniversary of that occasion. But the town’s story goes back much further than that. Unqualified Promise takes a detailed look at the Town of Orange, from its humble beginnings as an early 18th century colonial settlement to a modern municipality of the 21st century. That 300-year journey takes us through a Civil War, several devastating fires, the arrival of the railroad and the automobile, and the resulting growth and prosperity that they brought. It also explores “Little Known Facts,” about the town, who the shakers and movers were, how and where the African American community developed, how the town survived the Great Depression, and how it will weather the challenges of the future. “Orange, Virginia: A Place of Unqualified Promise,” Joseph Martin, 1835. Produced by the Orange County Historical Society and AHHA Productions

Our latest installment of History-to-Go, longtime airport advocate, Hubert Compton talks about our local aviation facility

Craig Jacobs of Salvagewrights Ltd shows us how an 18th century house was built from the foundation to the rooftop.