Down Memory Lane
Feb. 15, 1973
The old apple packing house in the Town of Washington, which has been purchased by Peter
Kramer of Amissville, will undergo some renovation and be used as a business office and shop for his building company.
His company specializes in renovation and restoration, refinishing furniture and intricate repair work. Peter appeared at the meeting Tuesday night of the town council to apply for a special-use permit to establish his business office and woodworking shop. The application was approved by the council members, who were assured that the building will be improved and sound-proofed so there should be nothing objectionable to the operation.
In front of the Sperryville Corner Store on Feb. 4, two vehicles were involved in a collision in which five persons were injured. Officer W. A. Buntin, who investigated the accident, said a 1971 Ford station wagon driven by Alexander May of Youngstown, Ohio, and a 1963 Chevrolet operated by Lewis William Dodson of Sperryville collided at the intersection.
The officer said May had stopped at the intersection and was struck by Dodson’s vehicle as he pulled away. The visitor was cited for reckless driving.
July 1, 1982
The street corner in the center of the county seat was a hub of activity when John Edward Thornton owned Washington House.
He built a garage across the street, the beginning of the structure that now houses The Inn at Little Washington.
“Initially, it was going to be just a garage,” Mrs. Walker recalled. But his wife objected so to the partying, dancing and card playing going on in the old ordinary that Thornton added a second level.
The story goes that Blanche Thornton hated the carryings-on so much that when she caught a group of her husband’s friends playing cards in one of her back rooms, she went after them with a kettle of hot water and they all had to jump out of the upstairs window to escape.
The highlight of the Fauquier Foxes 4-H Horse & Pony Show last week at Casanova was the special cakewalk won by Marion Eastham of Red Hill Farm near Amissville. Marion and her companion, Urge For Gold, took home a magnificent, custom-decorated buttercream frosted lemon yellow horse shoe as their prize. The duo also took a third place in the green horse hack class. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Eldred, owners of Washington House of Reproductions in Little Washington, have contracted to do the reproduction of lighting fixtures at Oklahoma State University. The restored fixtures will be placed in the original University building, Old Central. The Eldreds will be doing 35 fixtures that are the gas type. The fixtures will be completed in August and sent to the university to be installed.