Down Memory Lane
September 29, 1960
Chester Gap, once referred to as a sleepy little community sitting high atop a mountain peak in the Blue Ridge, between Warren and Rappahannock counties, no longer fits the description. Since the opening of the post office there in 1954 in the country store owned and operated by M. A. Greeley, the village has increased in population and rapidly spread over the mountaintop.
A 20-foot tree boxwood in the process of being moved from the yard of Mr. and Mrs. George Davis, Jr., in Washington, is being transported to Washington D.C., to be planted around the State Department Annex.
The churchwomen of Bromfield Parish announce that their annual House Tour and dried flower sale will take place Oct. 22 and 23. The homes to be toured are Mr. and Mrs. Ned Johnson’s at Sperryville; Mr. and
Mrs. Freer Willson’s at Flint Hill. and Miss Helen Fuller’s near Washington.
September 12, 1985
An animal shelter originally proposed to be constructed on land owned by dog warden Jack Bruce will be constructed on county-owned land at the Scrabble School in southern Rappahannock County. Students from the Piedmont Technical Education Center will be asked to construct the building, Hubert
Gilkey said. The county must supply labor and materials to prepare the site for a building, he said.
Judge B.M. Miller probably had no idea what his brainstorm 35 years ago would do for Rappahannock County. It is Judge Miller who is credited — or blamed, depending on your viewpoint — with assembling seven women to campaign for mayor and members of the Washington Town Council. That all seven women defeated their male opponents as write-in candidates in that June election in 1950 was one thing. But when they were to be sworn into office in a special ceremony on the courthouse steps on Sept. 1, the seven women, including one who qualified for the election just two days before the election, became national news.
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Bankston and Julie, of Woodville, are proud to announce the birth of their son and brother, Jonathan Michael, on Sept. 4 at Fauquier Hospital. The grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Grefenstette of Burke, and Mrs. Doris M. Bankston of Woodville.
September 20, 2000
Rappahannock Sheriff Larry Sherertz announced this week that law enforcement officers will be mounting a “focused effort” to ensure that the 35 mile-per-hour speed limits in the county’s two public school zones are strictly observed. The school zones for both the Rappahannock County High School and Rappahannock County Elementary School are on U. S. 211 south of Washington.
Decades from now, when researchers at the Rappahannock Historical Society building are looking through county history, they may be surprised to see what is contained in documents relating to a fundraiser that was held at a historic mansion named Montpelier. It is there that the program, news clippings, and papers will be preserved forever more that tell the story about a “Swingin’ Country Picnic” that highlighted the performance of “Cooter” (actor and former U.S. congressman Ben Jones) and his Garage Band.
The Sperryville Gateway Project received its first tangible results after years of planning and paperwork. At a meeting last Thursday the project’s consultant, Frank Cox, with the The Cox Company of Charlottesville, presented a series of options for a pedestrian bridge over the Thornton River just downstream from the vehicular bridge at Routes 522 and 211.