Early photographs show horses and wagons on hard-packed dirt ( or mud ) roads . It wouldn ’ t be until the 1930s that Snickersville Turnpike was paved .
More on Snickersville Turnpike : The first toll road in America ( admittedly a bad precedent ), it was an important passage for over four centuries to deliver goods from the port of Alexandria , for early pioneers heading westward , and for the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War .
Just a block down the Turnpike stands the E . E . Lake Store which decades earlier provided agricultural supplies to surrounding farms . Bluemont has been primarily an agricultural community
during its existence , the fertile soils of the Piedmont producing corn , wheat , and grazing land for cattle ( both beef and dairy ). The store boasts being the only general store in Virginia still in its original condition . The wood counters , shelves , and two large display bay windows appear as they did over one hundred years earlier . Fittingly , it is now home Sundays to the Bluemont Farmers Market .
In an adjacent section of the Lake Store , formerly the old post office , the Plaster Museum of Bluemont Heritage has opened . Honoring the Plaster family who have played a prominent role in Bluemont for generations , the museum preserves historical artifacts and records in an online archive . Following the success of its Civil War exhibition last year , this year ’ s theme is “ Education in Snickersville / Bluemont in the 19 th & 20 th Century .” Open Sundays .
Upstairs , the original dance hall and platform stage says something about village life : they knew how to let their hair down ! Tiny Bluemont had not one , but two dance halls , the other in a building across the street .
At the same corner intersection is Railroad Street , named for an event that literally transformed the village : the day the trains came to Snickersville / Bluemont , July 4 , 1900 .
More on Snickersville : Bluemont before 1900 was called Snickersville after Edward Snickers who ran a ferry across the Shenandoah and other commercial activities . Well , the railroad had expressed interest in extending the train route that already ran from Washington to Round Hill . To further entice railroad officials , some villagers thought a name-change and a bit of cash would seal the deal , and “ Bluemont ” sounded just right . And so the resort era began as visitors left steamy , hot Washington seeking the cool breezes on the Blue Ridge .
Elegant hotels and modest boarding houses opened their doors to the influx of tourists who were met at the station with horse and buggy to their lodgings and excursions out into the country . Alas , the railroad and the resort era , and the prosperity it brought , passed in 1938 with the popularity of automobile travel .
A short distance past Railroad Street on the Turnpike is the old stone United Methodist Church that was erected in 1851 and , across the street , the Bluemont School in 1921 ( the present Community Center ). A total of five schools , public and private , have educated children at various locations in the village since the early 1800 ’ s .
Bucolic vistas begin to open up as I continue south on the
wander I spring • summer 2021 15