Great Scott, there’s a lot to sea here

By Anne Causey Daily Progress correspondent
Published: August 11, 2008

Editor’s Note: Welcome to Get Outta Here, a joint effort by the News & Advance in Lynchburg and The Daily Progress, in which we take readers to getaways in their own back yards. The idea is to explore a sight or activity that might offer a real change of scenery without having to travel far to get there. We hope you enjoy.

Scottsville may be small but, once upon a time, it was a major port and bustling stop for goods going to Richmond and Tidewater. All because of the James River.

Founded in 1744, this small river town along Route 20 about 18 miles south of Charlottesville was once known as Scott’s Landing, Scott’s Ferry and Scott’s Ferry Landing. It is home to the James River and the Hatton Ferry, two rafting companies, unique shops and several small family-style restaurants.

Along Main Street, in a brick house perched on a hill, is the Scottsville Museum. The building was founded as Disciples of Christ Church in 1846 by Dr. James Turner Barclay, who was an inventor for the U.S. Mint and a missionary to Jerusalem. The former church became a museum in 1970.

Next door is the inventor’s home, the Barclay house, built in 1830 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The brick building with black shutters sits right up against the road – built in earlier times when the roads weren’t as wide. It’s possible

to get a tour of the house, by appointment only — but only of one floor, because the rest of it is in use. A stream runs through the bottom floor of the house, which is where Dr. Barclay had his apothecary.

A good start in getting to know Scottsville is to visit the free museum.

It’s open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday through October, then by appointment until it re-opens in April. Stop by and get an idea about the individuals from the small town who contributed to World War II.

The museum is a large room with a high ceiling and an old hardwood floor that slopes a bit. Above is a balcony storing old chairs, a rocking horse, spindle and other antiques.

Stationed around the room are displays including uniforms — a blue Navy Waves uniform with red crosses, a green Army uniform worn by a technical sergeant, a Navy lieutenant’s uniform — and other items from the war including guns, bayonets, a trunk, tent, cot, typewriter, goggles, radios, dog tags. Vintage war posters and collages of letters and pictures decorate the room as well.

Especially interesting is the exhibit of notebooks with pictures and stories for each veteran. Connie Geary, co-president of the Scottsville Museum and Historic Landmarks Foundation, said the staff has been compiling histories of almost 140 veterans for three years now. Some were done by volunteers, and every summer the museum hires a University of Virginia student as an intern to work on the project.

One display includes the pictures and story of William Schneider, who served as a tank mechanic in Casablanca and in Italy. Another is about Milton Cohen, who was a war photographer in North Africa and Europe.

Then there is Corp. Alice Black, who served in the Women’s Army Corps, supported by her family whose son was also in the war, but opposed by her boss who didn’t think women should be involved in war. Another display features Staff Sgt. Allen Gooden Jr., an African American who was a combat engineer in New Guinea and Okinawa. The native of Birmingham, Ala., returned to the States to become the principal of Buckingham Elementary School (his wife was from Buckingham).

The museum also hosts displays of earlier times — one on the Civil War and another on the people who inhabited the area. Learn about Dr. Orianna Moon, who was determined to be a doctor at a time when women were discouraged from seeking such are unfeminine profession. The graduate of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania went to Charlottesville General Hospital during the war to help the Confederate Army.

Once you’ve perused the museum, take a walk across the street and enjoy the Canal Basin Square Park, a park commemorating the role of the river and the railroad’s impact on Scottsville. Under a unique wooden structure, you’ll find replicas of an old packet boat, which was a passenger boat used on the river, and a bateau, the flat bottom boat that was invented to carry tobacco and is well known in these parts are a result of the annual Bateau Festival.

Scottsville was such a vital stop that a state tobacco inspector was appointed for the town, which became one of the busiest trading centers on the river. By 1830, as many as 500 bateaux ran the river between Lynchburg and Richmond and by 1831, they carried more than half of Virginia’s tobacco crop.

In 1835, the James River and Kanawha Canal Co. began building a canal along the James to provide better navigation during low and high water. During the Civil War, union soldiers wrecked the canal. Afterward, the canal was repaired, but profits were declining and the floods of 1870 made it worse. Besides, railroads were faster and more reliable.

In 1880 the Richmond and Aleghany Railroad purchased the James River and Kanawha Co.’s right of way along the James. The company laid tracks on the canal towpath, but the railroad did not bring as much business as the river. A decade after the railroad moved in, the town’s population had dropped to half the size it was during the canal’s heyday.

Climb up the levee overlooking the railroad tracks on the old canal towpath to see the mighty James River. To the left is an old three-story brick building, the canal warehouse built in 1840 on the canal basin where it was the depot for tobacco and other supplies. Union soldiers tried to burn it, but it was repaired after the war and used to house lumber.

Now the building sits empty, with shuttered windows. The metal scafolding outside provides hope that it will be restored eventually. It is now privately owned and Geary said the current owner works on renovating it when he can.

If you want more of the idea of the canal basin, visit Dorrier Park, on the other side of Route 20, to find the path up and around the levee that was created in 1989 to keep the flood waters back from the town.

Here, you can really enjoy the view of the river and imagine what it was like way back when so many boats passed through the area loaded down with their crops and goods.

DETAILS

For more information about the Scottsville Museum or the Town of Scottsville, call (434) 286-2247 or visit the Web site at www. avenue.org/smuseum. Since the museum is not staffed during the week (it’s a volunteer effort), Geary said it’s best to send an email to smuseum @avenue.org.