Last chance for rescue

Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: April 29, 2008

It was sad to lose a pre-Revolutionary War home in Schuyler to a fire recently.

But it was appalling to learn that a pre-Revolutionary War building in Zion Crossroads had been given up for destruction.

Enter rescuers Diane and Paul Manning.

Historic Hall’s Tavern dates to the 1750s; it was a stop for travelers between Richmond and Charlottesville.

The route is still popular for travel and commerce, with U.S. 250 and Interstate 64. And those roads also make the route popular for development.

So in 2006 the Louisa County Board of Supervisors approved rezoning of 14 acres west of Zion Crossroads as an industrial park.

The site contained the old Hall’s Tavern.

Proffers for developing the site required the tavern to be relocated or demolished — although the owners did offer $20,000 toward the cost of moving the building.

The supervisors could have rejected a proffer than included demolition of a building with such a long and intriguing history.

They did not.

Willie Harper, chairman of the board, said the supervisors were not aware of the building’s significance at the time.

That admission suggests a larger problem. Louisa County clearly needs a better understanding of its historic resources. A comprehensive survey of sites would be in order.

Better documentation of known sites would be helpful; some buildings that might be considered only moderately important could in fact be very significant historically.

There is also the rare possibility that previously unknown sites could be uncovered — unknown, that is, to officials. Someone’s oral history, some family’s ancestral records could be the key to revealing the importance of those sites.

If such exist, finding them will require residents to come forward with their stories, or will require a careful and comprehensive inquiry by experts.

But that’s for the future.

The immediate issue is the rescue of Hall’s Tavern.

Paul Manning is founder of PBM Products, a Gordonsville business that markets and distributes baby formula. The Mannings own nearly 700 acres in the Green Springs Historic District, and have already helped save 15 buildings in Gordonsville.

Officials with Green Springs asked for their help in also saving Hall’s Tavern.

“I had no idea what I was getting into,” Diane Manning said. “It’s really something” to move a building in order to save it, far different from restoring one on its original site.

They plan to restore Hall’s Tavern to its Colonial appearance. That commitment to detail and authenticity also adds to the difficulty. But they said they have no regrets.

“You don’t get a second chance when it come to something like this,” Paul Manning said. “If you don’t save it, it’s gone forever.”

Good words of advice for the Louisa County Board of Supervisors.