Hi, I'm Eva. Thank you for stopping by. I live in Mendota, Virginia. If you like rural life in a country village, sharing decorating and DIY ideas, gardening, local and seasonal eating, food preservation, thrifting, and anything to do with honey, we have something in common.
It’s been a while since we had a Villager newsletter. This has been due to many reasons — we used to print at least a few. We can no longer do that. Likewise, it can be difficult to get things together.
To make this easier, I took emails and created a free Mail Chimp account which will make distribution by email much easier than how it was done before. Likewise, there’s been a lot of cut and pasting!
Here’s the Villager for June 2022. It’s missing some things and that’s where you come in. If you want to include a birthday, a birth, or important news, comment here and I’ll collect the information for the next one or email rivercliffcottage@gmail.com with the subject VILLAGER.
This quilt top was a fun one to make. I saw it on Pinterest and I found the pattern on ETSY. It was created by Kate Henderson. Her ETSY shop is Kate Henderson Quilts, and she lives in Australia.
The fabric that I used for the quilt is a Moda fabric purchased at the Virginia Highlands Quilt Shop in Abingdon, Virginia. Kim is the owner of the shop, and she will actually be doing the long-arm quilting for this quilt. I hope to enter it in the Washington County Fair. It just looks like a county fair quilt. I am not entering it because it will win. I just want to show it off!
The fabric was called Story Time Fabric by American Jane, and I had the white background fabric from another project. The print fabric used a layer cake plus a charm pack.
I’m bordering the fabric next week and taking it to Kim. I like these big block quilts that do not require a lot of time, although I will admit to having the “stars” turned in the wrong direction several times. I’d post on Facebook, and people would tell me which stars were turned wrong. I could not see them!!! Had it not been for figuring out that others could find my mistakes more quickly than I could on my own, I’m certain this quilt would have stars pointed in the wrong direction.
It was measles on the minds of folks in Mendota a little more than 110 years ago today. And…we now know the name of the hotel that was in Mendota. It was the Miller Hotel.
When driving up 802 between Mendota and Abingdon, there is a road sign that says “Alum Wells.” It’s on the right, and a friend of mine and I followed the sign to see what Alum Wells was.
We didn’t find anything except a narrow road that is no longer maintained (think private property) that goes to the river. We saw grazing land, a natural gas pipe line, woods, a swinging bridge that crossed the river, and the river.
What was Alum Wells?
While I still have this old newspaper subscription, I decided I’d look. Alum Wells was a thriving community. The community had a “stringer” who reported happenings in the area, and here is an example of just one of the reports. There was a Craig’s Mill School. This appeared in the Bristol Herald Courier on April 13, 1911.
I knew there was pottery in this area of what we now call Mendota. There was a Craig’s Mill Pottery Shop, a Wooten Pottery Shop and E. W. Mort Pottery Shop. I learned that E. W. Mort was also a Methodist minister, and as he grew older, he turned his head more toward that vocation than that as a potter. He was originally from the Shenandoah Valley (Strasburg) and when his father was killed in the Civil War, he mother moved him to her childhood home in Washington County, Virginia. I found a recurring ad in the Bristol News in the 1881+ era.
Here’s a sample of Mort’s Pottery I found in an online auction site. This was from a 4/27/19 Spring Discovery Auction. The “sold” price was $480.
Here’s another venture from Alum Wells that appeared in the March 8, 1872 Bristol News:
And another from the Bristol News April 2, 1875:
And finally, Alum Wells, apparently, had a hotel and cabins that typically were for rent. This ad appeared in the Abingdon Virginia newspaper on May 17, 1872. I wish I had a picture!
What happened to the Alum Wells Hotel? Does. anyone have any additional information on Alum Wells? Please leave a comment in the comment area below so we can all see it!
When I grew up, it was a big deal to go to Crystal Pool. It was where all of the cool kids from our high school went; and well, we wanted be cool, too! Because of the distance, we didn’t get to go often so it was a very special time when we did get to go. I left the area for about 25 years and during that time, Crystal Pool closed. Today, as I drive on Wallace Pike, I see a vague footprint of what was once a popular local attraction.
So, we had snow today, and I started attempting to research Bristol’s old newspapers looking for a large snow event. I couldn’t find one — there probably is one but my search capabilities are still being refined.
What I did find was references to Crystal Pool. It was quite the attraction at one time and the fact that “filtered” water was used in the pool was something very important.
Here’s an ad from July 28, 1935.
What in the world is VIM? I saw it repeated over and over in different ads, but it was never defined. I suspect the V is for Vitality?
Here’s another where four Bristolians are pictured at Crystal Pool. While it’s a grainy picture, does anyone knows anything about these young women. From left to right, Mrs. Charles Oakley, Virginia O’Dell, Louise Bush, and Mrs. Henry Doriot, Jr. Could you imagine four women of that same age posing for a photograph today and being described as Mrs.?
Finally, Crystal Pool was so popular that there was bus service to the pool.
Again, what is VIM?
Looking through old newspapers (online) is addictive. What will I find next?
In the June 11, 1953 Bristol Herald Courier, Jimmy Carson wrote a front page article entitled “Store, House Damaged at Mendota.”
When I was a little girl, Oscar Cross had a store in Mendota, and any time there was a storm on the horizon, he shut that store up tight as a tick, put his hat on and walked down to his house. Mother explained that his store had been “hit” by a tornado at a past time, and he remained afraid of storms.
I found the storm that frightened Mr. Cross so much in the June 11, 1953 Bristol Herald Courier. Jimmy Carson wrote a front page article entitled “Store, House Damaged at Mendota.”
And they were. The picture below is of Mr. Cross’ store and a nearby house following a June 10, 1953 storm. (Note…I never knew Mr. Cross operated his store out of this building. When I was a child, he operated in a small structure beside his house or in what we know as the Reynolds building.)
The caption under the two pictures read:
Mendota Storm Damage — what appeared to be a slight twister struck Mendota in Washington County, VA, some 12 miles Northwest of Bristol, about 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon, damaging the store building and home pictured. The winds of “whole gale” strength lifted the roof from the two-story store and hurled it some 100 feet across a vacant lot onto the roof of a two-story house, scattering crumpled tin roofing and broken roof eaves other a 300 foot area. The picture shows fallen bricks and debris and a broken power line. Note hole in top right of house through which a loose board apparently hurtled. Persons in both buildings miraculously escaped injury.
6/11/1953 Bristol Herald Courier
The picture is what I have known as Nunley’s store building; but, apparently, it also belonged to Mr. Cross at one time or another. I see the side steps, etc.
And here’s the house…
Does anyone recognize the house? The article states that it is the home of Garland Nunley, but I did not realize the Nunleys lived anywhere other than the store building. Is it Edna Linnen Parker’s house or is it a house no longer standing?
“According to O. M. Cross, who operates a general store and gas station and who occupies the second floor of the store building as his residence, winds in the Mendota area seemed to change their course shortly before 3 pm after heavy rains had subsided.
Cross said, “I had just opened the front doors of my store and had sat down when the doors slammed closed and bricks began to fall. My wife, who was upstairs, came running down the steps and I grabbed her and my 14-year old son who as with me in the store, and we ran two doors down the street into the basement of a vacant house. By this time, it was over. “
A customer in the store at the time, Jeff Banner of near Mendota, left the building, too, and with the Cross family miraculously escaped injury.
The article goes on to say:
The slight twister carried the roof of the Cross store some 100 feet over a vacant lot and onto the roof of the Garland Nunley residence, sending debris and shattered timbers over a 300-foot area.
In the Nunley home at the time were: Mr. and Mrs. Sam Nunley, parents of Garland and Bernard Nunley, J. A. Statzer, a neighbor, Mrs. Garland Nunley, two children of the Garland Nunleys and three children of the Bernard Nunleys.
The article goes onto talk about damages in other areas such as Norton, VA. When Mendota wasn’t the subject, I lost interest. Please leave a comment below if you know anything else that you can add to this piece of Mendota history.
So, this was appropriate as today I purchased a new Midland Weather Alert radio to notify us of storms.
Update: I did find out where the house pictured above was located. It was located where today’s Baptist Church parsonage is located. It subsequently burned down.
I grew up listening to my parents discuss the Great Depression. Everything but poverty seemed scarce during the years of 1929 – 1939, yet they felt fortunate to live in Mendota as food was plentiful due to the river as a source of grinding meal and small family farms with gardens and livestock. It was during that time that Mendota’s bank closed, the silica mining stopped (I blogged about the silica mining operation in March, 1916. It has a few pictures which you can see here.) and Mendota’s future as an academic spotlight along with future industrial potential changed. It was also near that time passenger rail ceased in Mendota– but not without a fight.
From the Bristol Herald Courier on May 10, 1938:
Council Adopts Resolution Asking Continuance of Passenger Service
Calling the operation of passenger trains on the Bristol-St. Charles line a “public necessity” the town council of Mendota has adopted resolutions protesting against the proposal of the Southern Railway Company to discontinue all passenger train service between Bristol and St. Charles.
The railway’s application to be allowed to discontinue service on that line is now in the hands of the Virginia Corporation Commission which will hold a hearing on the application May 17.
Saying the discontinuance of passenger train service would be “very detrimental to the Mendota section, as well as to the railway itself,” the town council called attention to the “worse than bad” roads in that section and asserted, “It is believed that the greatest potential tonnage of freight along the entire Southern system is located in the Mendota section.”
Only 15 Families In Mendota Have Cars
“Few people residing between Mendota and Benhams own automobiles, because of the poor condition of the roads,” the council declared, adding that out of 60 families living in the corporate limits of Mendota, only 15 have automobiles.
Commenting more specifically on the inadequacy of highway travel facilities in the Mendota section, this council said in its resolutions:
“At present between Hilton and Benhams, along said railway line, a distance of 17 miles, there’s no bus service whatsoever except that a bus comes to Mendota once a week. Between Hilton and Mendota, a distance of 10 miles, there are eleven grade railway crossings, which fact indicates the kind and dangerous nature of the highway if such it can be called. Between Mendota and Phillips, a distance of 3 miles, there is an impassable river, with no highway bridge on a direct line, making the distance by bus, if it could be traveled at all, about 20 miles. Between Phillips and Leonards (Wolf Run post office), a distance of 2 miles, there is no direct road, the distance as a bus would travel if al all, being at least 12 miles.”
The council observed also that the present train schedules give a “highly efficient mail service specially from the East-New York, Washington, Richmond etc.” which would not be available if the train service were discontinued.
Saying the proposal to abolish all passenger train service on the line “could not have originated except with railway officials far away, strangers to local conditions,” the council declared the railway officials ask the state Corporation Commission to set its seal of approval upon a proposition that is destructive of their own interest as well as that of the public.
The railway’s proposal would retard the future development of natural resources in the Mendota section, the council complained, saying:
“For example, the Mendota section has enough high grade glass sand to supply all the glass factories in the United States, and all the potteries in the United States with flint, for centuries to come, including refractory material for furnaces and kilns. “
“Mendota is only four miles from producing natural gas wells, with apparently an immense natural gas field to the north and northwest. With soda ash at Saltville and a high grade limestone close by, it is said that there is no place in the world in which the main glass making materials occur so close together. It is believed that the greatest potential tonnage of freight along the entire Southern System is located in the Mendota section.”
Copies of the resolutions were sent to the state Corporation Commission, to Governor Price, the State Senator C. J. Harkrader and to Delegates W. N. Neff and Donald T. Saint.
I found this one and didn’t have to retype! This was found in the Bristol Herald Courier from November 11, 1931.
I thought this was sweet; and while there are bad apples in every basket, I think Mendota has more good apples than bad and those are the people we should talk about. As mother said, “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
I’m looking at old online newspapers and thought others might be interested in some of the things I’m finding.
On July 31, 1903, in the Abingdon Virginiannewspaper, Mendota was mentioned:
An engineering corps has been in the neighborhood several days making the survey for a line of railroad which has been chartered from Narrows, Va, to Mendota. This is the third survey that has been made down the river and we will hope it will prove to be the charm.
Just below this mention in a section titled “Mendota, Va. July 31”.
John W. Kaylor, one of our citizens, was married near Wallace last Wednesday. Quite a number of people were at the depot Thursday to see them.
Drs. Pruner and Overguard, of Nebraska, spent several days visiting relatives and friends here and in Russell last week. They left Friday for Baltimore where they will visit before returning home.
Curtis Jett Left Yesterday for Illinois.
H. H. Hamilton went down to Gate City yesterday.
J. F. Tyler returned to his home last week at Winston, NC after paying his sister, Mrs. P. L. Jett a week’s visit.
Will Nickells, of Appalachia, is spending a few days with home folks.
1300 bushels of wheat has just been thrashed on Kinderhook farm.
The ladies of the Methodist Church are preparing for an ice cream supper Saturday night.
I have learned two things in the past three weeks.
I learned that a Medial Collateral Ligament tear hurts like hell, and it typically takes about 6-8 weeks to heal. I’m on week four. The first week was a pass because I got a steroid shot that relieved the pain and from a basic x-ray, I learned my knees are in pretty good shape. Week 2 was back at the doctor’s office unable to put weight on my right leg again! My knees might look okay, but you can’t see soft tissue in a typical x-ray. I left in a velcro brace. Week 3 opened with my MRI appointment where we learned exactly what was going on-I have a Medial Collateral Ligament tear.
I have rested this knee and treated it like a baby in hopes of fast healing because it has absolutely stopped me. I go for my PT assessment tomorrow. Yay!
This brings me to the second thing that I’ve learned. I discovered the entire 7 seasons of Gilmore Girls on Netflix. That’s 153 episodes. It was so good. I never would have taken the time to watch it, but with my MCL tear, it was a good time to do so. I’m telling you this in case you have an MCL tear. Trust me. Hook up with the Gilmore Girls.
So, I’m grateful for several things at this time. I am grateful I live in an age where things like my MCL can be appropriately diagnosed so they I will heal properly and get back to work. I am happy that I have internet which allows me to stream shows like Gilmore Girls. I am also grateful for 800 milligram ibuprofen tablets.
There are many things to give thanks for in this world, but tonight, I am grateful for ibuprofen, MRI’s, doctors who know how to read them, and Netflix. So as others are sending prayers of gratitude for major things, I’m over here just lifting up Netflix.
