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For some, it’s hard to envision what life might have been like 100 years ago.
Thankfully, there are some architectural landmarks around the country that have been lovingly preserved, so that we might be able to do so.
Some very good ones are nearby, in my hometown, Glen Allen.
Built in the 1920s, the Courtney Road gas station stands proudly on Mountain Road in Glen Allen, Virginia, a small town on the west end of Richmond. A “canopy style” station, which originated in 1916 by Standard Oil of Ohio for the transportation industry, it was owned by the Barlow family during a time of growth in the United States car manufacturing and road improvements. Sinclair gasoline and oil products were sold in the full-service station and customers could rely on prompt service by gas station attendants who, in addition to filling the tanks, cleaned windshields, checked the tires and “looked” under the hood.
Though the Courtney Road Station is not open to visitors except during special occasions or by appointment, you can park in the adjacent lot, walk under the canopy and inspect the old pumps.
Across Mountain Road, you can find Meadow Farm Museum, Crump Park and RF&P Park.
RF&P Park (within Crump Park) is home to the Glen Allen Athletic Association and the site of countless baseball, softball and football games on pristine, well-manicured fields. Many a weekend is spent here watching our children run the bases and score touchdowns. The real all-stars of the park, however, are actually “parked” near the fields.
Four restored Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad train cars sit proudly near the fields. At the baseball fields, the cars consists of a caboose, a steel coach and a postal car. A box car can be spotted at the softball fields.
These cars ran from Richmond to Washington D.C. on 113 miles of track (the shortest in the nation) which linked the North and South. You can climb onto the cars, inspect them closely and peer into the windows, however, the interiors are locked. They are the perfect location for photo ops for train lovers and those interested in Virginia’s historic transportation.
Also within Crump Park lies Meadow Farm Museum. Meadow Farm dates back to 1713, when Richard Baker and William Sheppard were granted 400 acres of property in Henrico county. In 1800, Meadow Farm was the site of an unsuccessful slave uprising which became known as Gabriel’s Rebellion and ten years, later, the present farmhouse was constructed by Mosby Sheppard. His son, Dr. John Mosby Sheppard, expanded the farm and passed it down to his grandson Major General Sheppard Crump, a veteran of World War I and Adjutant General of Virginia from 1955 to 1960. His wife, Elizabeth Adam Crump, was one of the first women in Virginia to receive a driver’s license and vote in public elections. In 1975, Elizabeth Adam Crump donated Meadow Farm to Henrico Country in memory of her late husband which was opened to the public in 1981.
Today, Meadow Farm Museum’s grounds are open to the public and consist of the farm house, a blacksmith forge and an orientation center. Costumed tour guides and staff present programs and exhibits on life during the farm’s heyday and on select weekends, demonstrations of the “life on the farm” take place in the farmhouse, barn, doctor’s office, blacksmith forge, kitchen, fields and pastures. Some of these programs include the annual Sheep Shearing event, Sheep to Shawl. It is the perfect place to take children to see many farm animals including chickens, turkeys, hogs, cows, horses and goats.
After visiting Meadow Farm Museum, you can enjoy Crump Park’s walking paths, ponds and playgrounds.
A little further down Mountain Road, there is another historic structure; the remains of Forest Lodge, which was built in the early 1880s by John Cussons. Cussons, an Englishman who served as a scout and lieutenant in the Confederate army and was captured in Gettysburg, returned to Glen Allen after the war and married Susan Sheppard Allen, the sister of Dr. John Sheppard of Meadow Farm and the widow of Benjamin Allen, for whom Glen Allen was named. He built the lodge as a resort along the RF&P Railroad where it intersected with Mountain Road. With 125 rooms and six stories, the luxurious resort was surrounded by a one thousand acre park which included trails, lakes and wild game.
Upon John Cussons death in 1912, the property exchanged hands multiple times until half of it was torn down. Used as office space and apartments, it was demolished in 1992. Today, you can park just off of Mountain Road and visit what is left of the historic lodge. The tower and surrounding columns are original elements from the Forest Lodge that were salvaged during its razing.
I have driven by some of these places often, visited on field trips and even taken my children’s prom and senior pictures at these locations. It is strange how I would probably go out of my way in another locale to seek out these historic structures and remains, yet, I really never took much time to stop and appreciate them.
Today, I finally did…in good ole’ Glen Allen.
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Courtney Road Station
- Address: 3401 Mountain Road, Henrico, Virginia 23060
- Hours: 24 hours, daily for outside viewing. By appointment only for interior visits.
- Admission: free
RF&P Park
- Address: 3400 Mountain Road, Glen Allen, Virginia 23060
- Hours: Grounds open daily.
- Admission: free
Crump Park
- Address: 3400 Mountain Road, Glen Allen, Virginia 23060
- Hours: dawn to dusk
- Admission: free
Meadow Farm Museum
- Address: 3400 Mountain Road, Glen Allen, Virginia 23060
- Hours: Grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk. Tours of the farmhouse begin at 1300 and the last tour is held at 1530.
- Admission: free
Forest Lodge
- Address: Mountain Road & Old Washington Highway, Glen Allen, VA 23060
- Hours: Interior not open to the public. Grounds open 24 hours, daily.
- Admission: free