Architecture

Fleetwood Church, Brandy Station, Virginia /  by Todd Henson

A front view of Fleetwood Church in Brandy Station, Virginia

Visible between a break in the trees along the side of James Madison Highway is Fleetwood Church in Brandy Station, Virginia, sitting between Brandy Road and the railroad tracks. It dates back to 1880 and was apparently actively used from 1881 through around 1974. It resides in the general area where many battles of the American Civil War occurred, including the Battle of Brandy Station, the largest cavalry engagement of the Civil War where in 1863 nearly 20,000 horsemen fought, resulting in nearly 1,300 men killed, captured, wounded or missing. A National Park Service website reports that Captain William W. Blackford, an aide of General J.E.B. Stuart remembered the carnage, later writing “Fleetwood Hill was covered so thickly after the battle with dead horses and men that there was not room to pitch the tents among them.”

Apparently, the church may have been built over what was once Brandy Graveyard, and given that and all the people who died in the area during the Civil War battles, it is reportedly known as a location of paranormal activity and has been featured in some TV programs and also hosts local events to help raise money to restore the church.

An angled view of Fleetwood Church. A black and white rendering felt appropriate for this old wooden church.

We had driven by on James Madison Highway many, many times over the years, always noticing and wondering about the church, but never took the time to figure out how to get there to photograph it. I wish I had as back in those days it hadn’t yet been under renovation with the scaffolding around portions of the building. But in Late September of 2024 my father and I were out driving and just happened to end up right there on Brandy Road where the church is located. So now I’ve finally created some photographs.

A wider view, and in color, of Fleetwood Church in Brandy Station, Virginia

Note, the church is privately owned and on private property, so respect the no trespassing signs. If you want to see inside the building then visit during one of the events sometimes held at the church.

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Todd’s Tavern Market /  by Todd Henson

Todd’s Tavern Market, a convenience store in Spotsylvania County, Virginia

Sometimes a name alone will draw me to a location. Care to take a guess what it was about Todd’s Tavern Market that drew my attention? 😊

Todd’s Tavern Market is a local convenience store in Todd’s Tavern, Virginia, within Spotsylvania County. It was once the location of Todd’s Tavern, a country inn and tavern that existed at the time of the US Civil War. You can read more about the Civil War history and some of the back and forth movement of troops as they moved towards Spotsylvania Court House in 1864 at a National Park Service webpage about the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Another view of Todd’s Tavern Market

One of the informational signs at the location quotes John D. Billings of the 10th Massachusetts Light Artillery, describing Todd’s Tavern as “an unpretentious structure one story and a half in height, with no merits, architectural or otherwise, to warrant its becoming a conspicuous landmark in the history of this campaign.” And yet here I am talking about it in that context. 😊

Fans of Joss Whedon’s Firefly and Serenity might enjoy the references to Confederate General Jubal Early, who threatened to attack Union General Winfield Hancock at the tavern but changed his mind when he saw the earthworks previously built up by the Union, and decided to head to Spotsylvania by another route.

George L. Frankenstein, a native of Germany who served in the Union army created a painting of Todd’s Tavern after the war, as seen on one of the signs.

A painting by George L. Frankenstein of Todd’s Tavern shortly after the Civil War

Below are the three Civil War Signs from the location if you want to learn more. Click on any image for a larger view.

Todd’s Tavern - Clash of Cavalry

Todd’s Tavern - Union Army Headquarters

Todd’s Tavern - March to Spotsylvania

And interestingly, the general area also has ties to the US Revolutionary War in 1781. Below is the sign describing this. 

Lafayette at Corbin’s Bridge, June 2-3, 1781

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Winston Memorial Chapel, Culpeper, Virginia /  by Todd Henson

A split-toned side view of Winston Memorial Chapel in Culpeper, Virginia. Given the age and look of the chapel I thought the split-toned processing might work well to accentuate the age.

In early September (2024) my father and I happened to drive by an old decaying chapel in Culpeper, Virginia, and I decided to turn around and find a place to photograph it.

The location is known as Winston Memorial Chapel, built in 1908 by the Winston family and dedicated to the memory of their son who died in 1906. It’s a beautiful stone building based on a Celtic style with a Celtic cross atop the bell tower. There is a small cemetery on the grounds to the left of the chapel.

At the time it was built the road out front was gravel but today it’s a fairly busy highway, which is what stopped me on this trip from attempting to cross the road to get photographs of the front of the chapel, something I’d very much like to do. But there isn’t a lot of space on that side of the road and when we visited there was a lot of high speed traffic, so I stuck to just the side view.

Please note if you ever visit this location that there are many no trespassing and private property signs around the walls and the building, so please respect that. The building and stone walls surrounding the property are falling into disrepair but the grass inside and outside the walls and around the gravestones is mowed, so there is some maintenance being done around the property.

Here we see a full color view of Winston Memorial Chapel and the small but busy and high speed highway out front.

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