Guide to Historical Salem

A Guide to Historic Salem -- Volume 6, Number 3 -- Winter 2000-01

Railroad Rivalry's Impact on Salem Is Subject of Book
1873 Track Was Never Finished
Historical Society Has 30th Birthday
Here's a History of 'Historic Salem'
Homes Tour to Feature Academy, Union Streets
Artists Paint Salem Scenes for 2001 Calendar
Court Day
Salem Rescue Squad is World's 2nd Oldest
A Place Of Culture
Advantages of Location

Railroad Rivalry's Impact on Salem Is Subject of Book
Book Tells How Big Lick (Not Salem) Won Railroad

On US Route 11 in Botetourt County, about four miles north of Troutville, there is a highway historical marker titled "The Coming of the Railroad." The marker reads: "Near here took place the historic meeting of John C. Moomaw and C.M. Thomas that led to the termination of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad at Big Lick (now Roanoke) April 1881. This was the beginning of the City of Roanoke."

This brief message records the conclusion to the post Civil War story of a 15-year-old competition of two Virginia railroad companies to build a railroad through the Shenandoah Valley, south to a connection to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, which became the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad in 1870 and the Norfold and Western Railroad in 1881. It is a story with major impact on Salem's history and development, as well as that of Roanoke.

The story is now told fully in a book, Iron Horses in the Valley, by John Hildebrand, long time Salem resident and past president of the Salem Historical Society. The book is scheduled to be published in December, with joint sponsorship of the Salem Historical Society and the Historical Society of Western Virginia, assisted by White Mane Publishing Company of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.

Iron Horses in the Valley is a detailed story of the Valley and Shenandoah Valley Railroads from the time they were chartered by the Virginia General Assembly in 1866 and 1867 until the Shenandoah Valley was completed to Big Lick in 1882.

Of particular interest to Salem readers, the book tells how and why the Shenandoah Valley was successful and the Valley Railroad was not, and how, in the midst of the Valley's construction between Staunton and Salem in 1873 and 1874, the economic Panic of 1873 caused its construction to be permanently suspended. The suspension left many traces in incomplete and abandoned construction evident today in Salem and Roanoke County, vestiges that represent an important part of the Roanoke Valley's railroad heritage.

The Valley Railroad started at Harrisonburg, and extended south 113 miles through Staunton, Lexington and Buchanan to Salem, where it connected to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. The Valley used three Baltimore and Ohio Railroad controlled branch lines from Harrisonburg north through Strasburg and Winchester to connect to the B&O mainline at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.

The Shenandoah Valley started at Hagerstown, Maryland, with a connection to the Pennsylvania Railroad system. It extended south 243 miles though Shepherdstown, West Virginia, to Front Royal, Virginia, and then along the western base of the Blue Ridge Mountains through Luray, Waynesboro and Buena Vista to a connection to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad at Salem. Through these connections the Valley became allied with the B&O and the Shenandoah Valley with the Pennsylvania. These two railroads were the largest on the Eastern Seaboard and were intense rivals and fierce competitors. Following the Civil War, each company was expanding with one common objective being an extension of their systems throughout the Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia into the South. Their rivalry extended to the two Virginia railroads.

Iron Horses in the Valley provides histories of the Valley and Shenandoah Valley from the granting of their charters until 1882. Each history describes the activities of the men who organized, planned, and financed each railroad, the reasons the Shenandoah Valley succeeded and the Valley did not, and finally, the impact their competition had on the development of the Roanoke Valley and the transformation of the village of Big Lick into Roanoke, the Magic City.

Many outstanding and influential men played significant roles in the activities of the two railroads. Included were Colonel Michael G. Harman and Robert E. Lee, president of Washington College, the Valley's first two presidents; William Milnes, Jr., industrialist, concressman and fifth president of the Shenandoah Valley; Frederick J. Kimball, railroader, financier, builder, the sixth president of the Shenandoah Valley, a principal in the creation of the N & W Railroad and founder of the Roanoke Machine Works; Upton L. Boyce, attorney and a director and vice president of the Shenandoah Valley; Claibourne Rice Mason, one of the outstanding civil engineers and railroad contractors of the 19th century; John C. Moomaw of Roanoke County, instrumental in the selection of Big Lick as the connecting point of the Shenandoah Valley and the N&W; and, Virginia's railroad barons: Thomas A. Scott, president of the Pennsylvania, John W. Garrett, president of the Baltimore and Ohio; and William Mahone, soldier railroad president, Virginia legislator, United States Senator and founder of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad.

The story of the two railroads is of particular interest to Roanoke Valley historians and railroad enthusiasts. The history of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad describes in detail the activities of the railroad's officers and of Salem and Big Lick community leaders in April and May of 1881 that led to the selection of Big Lick rather than Salem or Bonsack as the Shenandoah Valley's connecting point. The role played by John C. Moomaw in influencing this decision is also outlined.

Local readers will also be intrigued by the numerous instances when the Shenandoah Valley's officers and their financial backers, the E.W. Clark and Company of Philadelphia, could have made decisions which would have significantly altered the growth and development of Salem and Roanoke. One such instance was the Clark Company's purchase of William Mahone's Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad and its reorganization as the Norfolk & Western. Had the Clark Company's bid been unsuccessful, the Shenandoah Valley would not have been extended from Waynesboro inot the Roanoke Valley. Without this extension, the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio or its successor would have continued as a limited east-west operation, lacking a vitally important connection to the industrial North.

Without this connection, the economic development and growth generated by the Norfolk and Western Railroad, its shops and other supporting infrastructure would not have occurred.

The Valley Railroad never reached Salem. The economic Panic of 1873 caused its construction between Staunton and Salem to be permanently suspended, but many traces of its incomplete construction are evident today in Salem and Roanoke County. Had the railroad been completed, the reader can't help conjecturing that Salem's history would have been far different. Without the success of the Shenandoah Valley, Roanoke City might never even have come into existence: it might still be Big Lick.

Hildebrand's story of the building of the Valley Railroad between Staunton and Salem includes biographical sketches of themen who designed and built the road as well as descriptions and illustrations of the construction methods they used.

The books' concluding chapter is an atlas of maps and photographs of the remaining evidences of the unfinished construction between Lexington and Salem.

Hildebrand has been working on the book off-and-on since his retirement in 1991. A career civil engineer, he became interested in the subject from an engineering perspective. He began exploring the history of the railroads after several abandoned structures of the old Valley Railroad were uncovered in Salem and the Roanoke Valley. They included two abandoned railroad arches over small creeks in Salme just south of North Mill Road between Thompson Memorial and Kessler Mill Road. A Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Hildebrand was a partner with Hayes, Seay Mattern & Mattern. He and his wife Tootie, have four children and eight grandchildren.

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1873 Track Was Never Finished
You Can See Railroad Remains from Your Car

Salem is replete with evidences of the old abandoned Valley Railroad that was supposed to have been built through the middle of town back in the 1870s..

The railroad bed, partially laid but never finished, is still visible in a number of places along its east-west path through Salem. You can see for yourself where the railroad was started, then abandoned when the Panic of 1873 sent the Valley Railroad into bankruptcy. The story of the railroad and its failure is told in John Hildebrand's forthcoming book, Iron Horses in the Valley. The book is described in another article in this publication.

The most visible evidence of the railroad's old right-of-way in Salem is in two stone arches, built less than a half mile apart just south of North Mill Road between Thompson Memorial Drive and Kessler Mill Road. Both arches appear today quite strong enough to support the trains that were to carry passengers and freight across them on tracks that were to run all the way from Salem to Harrisonburg.

One arch, 15 feet in height, is clearly visible to passing motorists on North Mill Road, now that the leaves are off the trees. Go north on Craig Avenue from Main Street, turn left onto North Mill Road, go about one-quarter mile to a small bridge over a creek, just beyond the home at 744 North Mill Road. From that bridge, look south toward the WSLS radio towers (following the creek with your eye) and you should see it,

The other, smaller arch is not visible from the street. It is about a quarter mile east of the larger arch, running under the same flat, tree-covered embankment that runs parallel to North Mill. The embankment was built as the railroad bed.

Elsewhere in Salem, there are numerous signs showing where the old railroad track was to have been laid, mostly in the form of heaped up land, dug-out land and property lines that don't conform to the street configuration. All such evidences, of course, are found along the path of the right-of-way as depicted in the accompanying map on this page.

Residents will notice that some lots and driveways along North Broad Street, between McClung and Morton Streets go off at odd angles from the street, rather than perpendicular to the street. Those property lines were created by the railroad right-of-way and have never been straightened out to conform to the streets, according to Hildebrand. At this point, it would be difficult to do so.

On High Street, too, between 429 and 435 High, some property lines are askew, for the same reason.

Additional evidence of the right-of-way is found on both the east and west sides of Thompson Memorial Drive between Cleveland and Easy Streets. There, motorists will notice man-made mounds or embankments next to the street on both sides. The elevated embankments would have carried the track, if the project had ever been finished..

In the area between Craig Avenue and Route 419 (where the two arches are found), the railroad bed was virtually completed when construction was halted. The old embankment is clearly visible in numerous places as it runs, straight and flat, between North Mill Road and the WSLS radio towers in an east-west direction. The embankment and scooped out areas are also visible near Frey Street.

If you turn east off Kessler Mill Road onto Garst Street, cross Mason Creek and drive east on Garst, you can see the elevated embankment or railroad bed running parallel to Garst to your left (north). .It is clearly visible behind the log house located at 1519 Garst Street. The elevated right-of-way continues eastward parallel to Locke Street almost to Route 419..

There are excavations as well as embankments in these areas, as the workers cut and filled to build the proper grade for the track, Hildebrand said. The work was done largely by African Americans and immigrants, who used picks, shovels, carts and wagons, and black powder (rather than dynamite) to blast out rock.

If the railroad had been completed as planned, Hildebrand said, Salem would be an entirely different town. Geographically, the track would have split the town into two parts. It would have run right through the middle of Roanoke College and Langhorne Place. And its effect on Salem's growth and development would be difficult to guess &endash; other than that it would have been substantial.

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Historical Society Has 30th Birthday

By John Long

Have you ever visited the Salem Museum? Looked up a fact in Woody Middleton's Salem: A Virginia Chronicle? Are you reading Guide to Historic Salem right now? Then you owe a debt to a group of concerned citizens who gathered on a March night in 1970.Thirty years ago this year, the Salem Historical Society was formed. At the time, Salem had gone through a growth spurt of expansion and new development; and while laudable the community had in the process lost a number of historic buildings during the 1960's.

To some Salemites, it seemed that the city was in danger of forgetting its history and losing its unique historical character. Their response was to organize a preservation group initially called the Save Old Salem Committee.

SOS met for the first time on March 5, 1970, in the St. Paul's Episcopal Church Post House (itself one of the oldest buildings in Salem). Local lawyer James Fulghum was elected president. At this first meeting, the group solicited advice from Hollins College art professor W. L.Whitwell, who suggested that the group's first order of business should be to identify, research, and mark the community's most historic structures. The result of that decision became a local historic registry of some three dozen buildings that reflected the character of the town (see Guide to Historic Salem Spring 1998 issue).

One specific endangered building mentioned at that inaugural meeting was the Williams-Brown House Store at the corner of Craig and Main, in which President Fulghum had once lived.

After a good beginning, the Save Old Salem Committee lapsed after two years. Fortunately, a dedicated secretary, Emma Webber, kept the organization alive until it was revitalized in 1975 as the newly named Salem Historical Society. The group immediately launched a number of new projects. As the local registry expanded, volunteers put together a booklet on valley history to commemorate the nation's Bicentennial in 1976.

In the early 1980's, the Historical Society commissioned Norwood C. Middleton to write the definitive history of Salem. Published in 1986, Salem: A Virginia Chronicle remains one of the most informative and readable local histories written in Virginia. Nearly 15 years later, the book still is an indispensable resource for researchers, and belongs on the shelf of every Salem resident.

In the mid-80's the Society undertook its most ambitious project yet: the moving of the Williams-Brown House, and the creation of a local history museum to be housed there. The owner of the 1845 building, on the National Register of Historic Places, was willing to donate the structure as long as it was moved off of its original location. After securing help from the city and a hillside tract in Longwood Park, the Historical Society raised the money to move the house through the park to its new home. After extensive renovations, Salem Museum opened in 1992. Nikki Martin was hired as the first director of the Museum, followed by Mary Crockett Hill in 1994.

Under her leadership, the Museum and Historical Society has become an increasing presence in the community. With substantive exhibits, informative programs, school presentations and tours, an annual Historic Homes Tour, an October Ghost Walk reenactment program, an enlightening Website, and publications such as the one in your hand, the group has come a long way from its small beginnings. But its mission- "preserving the past; informing the future" - remains the same.

As the Salem Historical Society begins its fourth decade, its future looks as bright as. . . well, as bright as Salem's past.

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Here's a History of 'Historic Salem'

By Lon Savage

Editor, Historic Salem

With this issue, Historic Salem completes six years of publication -- 18 issues in all, at a three-issues-per-year clip -- about the history of this rather small but exceptionally attractive community in a lovely part of Virginia and the nation. Like any historian assessing the past, we hope readers will excuse an editor's looking back at the past issues of this publication. For, perhaps not surprisingly, a recitation of the articles that have appeared in this publication collectively tells something of a history of Salem, itself.

The articles &endash; about seventy-five of them &endash; have been about Salem's origins, its hopes, its people, its business and organizations, its arts, sports, culture, its churches and religions, and by all means its homes, buildings, and architecture.

When wagon-maker cum land speculator James Simpson laid out eighty or so lots of a town "by the name of Salem" and sold the first one in 1802 to Suzanne Cole for twenty dollars, Historic Salem, wasn't exactly there, but it reported the event in Volume 1 Number 1, in 1995, in a reprinted article written by Norwood Middleton. The story of the town's founding has been revisited several times since.

But there was history here before Salem, and Historic Salem has told about that, too: an article about the Indian village that existed in the 1660s about where the Moyer Sports Complex stands today; about Andrew Lewis' arrival here before the Revolution, his climb to greatness as one of the nation's founding fathers, his building of Salem's first great home, Richfield (which since has disappeared).

As American pioneers, frontiersmen and settlers moved west, many traveled along the old wagon through Salem, and Historic Salem articles covered their trek: including George Washington's visit as a colonel of militia inspecting frontier forts in 1756; Andrew Jackson's frequent visits on trips between his home in Tennessee and Washington; the visit by Louis Phillippe, the future king of France, in 1797; and even a visit by 12-year-old Davy Crockett in 1798.

Historic Salem told how, because of such travelers, inns, hotels and taverns appeared on Salem's streets -- with names like the Bull's Eye, the Leather Bottle, the Globe, the Star and Garter and, most famous of all, the Mermaid Tavern. It went on to tell, perhaps emanating from that tradition of hospitality, about the Lake Spring Hotel-Roanoke Red Sulphur Springs axis of the 1880s when people came to Salem to "take the waters" -- an arrangement owner Joe Chapman hoped would make Salem the "Baden-Baden of America." Historic Salem followed that with an article about the hotel industry's twentieth century manifestation in the Mom and Pop motels along U.S. 11.

The town, itself, is described in Historic Salem at several points in its history. Woody and Lucille Middleton walked us through the Salem of 1819 in one article -- "a few plain buildings, mostly wooden," scattered along four blocks of a dirt road. Another article described the Salem of 1900, with 3,400 people who talked of better streets for their buggies, sidewalks to get them out of the mud, reasonable street car rates, electric lights and telephones and an adequate water supply.

Another report told of the exciting but frustrated efforts and investment in the 1820-1850 period to make Salem into a river port, where shallow-draft cargo boats or "bateaux" were to be loaded up with freight and carried down the Roanoke River to the sea; unfortunately, railroads spelled the doom of the idea.

Salem's African American community has been represented several times in the publication. Melissa Prunty Kemp's 1995 report on early black residents of Salem has become a reference work on the subject; her article told of an African American business district in Salem that included restaurants, barber shops, a grocery, a drug store and a taxi company. Another article told of the mile-long procession through Salem in 1893 -- more than 1,000 African Americans including two brass bands, 500 horsemen, 100 carriages -- to celebrate the emancipation proclamation. Still another related the long list of achievements of African American women of Salem: women in the nineteenth century..

But it is homes &endash; Salem homes &endash; that perhaps has gotten the lion's share of attention. As in this issue, each winter issue since the beginning has featured the homes of the Salem Historical Society's annual Holiday Homes Tour, and the people who lived in those homes: Broad Street in 1995, Pennsylvania Avenue in 1996, Langhorne Place and Wiley Court in 1997, East Hill in 1998, Hawthorne and Red Lane last year, and this year.

In addition, a special 12-page edition in 1998 described and pictured 38 old homes and other structures selected for Salem's own historic registry of historic places, an issue that has become something of a collector's item.

Salem history must recognize Salem sports. Historic Salem has told of Roanoke College's once-upon-a-time football teams that played from the 1870s into the 1940s; of the early days of Salem, followed by a history of pro baseball in Salem; and of the old Salem Municipal Field.

Piece by piece, article by article, we like to think we've put together a fairly comprehensive picture of Salem history, including stories of the Lutheran and Baptist orphanages, of old Lakeside with its wooden roller coaster and the "world's largest swimming pool;" of the Roanoke Valley Horse Show. We told the little-known story of the original North Cross School which started in a Salem basement in1944; stories of the old barber shop, (then named Scaggs and now named Ye Olde Salem Barber & Styling Shop) at 207 East Main Street, where since 1890 men have gotten haircuts, shaves, shoe shines; of the old Salem Theatre at Main and College where kids reportedly ate gut bombs in the 1950s and hurled ice from the balcony onto their friends below, and of the Elizabeth College campus that still causes controversy.

There were articles about First Baptist Church -- started by former slaves after the Civil War, and of St. Paul's Episcopal Church with origins dating back into the 1830s, and of the Rev. Leroy Gresham of Salem Presbyterian Church..

And people: we've published the stories and photos of Nathaniel Burwell, a founding father; Charles E. "Ted" Webber, a 20th century leader; William C. Williams, early postmaster and hotel operator; of Walter Biggs, Salem's most famous artist; even an article about Russell Gwaltney of Salem, America's national marbles champion in 1952

Finally, one of the editor's favorite articles generated little attention when it was published at Christmas 1996. It was about Salem newsboys who in the early 1900s &endash; presumably looking for tips -- delivered Christmas newspapers with their own Christmas poems enclosed on leaflets. Wouldn't it be nice to deliver this issue of Historic Salem to our readers with our personal Christmas poem attached?

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Homes Tour to Feature Academy, Union Streets
Three Historic Public Buildings Also Will Be Open
Apartment in classroom of old Academy Street School is on tour

By Mary Hill

Start with a tree-lined street. Sprinkle with fine old homes. Add a dash of decoration, a friendly "hello," and the crispness of Christmas in the air. The Salem Museum's Holiday Homes Tour 2000 has the perfect recipe for good holiday cheer.

This year's tour offers a look at one of Salem's most intriguing neighborhoods without ever straying from the heart of downtown. Just off Main Street -- north to Academy, south to Union -- stand some of the prettiest residences in town. Stately Victorians, quaint Queen Annes, rambling farm houses, contemporary craftsmen -- all have a place, side by side, in this diverse neighborhood.

A number of private residences decked for the season will be on the tour, and as a special treat this year, three historic public buildings will also host open houses.

Among the featured private residences are the homes of Jeff and Annette Shupe (214 Union Street), Kelly Bradley and Jackson Bradley (133 Academy Court, an apartment in the old Academy Street School), Bill and Ann Boise (224 Academy Street), and Jim and Judie Constantin (310 Academy Street).

New Castle (12 Union Street), now the decorated showroom of Olde Salem Furnishings, will be open to homes tour guests for a special viewing. Just down the road, the Senior Citizens Center (110 Union Street) will offer guests refreshments, a craft show, and a live presentation of the talents of Salem's senior adults. And, in what has come to be known as an annual delight of the senses, the Herb Society of Southwestern Virginia will host a sumptuous tea party at the Salem Museum's historic Williams-Brown House in Longwood Park.

In addition to a range of local history exhibits, a special art show and auction of Salem scenes will be on display at the Williams-Brown House during the tour. The Museum's full-color 2001 calendar spotlighting fourteen local scenes will be offered to homes tour guests at a special discount, and all guests will be invited to participate in an auction of the original calendar paintings.

Lovers of history, architecture, art, and decor are sure to find something just for them on the Salem Museum's tour.

When the plat of Salem was laid out in the early 1800s by founder James Simpson, Union and Academy Streets were on the western-most edge of town. The road was called Limestone Alley at that time, and it was a narrow, dirt passage, no more than two lots deep on either side of the main thoroughfare.

"These streets have seen Salem's growth from its earliest days," says museum curator John Long. "As part of Simpson's original plat, some of Salem's most prominent citizens have lived in this neighborhood-and even more went to school here."

Academy Street, north of Main, is so named for obvious reasons. In the mid-19th century, a prominent private academy was located on the street. When public education was introduced to Salem in 1872, the town leased the private academy for "Graded School No. 1." When the need for a larger facility arose, there was considerable controversy over whether or not to build a new school. Superintendent Luther Holland (who later went on to become the state superintendent of education) ended debate by having the building condemned and erecting a new school.

It is this 1890 structure that was Salem's first publicly constructed school building, and it is here that so many residents have fond memories of teachers, school chums, and life lessons. The former Academy Street School is now used as a condominium complex, hosting attractive, imaginative homes where desks and blackboards once ruled.

The southern leg of the road, Union Street, could easily have been named "Academy" as well, since it was here that the town's earliest private school operated in the mid-1820s. It was also on this street that Roanoke's North Cross School opened in New Castle at the end of the Second World War.

"We uncovered a lot of interesting connections to Salem's educational history as the tour came together," Long said. "In a way, this particular tour is a tribute to Salem's many teachers, past and present."

Not only are Academy and North Cross Schools integral to the neighborhood's history, but there are some more subtle educational connections as well. A number of the homeowners are teachers, for example. In fact, Jeff Shupe, a coach and teacher at Patrick Henry High School, and his wife Annette, a teacher at Jackson Middle, have renovated the home commonly known as the former residence of Jessie Virginia Fink, who taught a generation of Salemites at Broad Street Elementary. Teacher Kelly Bradley owns a condominium converted from what was formerly a classroom of Academy Street School. Meanwhile, another tour homeowner, Judie Constantin, tutors at-risk students at Salem High School.

"There must be something very educational about this neighborhood," jokes Long. "Not only are Salem's early schools rooted in here," he says, "but there are other interesting facets to this area's history as well."

At the southwest corner of Union and Main, for example, the Roanoke Navigation Company erected a rather imposing building in the early 1800s to serve as a warehouse for goods that were intended to be transported by canal down the Roanoke River.

"The canal idea never really worked," adds Long. "The railroad soon became the dominant form of transporting goods. But it's interesting to think of a time when roads were so muddy and impassable that poling goods down an equally muddy river seemed like progress."

Union Street was developed primarily as an alternate access road to the river and mill. Like many streets in towns all over America, its name most probably makes a patriotic nod to the "union" of our states. Ironically, Union Street was the site of a Union raid on Salem during the Civil War. On December 16, 1863, General William W. Averell and his troops rode into Salem for the purpose of destroying the railroad south of Union Street. A report from The Roanoke Collegian describes the chaotic scene: "There were wagons, carriages, carts, omnibuses, horsemen, footmen, citizens, students, running pell-mell, hollowing Yankees! crowding for the depot. Quarters of beef, trunks, hats, overcoats, all strewed in the way and were run over."

Tour Highlights

Jeff and Annette Shupe Home (214 Union Street): After being left vacant for seven years, this cozy Victorian cottage on Union Street has found a new life as the home of the Shupe family. Both Jeff and Annette Shupe are native Salemites who have renovated several other local homes. Their Union Street home has by far been the biggest job, however, and has yielded the most dramatic results. When the Shupes moved in August of last year, there were holes in the roof, holes in the ceilings, six layers of old wallpaper on every wall, windows in desperate need of reglazing, old wiring, old plumbing, and floors that were, shall we say, a bit precarious. In fact, when they first arrived their daughter fell all the way though one floor and ended up standing on the furnace below!

Taking on a job that most would have shied away from, the Shupes saw the potential of the home. Even after being abandoned all those years, every one of the house's windows had unbroken stained glass borders, the mantels were intact, and the original wall sconces and light fixtures were stashed away in a cupboard. Due in large part to the family's own vision and hard work, the Shupes were able to renovate the entire home from top to bottom. And, while they were at it, they added a 12 by 20 foot bathroom addition, two-story garage, furnace and central air, and exterior brick patio. Jeff, Annette, their daughters Britnee and Miranda, and son Zac all worked to make their house a beautiful, livable home. Decorated with a mixture of family pieces and estate sale finds, the home has an eclectic, imaginative style and stands as a testament to the power of historic preservation.

New Castle (12 Union Street): The story of New Castle is among the most interesting histories of Salem homes. Wingfield Griffin, a prominent Salem judge, was born in 1845 in a residence called "Old Castle" which was located in the defunct Roanoke Navigation Company building at the corner of Union and Main. In his thirties, Judge Griffin and his wife Claudie bought and renovated a house across the street from his birthplace and quite logically called it "New Castle." After serving as the home of the Griffin family, New Castle was purchased by Mary R. Butts who worked to establish North Cross School in the former residence in the 1940s. It later was home to Salem's YMCA, and is now a showroom for Olde Salem Furnishing.

Kelly Bradley and Jackson Bradley Home (133 Academy Court): Every day Kelly Bradley leaves her job as a second grade teacher at West Salem Elementary to arrive at her home in the first grade. The renovated first grade classroom of the former Academy Street School, that is. Bradley lives with her son Jackson in one of Salem's most charming preservation success stories.Listed through the efforts of the Salem Historical Society on the National Register of Historic Places, Academy Street School ceased operation in the 1970s, opening the doors to extensive debate about what to do with the vacant school building. The solution came in 1985 when the school was converted into attractive, unique condominiums.

Kelly's apartment is decorated in an airy, casual style with blues, yellows, and pinks. In addition to a collection of Native American style pottery which she studies and reconstructs, Bradley's own drawings will be on display. For the holidays, Bradley decorates in a traditional style with greenery, glass icicles, and a collection of Santas and snowmen.

Bill and Ann Boise (224 Academy Street): The charming home of Bill and Ann Boise was constructed in 1992. No, that's not a typo. 1992. So, you might ask, what is a home constructed only eight years ago doing on the Salem Museum's Historic Homes Tour? Good question. "The Salem Museum has a number of objectives in hosting an annual homes tour," says Long. "First, we want to celebrate the beautiful old homes we have in our community and how they can be cherished today and for many years to come. We also want to recognize the way new constructions on historic streets can complement and enhance the neighborhood. The Boise's beautiful home certainly does that."

The home was built for that exact spot on Academy Street and with the Boises themselves in mind. In fact, the Boise's daughter Heidi, an architect trained at the Rhode Island School of Design, worked with her parents to draw up meticulous plans for the house. While the exterior's Old Virginia brick and stained glass window hints of an earlier time, the inside features contemporary attributes such as a great room, spiral staircase, brick columns and heated tile floors. Every detail, from the tile mosaic on the chimney to the optimum lighting, was considered by the Boises and built to accommodate their eclectic style.

The family had previously constructed two different homes in New Jersey before they retired to Salem, so they were like old pros by the third time around. And apparently they got it right-at least according to the young boys in the neighborhood.

"Every year at Halloween for the last three years," comments Ann Boise "a different ten-year-old boy has come up to trick-or-treat and said 'This sure is a neat house!'"

Jim and Judie Constantin (310 Academy Street): This gracious home is one of several houses on Academy Street built and lived in by George Moyer. The Moyer Sports Complex at the south end of Union Street is named for George Moyer's son, Judge James I. Moyer, who served as mayor from 1948 to 1964, and is believed to have lived in the house as a boy. Moyer was known throughout his life as a kindhearted judge, a determined leader, and a man who considered himself "all Salem."

The Constantin family of Jim, Judie, their daughter Elizabeth and son Matthew, have decorated the home with a mixture of family antiques and memorabilia in a comfortable, warm-hearted style. As with any older residence, the house is a work in progress, with some rough corners here and there. "We're still renovating," says Judie Constantin. Yet the loely old home has a patina of quality that is evident in every fixture. For the holidays, Judie trims her home with a collection of nativity scenes and a tree decked with personal ornaments collected from their travels and made by their children.

The Constantins have made Salem their home for almost seven years, and like Salem son James Moyer, they plan to keep it that way. "After all the job transfers we've had to go through, we're hoping that we're here to say, so we named our house 'Journey's End,'" says Judie Constantin.
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Artists Paint Salem Scenes for 2001 Calendar

By Delores Mitchell

It's about the city of Salem. That's all there is to say about the new 2001 Art Calendar produced by the Salem Museum and Historical Society. Fourteen artists with Salem connections have given their time and talent to this outstanding project. Each artist chose the month he or she was interested in, and carefully designed a scene from Salem to highlight that month. In this way, each local artist gives his or her unique vision of what makes Salem special.

The Calendar, titled "Celebrating Salem," features on its cover a painting of the courtyard of the Salem Public Library by award-winning Roanoke artist Peyton Klein, a founding member of Salem's Art in the Alley and a co-founder of the Studio School. The back cover is a tranquil painting of East Hill Cemetery by Merinda Powers-Reynolds of Fredericksburg, a Salem native and currently a housewife and mother of a two-year-old

The other artists, listed by the month depicted in their paintings:

January: Julie Bailey Hamilton's painting, appropriately enough, is of the Salem Museum itself. A Salem native, Ms. Hamilton teaches art at Salem High School and has served as Chairman of the Salem Fine Arts Commission for the past four years.

February: Jessie Graybill, described as a poet, wife, bookseller, teacher and sometime painter, has done a whimsical painting of Twelve O'clock Knob from the river near Orange Market.

March: Rachel Denham, Salem native, has depicted several spring scenes in her painting. A longtime art teacher who joined the Ferrum art faculty in 1991, she is a housewife, mother and grandmother who enjoys reading, hiking and gardening.

April: Bob Fry, an architect and golfer who grew up in Langhorne Place, presents a view of Twelve O'clock Knob from the Salem Golf Course (see illustration this page).

May: Luella Crockett's innovative painting shows views of Salem from various windows of "her big old Chevy truck." A Salem native, she holds a degree in Studio Art from Hollins.

June: Mary Norris' painting of a Virginia horse show reflects her lifelong enthusiasm for horses. A Salem native, she holds degrees from Rhode Island School of Design and Hollins and is a multimedia design engineer who lives with her husband in Arlington County.

July: Cece Bell has painted a Salem institution for July: the Brooks-Byrd citrus-ade counter, which she has visited frequently since moving to Salem in 1976 at the age of 5. A freelance illustrator and graphic designer, she lives in Ironto with her husband.

August: Virginia (Ginny) Moomaw Savage lives and paints in Salem but spends days running World Travel Service in Roanoke. Her painting is of the Stonegate swimming pool, where she and her husband and son spend many July evenings.

September: Guy Ritter has painted the fountain and gazebo at Lake Spring Park. He taught religion at Roanoke College for 30 years and was president of the Salem Historical Society when the Brown House was moved to Longwood Park.

October: Charles William (Bill) Hill, Jr. teaches at Roanoke College where he also coordinates the Criminal Justice Program and directs the Henry H. Fowler Public Affairs Program. He minored in art as an undergraduate and has maintained a strong interest in it. His painting depicts Salem brickworks in an autumn setting.

November: Frankie Mitchell Robbins contributed a painting of the cupola atop Salem's old courthouse (see photo this page). Longtime Salem resident, she completed many art courses as an undergraduate at the College of William and Mary and later at Meredith College in Raleigh and at Roanoke's Studio School.

December: Katherine Devine teaches art at the Roanoke Montessori School, Roanoke County Gifted Program and the Woman's Center at Hollins, as well as at her studio at 5 West Main Street across from Salem's Farmers Market. Appropriately, her painting depicts the Farmers Market on a snowy night around Christmas.

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Court Day
When Country Folk Came to Town

Reprinted from the Roanoke College Roentgen Rays of 1898

As every one knows Salem has always been a very quiet town. It much prefers the good old ways, and clings tenaciously to the traditions which look upon haste as undignified and unseemly. Even sound seems to travel more slowly in Salem than elsewhere. Only once in its rather long history did it so far forget itself as to grow hustling and busy, and allow itself to be invaded by modern noise and dash. That was during the late lamented boom. But bitterly has it rued its mistake, and so great has been the reaction that the Salem of to-day is as profoundly peaceful as in the calmest days or yore.

There are still twelve days in the year, however, when the town rouses itself and signs of life become visible. These are the monthly court-days. On these stated occasions the town is invaded by the country population, which begins to pour in at an early hour in the morning and lingers till late in the afternoon. Some come on foot, a considerable number come in buggies or jerseys, but the majority come on horseback. Many are the motives that bring the crowd together. Some come in to buy and to sell, the jockeys come in to "swap," the lawyers come to attend to their cases in court, and dozens come, not because they have any business whatever, but because everybody else is here.

Few things are more interesting than to lose one's self in the crowd and do a little observation on the quiet. Yonder on the corner is a broad acred farmer with keen gray eyes just visible between bushy brows and populistic whiskers, declaring to his admiring neighbors that he "ain't seen nuthin' that peertens up land like this here Salem bone-meal."

Beyond this group we see one of the Old Order Dunkard brethren approaching, his well-sprigged boot-heels clattering on the brick side-walk. Meeting an elect brother he greets him with a holy kiss, to facilitate which operation, the upper lip is always kept shaven.

Court day comes as a great blessing to the Salem merchants who never fail on that date to do a thriving business. The provident farmer and his still more provident spouse bring in their butter and eggs for exchange or sale, and with the proceeds lay in their month's supply of groceries, dry goods and notions. We follow them into a Main Street store. After recovering from the shock caused by the announcement of the price, and after a long and profoundly critical examination of the articles in question, they hesitatingly conclude that they will take a hat for Sammy and a pair of shoes for Mandy, whereupon Sammy and Mandy, who are on their first visit to town, chuckle with unrestrained delight.

Out in front of the courthouse green is the fakir tickling the crowd and taking in hard-earned cash for bunion salve and for lightning rheumatism drops. Not far away on an inverted goods box stands Salem's silver-tongued auctioneer offering several of the greatest bargains every heard of. Farm machinery long years out of date, ante-bellum furniture with bedsteads not wholly untenanted, broken buggies, books &endash; anything you please is there, and going at a sacrifice. And the good people come to the rescue and buy. Who can explain the fascination of an auction sale? What philosopher can read the rustic heart and tell why its possessor will stand in the rain and bid two prices for an article that he will never need, simply because it is being sold at public auction?

The observer who has an eye for the ludicrous will not fail on court day to visit that part of Salem known as "Jockey Alley." It is here that business activity is always the greatest. Here are gathered in one promiscuous array horses of all breeds, ages, sizes, colors, and degrees of decrepitude. The one thing that is entirely wanting is a good young animal in average health and possessed of the customary and proper organs and accomplishments.

Yonder is a veteran that doubtless heard the roar of the artillery at Chancellorsville; here is another with the affliction of Bartimeus; here is a third the geography of whose sides is a system of parallel hills and valleys; while still another lifts his legs as if they had a door-spring attachment.

The riders are scarcely less striking than the steeds they are riding; gaunt youths with slouch hats and formidable spurs fastened to the heaviest of high-top boots; middle-aged men with ill-groomed beards thrown out of proportion by a great quid of tobacco; old men who can tell you the history of every horse in the Alley, and who were daring traders before their eyes grew dim.

All are out to-day for business and that business is to "swap." Not a man in the Alley wants to buy and few of them would care particularly to sell. They are coming and going in a constant stream, always at full tile, the apparent spirit of the jades being secured by tight reining and a vigorous application of the spur.

"Hello, Bill; how are yer?" we hear one say. "Hello, Gus; how'll yer swap?" They are out of their saddles in a flash. The work of examination begins at the mouth, which to the skilled jockey is an open book indicating the horse's age. His sight is tested by the simple expedient of holding one eye shut and making feigned blows at the other. Next comes the trial of the animal's wind. He is ridden at the top of his speed for two squares and comes back puffing like a bellows. "Will he work?" asks Bill. "Anywhar yer choose to hitch him" says Gus, "and blamed if I don't believe he an out-pull a yoke of oxens.":

The strength and endurance of the horse is in most cases supplemented by some choice profanity on the part of his owner, which for want of space we will here omit. The trade is finally consummated, either on even terms or by the giving of so much "boot." The latter seldom takes the form of cash, but is generally a well-worn watch, a saddle, or where the values are very close, a horn-handled pocket knife.

While the scenes on the Alley are in the highest degree amusing, the strongest feeling that one carries away is that of pity for the poor old beasts so poorly fed and cruelly handled. Salem has no S.P.C.A., although, if I mistake not, a kind-hearted Boston gentleman organized a mercy band in the College a few years ago. This band, I am told, was in a flourishing condition until a number of calves broke into the campus, whereupon the band suddenly went into pieces. It is to be hoped that some society with good staying qualities will undertake to reform the abuses on Jockey Alley. I.C.

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Salem Rescue Squad is World's 2nd Oldest

By Sue Taylor

Recently, I attended a large outdoor event in Salem. While immensely enjoying myself I was taken away by the sudden alarming sounds of sirens blaring in the distance. Caught off guard, I noticed the mostly-Salem crowd had also halted, as if called to immediate attention. Voices could be heard: "Which direction are they going? Are they coming this way, Dad? I guess they are leaving to go to help someone; I sure hope it's no one we know." "Everything will be alright, son."

The minute of stillness ceased, and pleasure was again at hand. The citizens of Salem seemed at ease with the trust they have in their rescue squad members. I once again joined the fun. However, I wondered if the crowd knew about the history of the men and women who, on a second's notice, jump into action: the men and women of the Salem Rescue Squad.

The Salem Rescue Squad is the second oldest volunteer rescue unit in the world. It began as the Salem Lifesaving Crew in 1932, planned by two of the town's citizens while sitting in a red touring car in front of the old Salem Courthouse on Main Street. They were Lewis A. Ballard, chief of the Salem Fire Department, and Minor W. Oakey, who worked for the town of Salem. They would model their squad after the Roanoke Life Saving Crew, the nation's first and oldest such unit, which had been started in 1928 by Julian S. Wise. Just as the idea spread from Roanoke to Salem, it soon caught hold across the state, nation and around the world as communities everywhere saw the need for emergency help available to all.

Seventeen local men who worked as firefighters, police officers, tannery and street workers made up the original all-volunteer unit in Salem. Weekly crew meetings took place in the upstairs of the Salem Fire Department, and the first equipment was kept in the back of the red touring car. Ballard was the crew's first chief; Oakey its first captain. The main objective in forming the crew was to supplement the work of the Roanoke Lifesaving Crew. The new leaders felt that more lives could be saved if a crew were located in Salem and could quickly respond to situations that occurred in that part of the county.

The crew wasted no time in learning methods of lifesaving. They called on the help of the Roanoke crew. Roanoke lent support by sending members Jack Ferguson and A. W. Reynolds to teach Red Cross Standard and Advanced First Aid Courses to the crew. Water safety courses were taught later at the Roanoke College swimming pool. The Salem crew immediately started answering calls of people needing help. Even then, though, they had to depend on the Salem Fire Department for transportation to emergencies until 1934. The calls came in, of every kind: broken bones; crisis illnesses, houses on fire, strangulation, heart attacks, cuts, and accidents -- in automobiles, homes, workplaces, on the street, wherever.

In its first six years, crew members felt they had saved sixteen lives: three from drowning, one poison gas, nine pneumonia cases (when an oxygen tent was used), and the rest accident victims. The squad in its early days operated with one panel truck, several basic first-aid kits, ladders, rope, some wooden splints, and an oxygen tank. Crew members were summoned by Ferdinand &endash; a huge air whistle so named because it sounded like a the bellowing of a large bull -- that was sounded by pulling a rip cord.

The Town of Salem was behind the crew right from its formation. When asked for help, the town manager had a building adjacent to the firehouse remodeled, giving the crew space to house newly obtained equipment. The equipment included an oxygen tent from the Southern Oxygen Company in Roanoke, and an inhaler from a Pittsburgh company. These machines aided breathing and were considered top of the line equipment. A boat and water rescue gear were also added. Realizing the need for a vehicle, member Burman Bowen and Captain Oakey signed a note at the bank to purchase a V-8 Ford panel truck. To pay the loan in full, the volunteer crew put on a number of fund-raisers, including some at the Andrew Lewis High School auditorium. One of these was a fiddler's contest in March 1934, sponsored by the Business Men's Association of Salem, that drew over one thousand people and many worthy contestants.

Famed mountain singer Texas Gladden, who had sung before Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, was one of the special guests to headline the event. Proceeds in the amount of $180 were given to the Salem crew to pay toward their bank note for the crew's new Ford truck. Focusing on the growing needs of the crew and the community, the leaders asked the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors for financial assistance. They were awarded $100 per year.

In 1934 the Salem crew gave a public demonstration of lifesaving at the now closed Lakeside Amusement Park swimming pool. They showed off all their equipment and lifesaving abilities of locating a person under water. A visitor from New York State reportedly became so interested in what he witnessed that he secured general information regarding the crew in order to start a similar organization in his hometown.

The crew has also taken pride in the fact they had enlisted the first female rescue member.

The old Salem Rescue Squad has been renamed the Salem Rescue Squad, Incorporated. It has moved from Main Street to South Market Street where it has made its home for the past ten years. The all-volunteer squad, now in its sixty-eighth year of operation, runs an estimated three hundred calls a month. It has come to the rescue of thousands, some of those pulled from the flood of 1985, and the ice storms in the winter of 1979.

It is the last rescue squad in the Valley that has not gone to a paid crew. As news writer Brian Hoffman described it, "it's a kind of club, with close-knit members and a long-standing tradition. You can feel a comradery at the crew quarters when you walk in the door."

he squad attends many events like the Salem Fair and Old Salem Days. You can catch them on the sidelines at all Salem High School home football games and other large athletic activities. The background of hard work, dedication, and community support made this unit strong and through the years has kept it strong.

What started out as a meeting between two Salem men has grown into one of the most modern and efficient squads in the state. Salem Rescue Squad still stands by its slogan given by its early leaders: "Service Through Knowledge."

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A Place Of Culture

Excerpt from The New York World, November 18, 1889: "From the time of its birth Salem has had just recognition as a place of true refinement and culture...Possessing as it does a beautiful location, perfect drainage, and healthfulness which is proverbial, Salem is sure to be within a few years, on account of these natural advantages, a large and important city."

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Advantages of Location

Excerpt from The New York Sun, January 18, 1890: "Salem holds out many inducements for the capitalist, investor, and the settler, chief of which is its peculiar central location with reference to the large territory which can be supplied in all lines of manufacturing and trade of all classes. Also the numerous facilities for utilizing all kinds of raw materials for manufacturing purposes, and the facility for distributing the manufactured articles in every direction. It is located in the rich iron ore, coal, limestone, and timbered country, embracing all kinds of timber which, with the present facilities of transportation, can be placed in Salem at low rates and small cost. Besides these special advantages, Salem is peculiarly blessed with a climate almost unsurpassed."

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