Over the last 75 years many of the architectural icons of the Northern Neck have passed into history, thereby significantly depleting our understanding of our cultural past. In some cases, they were destroyed by fire, in others by the “march of progress,” still others by neglect.
One of the most important losses was the Colonial Beach Hotel, a venerable structure that set on a crest overlooking the Potomac River. The hotel was razed in 1984, the passage of which was noted in an article in the Rappahannock Record. The central portion of the building had been an early 18th-century mansion, reputedly to have been owned at one time by General Lighthorse Harry Lee, of Revolutionary War fame.
The northern section was built in the late 19th century, after the development of the farm into town lots. That part had double-decker porches on the river side, filled with rocking chairs for the patrons to enjoy on hot summer days. Farther down the boardwalk, Walcott’s Hotel also had waterside porches, as well as an attached tavern with an elaborately carved oak interior.
Between the two major hotels was The Ambassador Hotel, another Victorian gem, and Rock’s Hotel, a more modern Art Deco building. In our time all of these buildings would qualify to be members of The Historic Hotels of America, a branch of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Also at the Beach, the original St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church and Colonial Beach Baptist Church, which were pulled down in the 1960s, were early 20th-century architectural gems worthy of preservation. After the town was incorporated in 1892, the first church was the Union Chapel, which was shared for one hour each Sunday morning by the Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal, and Methodist denominations. After the first three built their own churches, the Methodist congregation inherited the Chapel. The congregation moved it to build a new church in 1950 on the site and later tore it down to build an education complex.
At the corner of Routes 3 and 205 in Oak Grove, three major properties were architecturally noteworthy. The Wakefield Hotel was an early 20th-century brick building, with a celebrated dining room offering great meals. Next to the hotel were three small guest cottages, that were moved down Route 3 when the hotel was demolished, and were incorporated into a single building, which still stands near Westmoreland State Park.
On the other corners at Oak Grove were a fine 18th century house and one of the most consequential Italianate homes in the Northern Neck, both now long gone. A recent loss was Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, next to the site of the Wakefield Hotel, which burned last year. A brick structure, which embodied excellent Gothic Revival architecture, the church was the last surviving major historic structure at Oak Grove.
In the town of Montross, several major buildings have been lost in the last couple of decades, including a beautiful 1820-era mansion on Route 3, the neoclassical, Palladian-inspired former bank that had been serving as the Town Hall. Its most impressive feature was a set of large, new-classical windows. The building was taken down to widen the turn on Route 3. A truck driver told me that he regretted its removal as its presence had required trucks to make the turn more slowly.
In Warsaw, next to the telephone building stood a massive home with 75 windows. All that remains are the concrete abutments along the sidewalk. On a positive note, The Saddlery, an impressive brick building adjoining the corner where a hardware store now stands, was saved and moved to the town park.
In this item, I have offered a cursory review of a few of the losses from the Upper Neck. In a subsequent piece, I shall look at some of buildings we have lost in the Lower Neck.
