Welcome to My Home Page of sights of Petersburg, Virginia. You will find here photographs of various sights around the city. Text will be limited as I am a casual historian.
I've hadvisitors.
The Literal Icon of Petersburg is
the Old Courthouse. The seal of the city contains this image. The background of this page is a photograph of the courthouse taken from an unusal angle.
Built in 1815 by Mayor George Jones,
the Mcllwaine House is home to the Petersburg Tour Visitor's Center. Once in Petersburg look for the tour signs
.
Now a restaurant and a stop for vintage rock tours, the "Market" is located in the Old Town District. Old Town contains most of the city's historic sites as well as antique shops and bistro dining establishments.
The Trapezium House was built in 1817 by Charles O'Hara with no right angles at the suggestion of his West Indian servant to discourage evil spirits from living there. It has servived the wrecking ball to become a monument to a bachelor who kept a monkey, parrot and white rats as pets; numbered his fire logs to prevent theft; and reportedly drink two bottles of rum a day.
The Bolling's third hill top home, Centre Hill was built in 1823 by sixty-four year old Robert Bolling for this fourth wife. His son, Robert Bucker Bolling remodeled it to its Greek Revival style in 1850. One of it's distinctive features is a tunnel once leading down to the Appomattox Riverfront for the collection of stores. It is also the home of the ghosts of a Confederate Brigade and beautiful lady (look closely at the center window).
The Siege Museum was originally used as a stock market. It is now dedicated to people and times of Petersburg's darkest months of the conflict between the states. The splendour that was the Old South was reduced to evenings that featured "Starvation Banquets"
where tables were set with fine china and silver, but no food. No wonder, a chicken went for $50 - If it were to be had.
Banks of the Seventeenth Century were more or less for the rich. The Farmers Bank of Virginia's Petersburg branch was for the common man. Confederate money was printed here.
The oldest building in Petersburg, Blandford Church was built in 1735. Its fifteen original Tiffany stainglass windows represent each state of the Confederacy (adding the border states of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri). The cemetery surrounding it holds the remains of 30,000 Confederate soldiers. The oldest headstone is that of Richard Yarbrough dated from 1702. The church is the site of the first Memorial Day on June 9, 1865.
The first mayor of Petersburg, John Bannister, built Battersea in 1770, not far from the Plank Road where Revolutionary troops turned back British forces just before their surrender at Yorktown.
All photographs were taken with a Kodak DC25 camera. The enjoyment of taking them is only equaled by the expectation of sharing them with all those interested. The page was contsructed with Netscape 3.0 Gold and PaintShop Pro.
Other points of interest in the area not pictured are Petersburg Battlefield Park, Pamplin Park, the United States Slo-pitch Softball Association Museum.
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