Ramsdell House: On the Amazing Things We Find When We Ask

There's nothing like small-town tourism -- the civic pride of community leaders, the friendly folks who like showing the way.  Always push through the "there's nothing here" and you will get to the interesting.

We recently visited the Kenova Pumpkin House, four hours away from home base.  We stayed overnight and explored the region the next day.  Someone told us about the Ramsdell House, that it was an Underground Railroad stop open infrequently but that we could drive around and spot its historic cellar.  A little GPS work and we pulled up in front of it, finding it open.

Turns out Ramsdell is a wonderful historic home, recently restored and typically open four days a week as well as by appointment.  It's got an amazing story of protection and preservation, having been a rental property and a community center and in disrepair, all in recent history.  

Most significantly, it started the town of Ceredo, begun as an abolitionist colony steps from both Confederate and Union Civil War forts.  It was an Underground Railroad stop just at the Ohio River -- freedom on the other side.  During the time since, much of the house's contents have been miraculously preserved, just locked in the attic.  There are everyday objects, papers from McKinley before his Presidency, shoe-making tools, religious leaflets from the Christian tradition,  newspapers ... all sorts of too-close-to-forgotten history now saved. And the found toys -- they are nothing short of delightful. The building was probably a house church as well as a civic center, and those in town promoted a vision of economic change and development. 

Director Deborah Wolfe, the individual responsible for coordinating much of the restoration, gave us a personal tour.  We discussed directions for future interpretation, including the link to the Native Burial Mound on which the site is situated. We have every confidence that this site is becoming a place of memory and reconciliation -- and we know its staff, including its volunteers, are willing to become your fast friends. Just read the story of the dedication.

Excitingly, traditionally African-American churches across the river are capturing the oral histories of the descendants of the formerly enslaved that made it to freedom.  There are now connections to this wonderful site -- and how powerful to know its success in such a real way. 

Things to Know

• These folks seriously want to show you treasures.  Contact them, and they will try to welcome you when it is convenient for you.  They have a Facebook page called Ramsdell House.  Do reach out -- they are still updating their web presence, and you don't want to miss out because you didn't reach out.

• Free admission, always a gift. 

• There are opportunities to purchase a small souvenir or book from their shelves reserved for such. 

For Further Exploration 

• We were inspired to find Criel Mound, another Native Burial Mound, on our West Virginia Turnpike trip back to Virginia.  It is in South Charleston, both easy to find and large by comparison. It's also in town, allowing one to reflect on its preservation. 

• If you also like to explore mound builder sites, there are others within the broader region.  We've also visited Town Creek Indian Burial Mound in North Carolina; it's interpretation gives more context from cultural geography.

• Oh, and there are Ramsdell House ghost stories.  Of course.

New Experiences: More of the Williamsburg Area

Most of our friends and followers have probably realized our interest in Williamsburg, Virginia.  We visited this spring break, taking in a few new or new-to-the-kids places.

Finally, we took the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry, a free ride across the river on the unique transportation of a ferry boat.  In any kind of reasonable weather, it's fun to get out of your car on the ride and enjoy the fresh air, views of Jamestown Island, and the classic nature of the "upper deck" of the ferry, a small enclosed viewing platform that's also home to many of the life jackets.  It was actually J's first ferry trip, too.  He remembers his mom telling stories of buying nabs (crackers) on the ferry--you can't do that any longer, but it is still a delightful little trip!

You don't have to have a purpose in riding the ferry, but we did: to arrive at Surry and see Bacon's Castle.  We'll have to return to Bacon's Castle, as it was closed on the day of our visit and we hadn't picked up on the hours.  We did wind through the countryside to the site (GPS recommended), saw the brick house known as the castle, and still hope to return in the fall.

We returned to Jamestown Island and detoured to the Jamestown Glasshouse, part of the Jamestown National Park Service site and home to its own passport stamp.  We'd not spent substantial time there in a while, so it was good to take the short path through the woods to the glasshouse and watch glass blown for a short while.  The gift shop here is a good stop for true artisan glass pieces made on site.

E and G are finally of an age where they can at least somewhat understand the value of a good meal with new flavors and a little ambiance.  We were so proud of them at Kephi Greek Kitchen, a new restaurant in the former Milano's location on Richmond Road.  Kephi serves authentic Greek food including G's new favorite, lemon chicken and rice soup, and a great selection of reasonably-priced desserts including ekmek, a new-to-us treat with shredded wheat and cream.  

We also took them to the Old Chickahominy House, a classic restaurant at which we'd never stopped but that J had seen in old tourist books.  Casual, reasonable, and somehow still elegant, it was also a great stop for traditional southern food.  It's a breakfast/lunch place with delicious, albeit interestingly flat, biscuits.

We also did two walking tours with Williamsburg Walking Tours.  We started with their ghost tour, which was a nice outing with more thoughtful treatment of history than some ghost tours in the area provide.  We returned the next day for the African-American History Tour and were absolutely delighted with our guide Trish's sincerity.  She was very knowledgeable and had clearly studied primary as well as secondary sources. She was also able to help all of us on the tour connect to each other and truly enjoy our time together--what a gift!   There's a $1 off coupon in the Go Williamsburg guide, too.  

If you go, check out our other blogs on Williamsburg, including one on Christmastide in the area.  We always recommend a ghost tour or similar tour for a taste of local history--whether you think you enjoy spooky stories or not.  We do steer clear of the "gadget-y" ones and recommend you do the same unless you have a particular interest.  Our picks of value-laden (nothing fancy) places to stay are Colonial Williamsburg's Governor's Inn and the Best Western Historic District--both allow you to walk right in to the colonial section of town. Virginia residents interested in visiting the Colonial Williamsburg buildings (going inside), there's a special on passes right now!  You can purchase the passes online and use them later in the season.  If you are in coastal Virginia right now, we also recommend you not miss Lantern Asia at Norfolk Botanical Garden.

Hidden History: Petersburg National Battlefield Park

For Labor Day weekend, we visited Petersburg National Battlefield Park, an excellent destination for families of all interest levels in the US Civil War.  We had been impressed by the park on a previous visit, and it continues to be a well-interpreted, surprising, and off-the-beaten path site.  This time, we found extremely friendly rangers, a simple-and-effective Junior Ranger badge program, and no entry fee (it was small before but has been dropped).

The history of the site is simply impressive.  Petersburg is the start of modern trench warfare (and provides a contrast to the understanding of earlier trench warfare you can obtain in nearby Yorktown, just 45 miles away "as the crow flies").  This is also one of the best sites we've found in Virginia for African-American Civil War History. Of course, no visit is complete without seeing the famed Dictator mortar, a huge cannon of sorts with about a 2-mile range, incredible for the time.  Also not to be missed?  A visit to the Crater site, now even more approachable thanks to some resurfacing of the direct path to the tunnel.  The Battle of the Crater, part of the 9-month long siege interpreted at the park, will tap your interests in military tactics, spying, infighting, and more. Our sense is it is little studied in most history classrooms, but it is one of the most interesting historic sites within driving distance of Roanoke, Virginia, period--and regular readers know that we have a good frame of reference for our rating.

While you are there, we highly recommend finding the recently-restored Poplar Grove National Cemetery.  Much smaller than Arlington, visitors can feel as if you have fully seen this site within a relatively short time.  Take time to wander and reflect, and if you read grave markers carefully, you will find soldiers from both the US Civil War and the Spanish American War, interesting placements of Confederate dead in a national cemetery, rows of US Colored Troops who died quite valiantly, and numerous unknown soldiers.  There is an interpretive leaflet available from boxes at the site that will help you understand the context of the cemetery.

If you go, start at the Visitors Center and take in the introductory film that plays on the hour and half-hour.  Get out and enjoy nature while you visit, which will also afford you a better understanding of what the area's land was like 150 years ago. Good news: It won't be hard to take a walk in the forest on a standard visit.  There are two small "hikes" we particularly recommend for families--the path to the Dictator mortar near the visitor's center that also help guests understand the features of the earthwork trenches, and the very accessible (flat) .5-mile trail into the woods at stop three on the driving trail.  Consider taking a snack lunch or picnic (there are plenty of picnic tables at driving tour stop four) so that you do not need to leave the site for a break, which may require a bit of driving.  If you are combining trips, you are also very near Richmond National Battlefield Park and will even find signs for the park on some of the routes in to Petersburg.