A Guide to Historical Salem

A Guide to Historic Salem -- Volume 5, Number 1 -- Spring 1999

From Germany...
Baseball and Salem Grew Up Together
Firefighters Had Heartaches, Triumphs
An Editorial
'Mom and Pop' Motels are a Salem Tradition
St. Paul's Episcopal Church Traces Roots to 1836

From Germany...
1832 Letter Relates Cousin's Sad Story

By John Long

An old letter recently uncovered at the Salem Museum sheds some interesting light on the hardships of life in 19th century Germany, with a fascinating Salem connection. The 1832 letter in German is from Johann Balthasar Dingledine, of Obermossau in the Hessian Odenwald, to his cousin of the same name, who lived near Salem.

The letter is part of a collection of papers recently donated to the Museum by John McCauley and his sister, Dorothy McCauley Butler. The papers were collected in the late 19th century by the noted historian of Roanoke County, William McCauley, who served as the County's Clerk of Court for many years. Along with legal documents, bids for construction projects, political letters, and Confederate amnesty oaths, museum intern Melanie Allred found the original letter in German, dated 1832, along with a translation apparently made some time later judging by the condition of the paper.

The test of the translation of Herr Dingledine's (or Dingledein's) letter is found in the adjoining article.

J. Balthasar (spelled Balsor, Peltzer, Palythazer, among half a dozen other variations) Dingledine of Salem was a prosperous farmer who lived on the site of what would become Lakeside Amusement Park (now Lakeside Shopping Center). He was born in Germany in 1767, and came to Rockbridge County probably in the middle eighteen-teens. There he married Susannah Firestone Hileman, and the two moved to the outskirts of Salem (then in Botetourt County) in 1819. Their farm, later known as Dingledale, encompassed much of what is today the Edgewood and Conehurst neighborhoods. The Dingledines had one daughter, Susan, who married John McCauley in 1835; their son was William McCauley, author of the monumental 1902 History of Roanoke County.

Was there a happy end to his letter? The McCauley papers at the Museum give no indication of a response, favorable or otherwise, to Herr Dingledine's request, although the family apparently attached enough siginificance to the letter to preserve it for future generations. We may surmise however that little or no help came from his American cousin, because later local censuses never mention another J. Balthasar Dingledine in residence in Salem.

However, there is evidence that the author of the letter did eventually make his way to the promised land of Virginia. Immigration records in the Virginia Room of the Roanoke Public Library list a Balthasar Dingledine coming to the US from Germany in 1838 with his family (no family is mentioned in the letter, but could that not be a deliberate omission on the part of the author?). In the 1840 census, a Baltzar Dingledine is found in Shenandoah County with seven children, one of several families of that name listed in that area. While this is not enough evidence to consider the matter closed, it seems reasonable to assume that Dingledine, refused by his Salem namesake, found another rich American relative to sponsor his trip over.

Readers who are happy with the previous analysis should stop reading here. Others who are interested in another alternative, more disturbing interpretation of the letter are invited to consider the following information.

Salem Historical Society President Inez Good, a long time German professor at Roanoke College, recently spent some time examining the Dingledine letter and proposed that the 19th century translation may have missed a crucial piece of data. The German word for cousin, as translated above, is "Vetter," while the word for father is "Vater." This raises some interesting questions. It must be misspelling, one of several noticeable in the letter. But which word is misspelled? Could it be that the German writer was not a cousin, but a son of the Salem Dingledine?

If so, he would almost certainly be illegitimate, since Baltzer Dingledine was married in America. The will of Baltzer Dingledine of Salem makes no mention of a son, although this does not necessarily discount the possibility that one existed. There seems to be no way of confirming their relationship at this time, but some aspects of the letter make more sense if written from a desperate son to his absent father. Phrases such as "my share of your wealth" and "my Vatter would send for me" take on a new light. Reread the letter, substituting the word father for cousin at every appearance, and decide for yourself.

We may never know for certain the answers to these mysteries, but the letter nonetheless provides us with an excellent 160 year old reminder of how fortunate our ancestors were who made it to America.

Here Is the Letter

Editor's Note: Following, translated from the German, is the letter that is the subject of the accompanying article.

Obernassau March 30, 1832

Much beloved Cousin-it would give me much pleasure if my letter should find you enjoying good health, as for me I am thanks be to God, well & healthy.

But as regards my temporal circumstances I am forgotten altogether by my parents, and I have not a person who cares for me or looks after me. My Mother is right old, she has enough to do to support herself in our poor part of the country. Dear Cousin since I am grown I have been on the alert for any kind of work, I have served the farmers a long time, but I could not save (or lay by) anything, as the business is very dull in our country, ever one is glad if he can just live and not have to make any debts. But which has not happened to me yet. Dear Cousin, I remember well the last time you fed me at Mr. Peter Meger house in Obernassau, and we have not seen each other since, but which is my only wish if I could but talk to my dear cousin in America once more, perhaps he could give me better advice and assistance. Dear Cousin I dare (or venture) to write to you with a sad heart, I hope also that you will not think ill (or hard) of me for I have always believed that some day you would send me a letter, but which has not happened so far. Dear cousin as far as I can learn you are in the best of circumstances in America and I have to spend my life here in poverty if you withdraw the duty you owe a cousin. Dear Cousin I would like to ask something of you, so many people are leaving for America to seek their fortune if would give me much pleasure if you could have me come over and live with you, if you could send me some money or assure me some other means by which I may be enabled to emigrate to America. Should it not suit you to have me come over, do not forget me anyway but see that I get my share of your wealth, in order that I might say that I have a dear cousin. Dear Cousin I did not know it myself but when the counsellor told me that when I was 13 years old my cousin would send for me, but I am now 32 and he had not thought about me yet. You will not blame me for reminding my dear cousin of his duty. I am without means, and whoever is, is not noticed at all. As already stated if I only had enough money to pay the passage, I would have been in America long ago, where I also could support myself better. I hope my dear cousin will open his good hand and help me over the ocean, and I will show my gratitude as much as is in my power. Dear cousin I hope you will not forget me and will send me a good answer to my request. Dear cousin write to me as soon as possible. I remain yours truly, Johann Balthaser Dingledein.

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Baseball and Salem Grew Up Together
Local Merchants Closed Up Shop for Games

By Stewart Hill

Although perhaps better known as a football town, Salem has cultivated a century long love affair with the nation's pastinme, with roots spanning to the time of the Civil War.

As with so many communities throughout the United States, Salem and the surrounding valley "grew up" with the sport of baseball, their histories in parallel progression-from pastoral beginnings to modern professionalism.

A descendant of the earlier games cricket and rounders, baseball began to emerge prior to the Civil War as the pastime of preference for boys and men across the East Coast. The game-played under innumerable rules variations-was spread during the war to the hinterlands by soldiers taking time off from the rigors (or boredom) of military life.

In Salem, baseball likely was first played in the form of townball, shinny, or other games on the back quad of Roanoke College soon after the school's establishment in the 1840s. However, the first recorded game in our area occurred just after the war, in the fall of 1865, when some not-so-contrite Rebs recently enrolled at the college stopped play to sing "Yankee Doodle" in mock tribute to passing Yankee officers.

After the war, men's clubs organized for the purpose of playing baseball became the national rage, playing under increasingly standardized rules (based on the play of the renowned New York Knickerbockers). The first organized teams in this area, known as the Pelhams and the Tuscaroras and composed of students, took the field at Roanoke College in 1870.

The sport, however, remained strictly intramural-until finally on Saturday, March 24, 1877, when the Tuscaroras were allowed to travel to Blacksburg to play the team of the Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Virginia Tech).

Wearing a uniform described by the school newspaper as "stockings, white and blue striped; pants, solid blue; shirt, white, trimmed with blue, and letter T, blue flannel, on the breast," the Roanoker lost that day by an unrecorded score. But a month later, a rematch in Salem resulted in a 27-21 win, Roanoke College's first intercollegiate athletic victory.

The 1880s brought regular matches between another RC team, the Daisies, and a team of town boys, the Sweepstakes, with the college boys winning by scores such as 35-13 and 40-30. Lopsided balls, crude fields, and the absence of fielders mitts (which had not yet been introduced) often led to high scoring affairs.

Games between the college and the town team were often heated events for which local merchants would close up shop to attend. In one such contest in the early 1900s, Salem pitcher Clyde Garst, normally known to be "as cool as a cucumber," became enraged by the college's umpire, Ivan V. Yonce, who apparently "couldn't see any strikes until...a Roanoke College pitcher came to the mound." On another occasion, according to a Roanoke Times report, Roanoke College's captain suddenly pulled his team off the field since "it would be no distinction...and if they won and somewhat of a disgrace if they lost" to a group of local boys.

The college's team was always competitive, but the 1893 team was particularly noteworthy. Having defeated all the surrounding baseball clubs, the school received a challenge from the "famous female nine" of Cincinnati. The college team accepted and advertised the game to be played in Salem. But playing against women offended the sensibilities of the college president, Dr. Julius Dreher, who, a college historian reports, "snatched the advertisement; from the wall and tore it to shreds." Only after the manager had sworn out a warrant for defacing property against the president was the game finally played.

With the introduction of professionalism in 1869 by the Cincinnati Reds, local clubs increasingly began to use "ringers," paying players directly or compensating them through job considerations. Even the respected Roanoke College team fell susceptible to this temptation when given the chance to play against Alexander Sanders, an 1885 alumnus of the school who had gone on to pitch in the major leagues with Philadelphia.

When Sanders later played for Vanderbilt University, the Roanoke College team jumped at the chance to play against him. But their thirst for victory got the better of them, and they packed their squad with six pro players. Years later, in 1899, "The Collegian," the school newspaper, made this confession, "We acted unfairly...and ever since then it has been our firm belief that it would have been far more honorable and...manly to play our own men and be beaten than to win as we did..."

The first admitted pro team in our area was fielded by the Roanoke Machine Works from 1887-88. Games with other teams (pro and amateur) from as far away as Knoxville, Tennessee, and as near as Salem were played at several parks in the heart of modern downtown Roanoke, sometimes drawing as many as 2000 spectators.

Another short-lived attempt at "pro" baseball followed in 1894-96 with the advent of the Roanoke Magicians, who suffered through three losing seasons. After that, it was almost a decade before a new club was founded-the Roanoke Highlanders. This franchise (later dubbed the Tigers by sportswriters who deemed Highlanders too long a name) played from 1906-14 within the wood planked confines of what became known as Maher field (next to modern day Victory Stadium).

Tiger players, like pitcher Ott Willis (a Roanoke College product), catcher Ray Ryan, and first baseman/manager Frank Shaughnessy, became the darlings of area fans, and by 1909 the team rewarded the valley with its firs Virginia League title. The spirit of this early team was perhaps captured in themotto of its business manager, Elmore Heins, "late to bed-late to rise, work like hell and advertise," as quoted in Barnes' "A History of the City of Roanoke."

Some Tiger stars were even celebrated with their own baseball cards by regional cigarette makers, setting off a collecting fury. A kids' trading market was set up, and, according to a Roanoke Times report, "after the games the urchins became scavengers, going through the bleachers and stands looking for discarded cigaret packets in th hope they would find pictures of ball players. Some of the boys used to get up early of a morning to trail the gutters of Jefferson Street to Campbell, tapping cast-off cigaret packets."

However, following another league title in 1912, fans became lulled by the team's continued success and became increasingly sparse at the ballpark. By the end of 1914, the team had become unprofitable and was sold to Suffolk for $721. For the next 25 years, the balley went without a fully professional baseball team, except for occasional barnstormers and semi-pro squads fielded by companies such as N&W.

However, the baseball business was booming through these decades at Springwood Park (near Orange Avenue) where Lincoln Terrace Elementary School is located today). There, according to Ralph Barrier in The Roanoke Times in 1997, kids clamored around the wooden fence, "hoping to retrieve a ball and return it to the ticket taker in exchange for admission to the game."

There, too, played the African-American stars of Roanoke's and Salem's all black league; teams such as the Roanoke Black Cardinals, N&W Stars, West End Athletics, and Northeast Bluesox played clubs from Bedford to Pulaski.

Beginning in the 1930s, exhibition games were held at Salem's new Municipal Field between the local black teams and barnstorming Negro League clubs like the Homestead Grays, the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and the Kansas City Monarchs (employers of the famed Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige). Although remembered as some of the greatest talent to ever play in the area, none of the local black players of this era were ever given a shot at major professional baseball.

In 1939, former Roanoke Tiger Ray Ryan helped bring Virginia League baseball back to the valley-this time to Salem. A last minute entry into the league, the rag tag Salem Wolves opened the season with uniforms borrowed from the Ashland, Kentucky team-complete with a sewn "A" (for Ashland) across the front of the jersey! The Wolves lost their first game on the road, but the did manage to win the next night at still new Municipal Stadium, beating Lynchburg 9-2 before 1000 fans. A last place club, this team did have the distinction of playing the first night game at Municpal on June 27, 1939.

Renamed the Friends (apparently in recognition of Salem, the "Friendly City") the club won the league title game in 1941 on an 8th inning triple by player/manager Vernon Mackie. However, in 1943, wartime gas and tire rationing caused the team owners to move the club to Roanoke so that more fans could walk to games. Beginning play in 1943, the Roanoke Red Sox would usher into the valley a whole new concept in professional baseball that was sweeping the country-the minor league farm system.

Note: This article includes information from "The First Hundred Years-Roanoke College 1842-1942" by William Edward Eisenberg; The Roanoke Times of September 6, 1939, and other sources as cited in the article."

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Firefighters Had Heartaches, Triumphs
Department Started With Bucket Brigades

By Amber Rhinehart

It took more than forty years of fires before Salem's Town Council recognized the importance of its fire department enough to pay the firemen. In 1887, the members finally did it: they authorized paying firemen a grand total of $5 a year-the equivalent to a year of water tax.

Such munificence was given sparingly, however. The volunteer firemen received the salary only if they went out on the majority of fire alarms and drills.

The 150-year-plus history of Salem's fire department if full of such rich details-stories, surprises, heartaches, setbacks and triumphs. But from the initial bucket brigades to the fully trained and full-time employees serving the city's fire department today, our fire departments have come a long way and proven themselves well.

The early settlement of Salem in the first half of the nineteenth century contained only bucket brigade for waging wars against fires, and they needed all the help they could get. They got such help on April 1, 1852, when the Salem Beacon described a fire in Mr. George Hannah's smokehouse which broke out around 3 a.m. the previous morning. The bucket brigade arrived, minus hats and boots, but in their disarrayed apparel put out the fire with the help of a rainstorm.

The article warned citizens of Salem that this event could have been any one of their fates, except worse for want of rain.

It wasn't until 1848, when a leading Salemite's metal wares shop and building were severely damaged by fire, that the town became motivated to provide better fire service. In 1854, six years after the fire, Abraham Hupp, the owner of the shop and one of the town's leading citizens, gave Salem its first piece of fire equipment-a hand-operated pump that he had invented and made in his metal ware shop. Powered by four to six volunteers, the pump worked much like a railroad handcar. It sat in a small wagon, surrounded by a trough into which the bucket brigade poured their water, and the pressure of the pump could spray water more than fifty feet from an attached leather hose. The Salem Fire Department still has the old hand-pumper in its station on Market Street.

From that beginning, the department grew steadily in the next twenty years. In 1871, J.H. Palmer sold to the town what would become a new Engine House (for $10.50, according to one report). Disputes over the purchase of a fire engine ensued, and in March of 1875, Captain Robert W. Page offered his resignation because he didn't feel the town recognized the importance of the work of his men. By April of 1877, the engine house was completed and in June the following year, uniforms were purchased. However, it wasn't until 1883 that the Salem Town Council decided, at the special request of the fire chief, formally to organize the fire department and to grant the five dollars per year to each volunteer.

The hand pump was used until 1889, when water hydrants were placed around town. Two hose reels had been purchased as well as five hundred feet of leather hose. The fire department now consisted of nineteen men.

The first few years of the twentieth century saw expensive and damaging fires for the town of Salem. In June of 1903 the Holstein Woolen Mills, Co. suffered $4,000 in damage, and in August of that same year the Salem Pants Factory and the adjacent mill were destroyed after a night watchman's lantern ignited leaking gas. The Roanoke Fire Department was called in as well, but with the lack of water, it was a hopeless cause. Over two hundred workers lost their jobs with the destruction of the plant, and the damage was estimated at $150,000.

In 1906 many changes occurred within the department. Thomas R. Boon, the fire chief for seventeen years, resigned in January, urging a reorganized department. Robert H. Carper, hired as his successor at a wage of $18 a year, purchased 1,500 feet of new hose and hired eight new men for the department, while retaining four who had been on the team since 1895.

Just three weeks after the new company had been chosen, a fire broke out downtown at the Hotel Crawford. Praises and admiration were all the newspapers had to say about the department, recounting instances of glory and bravery. Mayor William T. Younger even sent the company two boxes of Finke & McClaugherty's Vineta Cigars for their efforts.

In April of that same year, the town purchased a wagon and hired a driver to work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. J.P. Bryant worked for the department and trained the horses. Bryant had a mule in 1907 as the town couldn't afford horses for the wagon yet, but he didn't train the mule, believing it would be a time consuming and ridiculous job. The next year, two horses were purchased and when a surprise test at the Lake Spring Hotel was performed, Bryant and his team "behaved spendidly," reaching the hotel in just under four minutes.

As the years advanced, the fire department grew with the technology of the time. In 1916, the Town Council decided to purchase a motorized fire truck, as well as new property in the town for a fire station. On August 26, 1917, a new twenty-eight horse-powered Republic motor fire hose truck arrived, and in 1919, an ordinance for a bond issue referendum was passed for $10,000 for a new fire station.

In April of 1920, a sketch for the new firehouse was approved, with the budget not to exceed $10,000. A site on College Avenue was selected, and in January of 1921, the Fire Company began moving into its new, but unfinished building. A bell which functioned as an alarm was installed in the tower of this building, and was used for the first time for a cow stable fire in April of that same year. The following year the town decided to give Mr. Bryant a break from his constant job by hiring a second driver. Bryant since has become something of legend in the Fire Department, and his old uniform hat and badge are still stored in the department today.

In 1925, the town's second piece of motorized equipment was purchased: a Seagrave 750 gallon per minute water pumping truck. These two trucks were the only motorized pieces of equipment until 1932, when they purchased a third truck.

Finally, in June of 1925, the fire department completed its movement into its new firehouse. The first floor was spacious and light, perfect for the new truck and other such equipment. The second floor consisted of the firemen's living quarters, with places for sleeping, a shower and bath, and the much needed and usual pool table and checkerboard.

In September of that same year, the new fire truck was put to the test. In the early hours of the ninth, a fire broke out at Salem Steam Laundry, one of the town's biggest industries. Crowds of citizens gathered to watch the new pumper work. Although the building received extensive damage, the Dillard Livery Stable located to the rear of the fire was saved, and all agreed it was thanks to the new truck.

The 1930's saw three major fires. In October of 1930, a fire started in the attic of the Shickle-Woods house, said to be one of the handsomest houses in Salem. The upper stories of the house burned out the walls. Although the house was unoccupied, driver J.P. Bryant was overcome with fumes and fireman Maynard Dooley was struck unconscious by falling woodwork. Both were revived quickly.

The next year the fire department was awakened at 12:45 a.m. by the alarm on a cold January morning, denoting a fire at the Salem High School (the building on North Broad Street that now serves as City Hall). No one knew whether it was intentionally set or caused by defective wiring; it was reported, however, that it appeared as though kerosene was poured onto the third floor and lighted. With exams scheduled for the next week, classes were held at alternative locations: the Old Town Hall, Masonic Hall, local churches, and the Municipal Courtroom.

The next major fire occurred in September of 1936 at the Grand Theatre. Roy J. Poff, his wife, and operator Leland Slough were testing the new $7,000 equipment for an upcoming benefit for the underprivileged children of the community. As they prepared "Les Miserables" for showing, the film caught fire. Damage was estimated at $10,000.

In a Roanoke World News article, the Salem Fire Department was praised as being one of the best in the state of Virginia. On the eighth of August, 1936, the article went on to say that this first-formed company had proven itself time and time again after sixty-six years, had developed into a company that not only fought fires. They also cleaned streets, aided in repairing downed electrical and light services after storms, and supervised fire drills and stressed the importance of fire safety to local schoolchildren.

The decade of the fifties saw more changes in the fire department. A fire-fighting contract was written between Salem and Roanoke County to help better serve the community. And in 1953, the rescue squad and firemen of the town received free town automobile tags after numerous neighboring towns had done the same. These tags were used for purposes of identification, but also for an added inducement in recruiting new members.

Salem Hardware was struck hard during this decade, experiencing two fires in four years. The Longwood Carriage House Theatre was destroyed in December of 1950 by an unattended coal stove, but the insurance money collected was used to establish a Community Center Fund.

In 1961, in interesting exchange took place between the Salem Fire Department and Schneider Oil Company. The oil company purchased a new tank truck, but instead of trading in their old tanker, they traded it to the fire department in exchange for a $20 Confederate note. The Fire Department used the tanker to fight grass fires, for they had no means to do so beofe acquiring this truck.

The sixties also was a time of movement for the department, as Station No.1 on College Avenue closed when the present-day station was built and opened in October of 1964. Included in this station is the infamous rescue horn, nicknamed Ferdinand, which blares loudly to alert rescue squad volunteers today.

Station No.2 was also built this same year, located on Electric Road at the Salem-Lynchburg Turnpike. It was built mainly by city workers to reduce costs.

In June of 1971, plans were prepared and authorized for a new fire station at the end of Eddy Avenue. It was placed into service in November of 1973 to aid South Salem more efficiently.

One of the worst fires of Salem's history occurred in April of 1973. With the fire starting in the kitchen of Pitts Place Restaurant, located on Main Street, it spread quickly to neighboring businesses. Three buildings were a complete loss, with Salem Office Supply Store and Speed Copy Center being condemned by the City Inspector, a total monetary loss of a quarter of a million dollars. Several of the Roanoke Valley's fire departments fought the blaze, and although no one was hurt, four families who lived in apartments above the businesses were left homeless.

In 1985, Tom Roseberry, a Salem firefighter wrote a book, Stirring the Ashes, loosely based upon the firefighters and the jobs they held in Station No.2. Although not specifically using the Salem firefighters as characters, Roseberry used his experience while working in Salem for the basis of his novel. Roseberry wrote the book to disprove some common myths about firefighters, and to show, quite literally, just how tough their job could be. Although controversial in some aspects, Roseberry wanted the show the hearts and souls and the day-to-day drama that are involved in a firefighter's role while working to help the community.

In May of 1986 a million-dollar fire was suspected of being purposely set at a metal building located on Indiana and Ninth Streets. All three businesses housed in the building were destroyed: Carpet Village, Boxley Jet-Away, Inc., and Fire & Safety Control Cos., which, ironically, sold fire extinguishers, safety axes, and other fire safety equipment. Two firefighters were injured. As the first firefighters arrived, two seperate fires were burning about fifty feet apart without any visible trail between them. The Virginia State Police arson investigators were called in to help determine the cause of the fires.

In this same year, the Salem Fire Bell came home again. Purchased in 1883 for $143.38, the bell was used to call volunteer firefighters to the old Calhoun Street Fire Station where it was housed. It became so well-known that, early in the century, when J.P. Bryant sounded the bell, his trained horses would leave their stalls and position themselves under the harness in preparation for the upcoming fire.

The bell was used in this station until 1921, when it was moved to the the tower in the North College Avenue station. The old fire station became the present site of the Salem school administration building, where it remained until 1986. At that time, Dr. Richard Fisher, well-known Salem citizen, noticed it and inquired about its origins. Through his and many others' efforts, the bell was reconditioned and participated in the ceremony of "Bells Across America" where the first public ringing of the bell occurred. The 850-pound bell, made largely of copper, now resides at the Salem Fire Station. It was valued 1988 at more than $6,000.

The eighties also saw a first for the Fire Department. In 1989, Salem hired their first female firefighter. Although breaking a 135 year-old tradition, Diane Edwards didn't understand the big deal everyone was making her position out to be. She felt as though she was accepted by the other male firefighters' they told her the same jokes they told everyone else, she said.

In 1993, a horrible fire that destroyed part of the Holiday Inn by Exit 137 caused $1 million in damage as a 911 call went astray. A manager of the hotel, located in Roanoke County, called the emergency hotline as soon as he noticed smoke coming from a closet in the early morning hours. The call went to dispatchers in Roanoke City; and it took Salem firefighters 33 minutes after the initial call to reach the hotel, but only because they weren't notified of the fire until thirteen minutes after the call. Determined as a dispatcher's error for not verifying the address and a computer glitch for incorrect routing, the delay resulted in much damage. Although no one was injured, it did initiate an investigation and considerable testing of computers and other equipment.

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An Editorial

Howbert House: Must Be Saved

By Anne Stuart Beckett

Editor's Note: The author, a professional historian, is on the Board of Directors of the Salem Historical Society.

"Nobody cares about history!" At least that is what everybody tells me. Lately, I'be come to believe it.

But I love history! And not just because it's my job. It's my passion. And my passion is saving "My Howbert House."

That's how I've come to view it. Since working to save it last June with other dedicated professionals from the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, Salem Historical Society, the City of Roanoke, Poplar Forest, and Colonial Williamsburg, I have mentally taken possession of the house. In fact, everybody always asks me, "How's your house?" They don't even say the Howbert House anymore; they know.

The Howbert House personifies history. But someone else sees it as "just a pile of logs." And another person only thinks "those logs would make beautiful floor boards." Well, both of them are right. But to me, the Howbert House is an exciting and rare piece of architecture, something heretofore I had studied only in textbooks. Something I may never see again. But I would like it saved for the people who come after me, so they can see how craftsmen once built their homes strong with stone and logs, not quickly with plastic and vinyl.

The Howbert House is similar only to the late 18th century Garst Fort-torn down for the road that replaced the Great Road, I-81. That's progress. Tear down the old to build the new. But why not appreciate both, why not blend the two? Now that would be progress!

If we lose the Howbert House, we also lose the few remaining threads of German history, the early settlement period, and the early roads associated with our valley. The Howbert House was built around 1800 in the now vanished village of New Antrim that was east of Salem. Only one other known house in the valley, the Harshbarger House (also German), survives from this time period.

In 1816, George Howbert brought his wife Elizabeth and thier children down the Great Valley Road of Virginia, as did many other German and Scotch-Irish families during this time, and settled into the small German community where they purchased 540 acres. The Howberts built a side addition to the existing house that was near a church, a mill, and other residences where Peters Creek Road now runs.

Peters Creek Road now extends down to form the new intersection with the Salem-to-Lynchburg Turnpike. The Howbert House overlooks the historic turnpike on a wooded knoll with Peters Creek flowing nearby on the east. The massive two-story log house was built on a true north-south axis over a bedrock outcropping. A stone foundation and basement support the massive 19" x 9" heart pine logs held together at the corners with full dovetail notching. This rare and time-consuming form of notching has not been seen in the valley since the Garst House was demolished.

To the East, stone steps lead down to a small spring that bubbles up from a semi-circular stone structure and flows down a stone lined and stone creek into Peters Creek. This type of craftsmanship may never be seen again in the valley, and is almost gone. In fact, it should be. A series of tragic mistakes have led this house and property to the brink of disaster.

But it doesn't have to end this way. The Howbert House has stood the test of time for nearly 200 years. And like the rest of us, it has been tested, and has survived. Barely. But with some vision the house could continue to stand.

The future "Turnpike Tavern," as I envision it, can be incorporated into any development plans. It doesn't have to be demolished like the other historic buildings to make way for progress; it can become part of it. Grand as it stands, it can become part of the solution, not part of the problem. With a little imagination, a little sweat, and ingenuity, this prime commercial corner could create history by adapting a new approach to development by utilizing history, not throwing it away. Instead of clear cutting, building new, and hoping they will come-retain this rare piece of architecture, and proudly proclaim it to the public: RE-HAB IT AND THEY WILL COME!

If we don't re-hab it and they come, they we have gained everything, and saved our history for future generations to exclaim, "Wow, those developers really knew what they were doing!"

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'Mom and Pop' Motels are a Salem Tradition

By Delores Mitchell

It's August and it's hot. You have been driving for seven hours in your 1959 Chevrolet with no air conditioning. You are traveling from Norfolk, Virginia, to Beckley, West Virginia. You slow down as you pass through the town of Salem on Route 11, looking for a place to get a cool shower, a good dinner, and a night's rest.

As you drive down West Main Street, you spot a clean, attractive-looking motel just at the town's limits. It is called Goodwin's Motel. It is set back from the highways, with a neatly manicured lawn, filled with umbrellas and comfortable looking chairs. The sign out front says, "The Best for Less." You are tempted to stop, but decide to continue on to see what else is available.

Imagine your surprise as you drive west on Main Street and encounter six more motels, all within a few blocks. Each one has a different style, but each is neat and clean looking with a large sign in front advertising what is available. You finally decide to had back to Goodwin's, because the weather is so hot and they have a swimming pool.

Before the Mariotts and Holiday Inns of today, travelers found these "mom and pop" motels, as they were called, to be the only place to stop on a long trip. The small motels, usually consisting of between 10 and 20 units, prided themselves on their ability to provide clean, well-furnished rooms with a uniquely personal touch. They often advertised themselves as "your home away from home." Their owners worked long hours, upgrading the rooms and maintaining the buildings, but they loved their profession and made a good living from it.

When Interstate 81 bypassed West Main Street in 1963, many owners were frightened, fearing the increase in competition the interstate would bring. However, there were people who still preferred the smaller motels, and business continued to be good. Truck drivers and elderly people in particular liked the lower prices and home-like atmosphere.

As time went by, and large hotels such as the Sheraton joined the Holiday Inns in Salem, and more and more restaurants and filling stations and shopping centers crowded together on West Main Street, the small motels lost out. Today, all but two of them have been razed to make way for progress.

The Regina Motel at 2101 West Main opened in 1954, and was owned by Elizabeth and L.T. Clark. Mr. Clark was an engineer with a large corporation whose job led him all over the United States. Inevitably, he was forced to spend a great deal of his time in motels. "My husband wanted to buy a motel because he stayed in enough of them and figured he could run one as well as the next fellow," Elizabeth Clark was quoted as saying. "He thought it would be a good way to get off the road himself and he was right." The Regina was torn down in 1984 to make way for Salem Family Physicians which occupies the spot today.

Goodwin's Motel, opened in 1950 by Fred Goodwin, had 32 units. In 1980, it was bought by Mohan and Lata Patel and in 1989 was torn down to build the Salem Kmart store.

Fort Lewis Motel at 1851 West Main was once the leading motel in Salem. It consisted of 32 units, a filling station, a restaurant and an antique lamp shop. In the yard was a genuine 100-year-old covered wagon, according to its advertisements. It occupied the space now used by the Walmart store.

Salem Motor Court at 1806 West Main consisted of 15 units. Originally owned by Lingn Musser, it was built to accomodated the overflow from the Fort Lewis Motel, which was owned by her brother, Robert Musser. In 1957 it was bought as a business investment and potential retirement home by the Rev. Merlin Garber, a minister of the Church of the Bretheren. Last year, the Reverend Mr. Garber sold the property, and it is now the site of the Kentucky Fried Chicken and Applebee's restaurants.

The Ranch Motel at 2032 West Main was owned by Earl and Ruby Bonham, Jr. It consisted of 20 units, but these have been torn down to make way for a physician's clinic.

The Siesta Motel at 2746 West Main was built in 1949 and still uses the original 13 units. It is one of the two motels still in operation, and business is good. Rates are $30 a night, compared to the Holiday Inn rates of $70. It is now owned by Cathy Washenberger.

The oldest of the motels was the Windsor, built in 1946 as 1918 West Main. Its original owner was Effie Snead, affectionately called "Mama Snead" by her guests. It consisted of 20 units, and had an engaging gingerbread house appearance. Mrs. Snead, who is now 101 years old, has turned over the management of the hotel to her daughter, Rubye Nixon. Mrs. Nixon reports that business is brisk, with repeat customers who have been coming back for many years. Rooms may be rented by the week for people who are moving or hob-hunting at the rate of $120. Regular overnight stays are $32.

Not only in Salem, but all around the country, the mom and pop hotels have had to adapt to a great many changes over the years. Yet they still represent a large share of the motel industry, thriving especially in many rural areas and beach communities. Although no longer a factor around large metropolitan areas, the mom & pops live on today as a vital element of small town America.

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St. Paul's Episcopal Church Traces Roots to 1836

By Charles Stebbins

When did St. Paul's Episcopal Church begin?

Some say it began in 1852 when the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia separated Roanoke County from Botetourt County to create a new parish that as given the name Salem.

Others give the beginning date as 1867. That was the year the rector of the Salem Parish, the Rev. Edward H. Ingle, began holding regular services for Episcopalians in Salem. For the purpose he rented a room over Stover's Tinners Shop, at the site of modern-day Brooks-Byrd Pharmacy.

For many years St. Paul's itself dated its founding from 1852. But a careful search of the record reveals another interesting date-1836.

It was in that year that the Rt. Rev. Dr. William H. Mead, bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, reporting his activities to the diocesan annual convention, wrote, "On Thursday night, I reached Salem, in Botetourt, and preached there on that evening and the next morning, confirming two persons. The Rev. Mr. Wharton resides in this place and preaches at Fincastle, and also at a church eight miles distant from Salem."

This clearly indicates there was Episcopal activity in Salem as early as 1836 and probably earlier. It may not have been organized to the point of having an assigned rector and a name, but it does indicate a congregation holding services on some sort of regular basis.

Bishop Mead's 1836 report indicates that the congregation in Salem-even loosely organized-was the ancestor of St. Paul's, contrary to the belief of some that St. Paul's was a mission of St. John's Church in what was then Big Lick. That belief was based on the fact that the Rev. Edward Ingle, who began holding regular services for Episcopalians in Salem in 1867, had been hired by the vestry of St. John's; some thought this meant the Salem congregation automatically became a mission of St. John's. Actually, during this period, both St. Paul's and St. John's had the same rector and vestry.

By the early 1870s, while the joint arrangement between the two parishes in Salem and Big Lick was still in effect, St. Paul's had apparently become the larger of the two congregations. This was indicated in 1872 when the two groups began electing a nine-member vestry-three from St. John's and six from St. Paul's giving the Salem congregation control of the vestry. It was in that same year that the vestry divided itself into local committees, one for Salem and the other for Big Lick. These committees would attend to strictly local affairs, but the whole vestry would continue to meet to consider matters of joint interest.

Considering all this, it is difficult to see how St. Paul's was ever a mission of St. John's. In fact, St. Paul's seemed to have been the dominant congregation almost from the beginning.

Regardless of then the Episcopal congregation in Salem was formed, it is clear that is became known as St. Paul's in 1870 when a small brick church was built on Alabama Street, now known as Market Street. After leaving a rented room over the tinner's shop, St. Paul's bought property where the small brick church was built, and the congregation has been in the same area since. It still owns the original property today.

The original building was simple in design-a single room with small moveable pew benches, a small reed organ, and curtains on pipe rods to partition the room into classrooms. The official date of the building is 1870, but it apparently was in use in late 1869 because it was in that year that the first wedding was held in the St. Paul's Chapel building. It was the wedding of Jean Dandridge Logan and Samuel White.

The church's finances were a problem almost from the beginning. In October 1871 the joint rector of St. Paul's and St. John's, the Rev. Mr. Ingle, called to the vestry's attention that his salary for the year was mostly unpaid. St. John's had paid the rector only $10 for the year but St. Paul's had paid him $113.46. As a result, the vestry appointed collectors at both churches to attempt to increase pledge payments. Soon, St. Paul's raised its portion of the salary to $350 per year, and St. John's raised its portion to $100. In the 1890s another rector, the Rev. Edmund H. Hubard, reported the same problem, and again the vestry had to make special appeals to make up the deficiency.

Then came another financial crisis. In October, 1899, the insurance premium on the church, rectory, and the sexton's house, in the amount of $52.50 had been overdue since June. Vestry members extracted money from their pockets, coming up with $21, and then asked the congregation for a special donation to raise the remainder.

Finances would become an even greater problem during the Depression year of the 1930s when the vestry was forced to borrow from banks and individuals to keep the parish afloat.

The church's physical plant has expanded continuously since the first building. In 1910 the church building in use today at Market and Main Streets was built, and in 1927 the original church building on Alabama (Market) Strett was razed and a new parish house constructed on the same site. In the early 1950s the congregation bought the historic Post House, reportedly Salem's oldest building in the historic downtown district, which adjoined the church property on the west. In the 1980s it bought the Younger Park Building just west of the Post House, along with a large parking lot behind it. That parking space, which extended to Calhoun Street, approximately doubled the church's parking area.

In 1970 this parish house was expanded, extending St. Paul's holdings closer to Calhoun Street. In the late 1980s the congregation bough the Owens property at Market and Calhoun streets, now known as the South Wing.

And on the drawing board in 1999 is a plan to replace the South Wing with a modern three-floor building that will greatly increase the parish' floor space.

Throughout nearly all of its existence St. Paul's has been a community meeting place because it occupies a central downtown location in Salem.

Almost before the original little brick church building was finished it became the site of a school for girls. In 1869 Misses Jean Dandridge Logan and Anna Clayton Logan announced that the second year of their Salem Female School would operate in the St. Paul's building. They advertised that the school would hold classes in rooms "elegantly fitted up...and conveniently situated int he centre of town, in the new Episcopal building just erected." The school attracted 32 pupils, known then as "scholars," its first year in the St.Paul's building.

In 1988, St. Anne's Day School also was begun at St. Paul's and has proved to be a popular educational feature for children in St. Paul's and those outside the congregation.

At many other times St. Paul's facilities have been used by civic and charitable groups for meetings, often accompanied by meals prepared by the ladies of the church. In the earlier years the ladies charged as little as 25 cents a meal for such meetings, although by 1937 the price had increased to 60 cents. Kiwanis Club suppers at St. Paul's in the 1930s sometimes brought in $14 and $15 a night. In 1934 they served 271 public Thanksgiving Dinners at 50 cents each, turning a profit of $120.82.

The women often contributed from the proceeds toward the congregation's general debt. In September 1884 they donated their entire bank account to help retire the debt on the purchase of a new rectory and the following year began raising funds to buy furnishings for the church and rectory.

In the 1930s they collected Octagon Soap wrappers for Boy's HOme which could be traded for merchandise. Other outreach projects in the mid-1930s included donations to the Primary/Grammar PTA fund to buy lunches for underprivileged children, donations for welfare work in the community, and for Christmas baskets for poor families.

St. Paul's has spawned other churches and missions of the region. It is in the record that the Rev. E. Valentine Jones, recort of St. Paul's in 1886-89, along with the Rev. Frank Stringfellow and a man named Williams, organized a new mission church at Eagle Rock, in Botetourt County. This congregation is now part of St. Mark's in Fincastle, but the church building in Eagle Rock is the site of a summer service and meal each year, a tradtion that was still being practiced in the late 1990s.

On September 8, 1886 the Rt. Rev. Francis McNeece Whittle, bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, visited Eagle Rock to consecrate this new mission church, which had taken the name Emmanuel. The bishop said that Jones and Stringfellow were enthusiastic about this "beautiful spost in the mountains on the James River" and wanted to work also in Clifton Forge which was growing fast because of the railroad.

In 1924, in another significant outreach, the Rev. David Lewis, rector of St. Paul's, established Mount Gerizim chapel on Twelve O'Clock Knob southwest of Salem. The chapel was named in honor of a peak in the Holy Lands believed to be the spot where Abraham was directed to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. The chapel was built in the winter of 1924-25 and consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Robert C. Jett, bishop of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia, on April 26, 1925. the mission lasted until the 1950s when it was closed and the property sold. Toward the end, its Sunday services often attracted fewer than half a dozen people.

Since the congregation was organized in 1867 by Edward Ingle, there have been 13 rectors. All were graduates of Virginia Seminary except the current interim rector, the Rev. Katheryn Keene-Babcock, a graduate of Yale Divinity School. Nine of the rectors left St. Paul's to pursue other ministries, two retired and one, Frederick Griffith, died while rector.

In January of 1998 St. Paul's began seeking a new rector when the Rev. Robert Copenhaver retired after 28 years, the longest term of any rector at St. Paul's. St. Paul's then was the third largest parish in the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia in membership.

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