Whither Washington? Can Rappahannock County’s seat with a rich history write a new chapter?

Venerated as one of the Piedmont’s most historic and beautiful villages, the Town of Washington also is disparaged sometimes as a movie set, even a ghost town. But whatever you think of the town, 2023 will be a year of great change and challenge, sparking renewal, potential growth and, inevitably, friction for Rappahannock’s county seat.

Site plans for the first phase of Rush River Commons were approved by the Town Council last month, planning for a new courthouse is underway, and there’s an effort to breathe new life into vacant and shuttered properties. All are daring town officials and some residents to believe a municipal renaissance might be in the offing.

“I’d say the town is poised for a renaissance, not necessarily growth,” said Mayor Joe Whited, who has been sworn in. “I think folks who say it’s always been this relatively sleepy spot don’t look back at the 1950s and ‘60s when it was a busy, bustling town. A lot of long-term residents tell me they’d love to see a return to that kind of community, in some way. I feel we’re in a spot where that could happen.”

Folksy, to be sure. But the upcoming serial decisions on the look and shape of the town dwarf last year’s multimillion-dollar broadband showdown. And a handful of elected and unelected town and county officials, who likely never expected to find themselves in the eye of such a storm of local reckoning, can be expected to confront waves of “we-know-better” community input.

Nicknamed “Little Washington” for its close proximity to Washington, D.C., the town sits on about 182 acres. According to the 2020 census, the population now is 86 – the lowest ever. However, Town Administrator Barbara Batson estimates the population, in fact, could be as high as 150.

In the mid 1970s, it was almost 200. The village had a gas station, auto garages, a car dealership, general store, theater, bank, museum, firehouse and furniture and antique stores. The Inn at Little Washington opened in 1978, in a building that once housed a garage and later a gift shop.

Named after the nation’s first president, George Washington, just weeks after he announced his retirement, the town has labeled itself “The First Washington of All.”

Town lore claims other “firsts,” too. Among them:

• Stuart’s Store, a merchandise store  – which in later iterations became the Washington Cash Store, the county Health Department and now is owned by the Inn – was located on the corner of Main and Calvert Streets. William Stuart privately loaned money from a vault in the building. The federal government, which no longer recognized private banks, closed the operation in 1920. It was believed to have been the last private bank in the United States.

• In 1950, Dorothy Davis and an all-woman Town Council were elected. Remarkably, the  all-woman slate defeated an all-male ticket, making national news, including in Life magazine. Davis was the nation’s first woman mayor with an all-woman Town Council.

• Merrill Motor Company, on the site of today’s Patty O’s restaurant, was a Ford dealership with cars displayed in the front window. Merrill closed in 1979 after 50 years, receiving an award from Ford for having a dealership operate under the same ownership for a half century.

In 1973 Jenks Hobson was appointed minister at Trinity Episcopal Church. “When I got here, there were homes and apartments that people were living in that now are owned by the Inn or other businesses,” said Hobson, who now lives in retirement in Amissville. He noted that several properties owned by outside investors sit vacant and are slowly deteriorating. “As a result, a lot of the housing stock has vanished and what is available now is financially out of reach for many families,” he said.

Pat Giles, who lives on Gay Street, remembers lots of moms and children when she moved to town with her two babies in 1969. “We’d get together for play dates,” said Giles. Her husband, Skippy, owned the Washington Cash Store, a general store that closed in 1988 and now is owned by the Inn. “There were about 30 kids in town. There were activities like block parties and caroling during the Christmas holidays. It was a really fun community for kids to grow up in.”

But, as Giles explained, when children graduated from high school they left, seldom returning. “There was little for them to come back to, in terms of jobs. Eventually their parents sold their homes. Now only one or maybe two people live in these homes, a lot of them retirees. It used to be that you’d walk through town and see your neighbors on their porches or gardening. Now you see no one.”

Mary Ann Kuhn came to Washington in 1994. A Town Council member for 17 years – six as vice mayor – and a previous owner of Middleton Inn on Main Street, she said: “I’ve always been interested in the soul of the town. When we lost the Country Café and the Post Office on the corner of Main and Middle Street, I felt we lost the beating heart of the village. That’s where locals congregated. I fear a sense of community is slipping away and I don’t know what will bring it back.” 

As a resident for 30 years, Fawn Evenson has seen a lot of change. “When I first moved here it was a very lively town always with something to do,” she said. “There was a group I called the ‘party of the month club,’ where a multi-generational gang of us would get together and have a party at someone’s house once a month. Today, because there was no young group that came behind us, all that’s gone away.”

Evenson strongly supports Rush River Commons, planned to be the town’s first mixed-use development. “I’m very excited. I’m hopeful it’s going to bring people into town, but there has to be something for them to come visit,” she said. “This town is dead and we need more businesses and shops to attract visitors and new residents.”

‘Something new’

With the Town Council giving final approval to the first phase of the privately-owned and funded project, Rush River Commons is expected to break ground early this year. 

It will include 18 residential rental units, a new home for Rappahannock’s Food Pantry, and commercial space that could house offices or a café.

A proposed second phase, which would require expanding the town’s boundary by about four acres, is planned to include offices and space for community and arts activities. Space could also be available for a new, expanded county library, should library officials choose to relocate.

Additional housing units could also be built, although the county Board of Supervisors currently is opposed to more housing in the project.

To date, the Supervisors have sought a series of concessions from the town in exchange for approving the boundary adjustment. But negotiations between the Supervisors and town are stalled, leaving the second phase in limbo.

Since its establishment in 1796, the town boundary has expanded five times, growing from 25 to the current 182 acres. The most recent adjustment was in 1999, when five lots straddling the town-county line were included within the town. According to county resident Maureen Harris, who conducted extensive historical research, including a review of Town Council and Supervisors minutes, all five adjustments were approved without controversy.

And despite the angst swirling around the latest proposal, former town Mayor Fred Catlin, who will remain a member of the Town Council, said: “I want to stress that County Administrator Garrey Curry, Wakefield Supervisor and Chair Debbie Donehey and other members of the Board of Supervisors have been helpful in having a dialogue on the adjustment.

“We have worked to address their concerns and the concerns of county citizens. Although the  change process is stalled at the moment, I want to stress that the second phase would benefit the county with new services and tax revenue. It also gives the town control to make sure it meets our site and architectural guidelines. No one wants this to become an eyesore or unwanted development,” he said.

Nancy Buntin, who was born and raised in the town and now lives with her 106-year-old mother on Main Street, is urging the county to cooperate with the town.

“I want the county to give consent to that part of land [Rush River phase two] coming into the town,” said Buntin, whose father, William, served as county sheriff in the 1970s and ‘80s. 

“Making this adjustment so transactional seems so ‘old’ to me, especially when our population keeps decreasing,” she said. “Rush River is something new. I can understand why some people are afraid the atmosphere of the town and county may be altered. But this project fits into the county’s and the town’s comprehensive plans and I don’t see it as a gateway to big developments like the one going on at Clevenger’s Corner.”

Hobson, the former Trinity Church minister, agrees. Arguing that Rush River Commons would breathe new life into the town and provide more affordable housing options, he said: “Let’s do it, let’s get it done, and let’s enjoy it.”

Refashioning the Courthouse complex

A year after the town became the county seat in 1833, work began on a courthouse, clerk’s office (now housing the Commissioner of Revenue) and the jail. All still are in use today, but need major renovations.

Last year, the county’s Buildings Committee began discussing a 2020 report detailing badly needed repairs for buildings on Gay Street’s “courthouse row,” including the courthouse, court clerk’s office, old jailhouse, the offices of the Commissioner of Revenue, Treasurer and Commonwealth Attorney, and the old county administration building. The report found multiple “issues of dire concern for life safety and/or security that are recommended for immediate review and remedy.”

The Buildings Committee agreed a new complex would be less expensive. Restoring and expanding the existing structures and constructing additional office space is estimated to cost $12 million. A stand-alone complex to house a number of court-related functions, including the Clerk of Court, Commonwealth Attorney, and administrative staff, could cost at least $9 million.

A proposed design unveiled last August depicted a big two-story building about five times the size of the current courthouse. It was largely panned by residents who spoke at a Board of Supervisors meeting in September, saying it was too large and not in keeping with the architectural character of the town.

The Buildings Committee is expected to present three new design options to the Supervisors at its Jan. 4 meeting. Plans also are under discussion to renovate other county buildings, including the old Methodist Church on Gay Street that housed the Rappahannock Association for Arts and Community Theatre. The committee is working on these alternative plans with Alexandria-based consultant, Wiley-Wilson.

“There is no question that a building that size is important to the town and the county,” said former Mayor John Fox Sullivan. “But it’s not a town versus county issue,” he said. “Everybody wants something that is attractive and in keeping with the village’s aesthetics. I think the Building Committee is going about this in a reasonable way, and we will have the involvement of the town’s Architectural Review Board, which is an added layer of review.”  

Sullivan underscored his near certainty that the existing historic courthouse and neighboring structures will remain intact, with some repairs to allow the space to be used for other purposes. 

Village’s ‘special feel’

Whether it is the new courthouse complex, the second phase of the Rush River Commons, new building projects by the Inn, or the renovation or construction of other buildings, all exterior plans must be approved by the town’s Architectural Review Board. 

In 1975, the entire town was listed as an historical district by both the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historical Places. That designation deemed the town’s buildings and structures worthy of historical preservation. Ten years later, the Town Council passed an ordinance creating the Architectural Review Board (ARB), charged with protecting the style and historic character of the town.

“Since about 90% of the town is already built, most of our time is spent on modifications to existing buildings,” said Drew Mitchell, chair of the ARB and owner of Avon Hall, a historic manor home in the town. “Our role is to follow historic guidelines set by the state government for things like roof or window replacements, or new construction. In making decisions, we take into consideration the very special feel of our small village. At the same time, we want the review process to be as user-friendly as possible,” he said.

The ARB played an important role in reviewing the Rush River project where it successfully sought changes to the first phase.

“Rush River is probably the village’s biggest private project of its kind. The original size and style of the project’s residential units crossed the line for what the ARB believed was compatible with the rest of the town. We worked with them very successfully to redesign a portion of the project, so now it comports with the village’s character,” Mitchell said.

As for phase two of Rush River, the ARB will be involved only if the town boundary is expanded. “If the developer decides to go ahead with no adjustment, we’ll not have a role – that will be up to the county,” said Mitchell.

The ARB also will have jurisdiction over the design of the new courthouse complex. “It is within the town’s historical district,” said Mitchell. “Even though the county owns the property and would be constructing it, the complex still falls under the ARB guidelines and is subject to our review and approval.”

Mitchell said he hopes the design for a new courthouse will be resolved in advance of it coming before the ARB. “Usually, the ARB’s review of designs comes at the end of the process, which makes it difficult for us to make changes. To avoid that, we are attending planning meetings for the courthouse with the objective of hashing out design issues before the ARB gives its final approval.” 

Bringing in more businesses 

Whited is launching an effort to attract new businesses. “In the near future, I plan to host a meeting of businesses and commercial property owners and talk about their future plans,” he said. “I think a discussion among that group, including the Inn, about options for utilizing commercial spaces and vacant buildings might help us identify policy changes that could attract new business and enhance the community.”

Whited already has spoken with Town Council members about a variety of incentives to encourage prospective business owners who now are “sitting on the fence,” to locate in the village.

“Given the sheer amount of foot traffic generated by the Inn, especially now with Patty O’s, I think it is important to have them participate in this effort,” he said. “If the Inn continues to grow, foot traffic in the town will continue to grow, and that creates a market opportunity for new businesses.”

The Inn, which will be celebrating its 45th anniversary at the end of this month, has two new projects in the works – renovating the “Cook’s Cottage” to add new guest rooms and restoring and relocating a building that was part of the Middle Street Gallery.

“We are excited about these projects, as well as the future possibility of a spa, a store in the old health department building, and an ice cream shop,” said Bob Fasce, the Inn’s general manager. “Our projects are in the center of town and on our campus, so there will not be any big expansion going on. They wouldn’t affect any residences.” 

As for the future of the town, Fasce said he welcomes new businesses. “I think we are on the cusp of something big. I would encourage the use of buildings that are not being utilized.  Nothing like a Starbucks, but something authentic to the town’s character. If our guests had some extra things to do like visiting new shops, art galleries, or even a nice deli, they’d stay here longer and that would be beneficial to everybody.”

Caroline Anstey, who chairs the town’s Planning Commission, is optimistic that the town may be writing a new chapter in its history. “I think this is a very exciting time for Little Washington,” she said.

“Our finances are strong, our governing bodies are functioning well, and our residents are engaged. The first phase of Rush River Commons will begin in earnest soon. The Inn has plans to expand, but within their footprint, thereby allowing for residential opportunities. And I’m confident that the new courthouse project will result in a design that respects the town’s historical character.”

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History of Town boundary adjustments 

1796 – Three landowners – George Calvert, James Jett, Jr., and James Wheeler – petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to establish a town “by the name of Washington on land of your said petitioners.” An act was passed establishing the Town of Washington on a footprint of 25 acres.

1797 – A second act was passed by the General Assembly, adding five acres of land to the town that were owned by William Porter. 

1894 – The Virginia General Assembly passed an act to expand the town’s boundaries by 300 yards in each direction bringing the acreage to 226 acres. No historical records are available to document this boundary change.

1985 – Realizing no accurate survey existed for the town’s boundaries, then mayor Newbill Miller and the Board of Supervisors (BOS) agreed to review the town boundaries as set in 1796, 1797, and 1894. As a result, the town was rechartered by the Virginia General Assembly, bringing its acreage to just over 179 acres.

1999 – The town and BOS reviewed boundary adjustment applications from citizens whose property straddled the town-county lines. It was unanimously agreed that five lots be included within the town’s boundaries, bringing the area of the town to 182 acres. 

— Based on research by author Maureen Harris, who wrote a history of the Town of Washington and detailed the changing boundaries of the town.

A look at the Town of Washington Architectural Review Board (ARB)

1975 – The “Washington Historic District” was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.

1985 – the Town passed a Historic District Ordinance which created the Architectural Review Board. According to the town’s Comprehensive Plan, the board is charged with maintaining the “unique historic fabric of the village” through the application of standards and guidelines. It reviews plans for new buildings, and changes to the exteriors of existing structures to assure the architectural integrity of the historic district.

ARB MEMBER BIOGRAPHIES

Drew Mitchell, Chair

“For more than two decades I have been involved in the National Trust for Historic Preservation. My husband Bill and I didn’t just write checks, we furthered NTHP’s mission by restoring a handful of historical residential and commercial buildings, one of which was featured in Preservation Magazine. For over 25 years I’ve also owned and operated a successful design firm headquartered in “Big” Washington called Fathom Creative. Although the name highlights the artistic side of the business, its longevity is largely due to our well-earned reputation for our adherence to objective, universally-established design principles.” 

Wes Kerr, Vice Chair

“At a young age I started gaining experience in historical preservation. First learning techniques and procedures to restore antiques, and later using this awareness to develop residential and commercial reconstruction strategies that were in keeping with modernization norms, while remaining respectful of historical aesthetics.” 

Deborah Harris, Secretary 

“As a member of this community for more than four years and as a local business owner (Gay Street Inn), I have a vested interest in serving the town in this capacity.” 

Nanette Edwards 

“My volunteer experience includes 20 years of serving on many boards and committees for Historic Boulder, Inc. in Colorado. Through my association with Historic Boulder, I learned about different architectural styles and the importance of preserving the architectural integrity of buildings within historic districts.”

David Knight

“Having been a full-time resident of the village for over a year and a half, I am passionate about preserving our town’s architectural heritage while also positioning it for future success. A native of Lexington, KY, I graduated from Hampden-Sydney College with a degree in Political Science. I returned to Lexington to obtain a Master’s Certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of Kentucky. I later worked for The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit that protects, revitalizes, and promotes the historically significant buildings that contribute to Lexington’s architectural identity and sense of place.”

– Excerpted from ARB member submissions on file with the Town of Washington office.