Is Flint Hill on the verge of change?

Residents reflect on village’s rich past

What’s to become of Flint Hill, a sleepy crossroads village, that now finds itself at a crossroads? Is a renaissance on the horizon with new residents and businesses leading the way?

There was a time when Flint Hill’s mile-long historic district along Zachary Taylor Highway was a lively economic hub in Rappahannock County.

Hard to imagine now, but varied architectural styles – Greek Revival, Federal, Italianate and Craftsman – housed a bustling community of homes, schools, hotels, banks, shops, tea rooms, medical offices, and later, gas stations. Even a car dealership.

Today, with a population of about 360, Flint Hill is quiet. Many descendants of the old families have moved on. The general store closed years ago. The shuttered bank is up for sale – again. The Skyward Café closed recently. Ditto the Horse N Hound Saddlery.

Yet new residents and business owners are breathing energy and life into the village. Can their spirit transform Flint Hill into a “destination” village, like Sperryville or Little Washington?

Early beginnings

Flint Hill got its start in the mid-1700s near the intersection of two important routes: Chester’s Road (now U.S. 522/ Zachary Taylor Highway), connecting Front Royal and Culpeper, and Fodderstack Road, leading to the Town of Washington. Lore says the village actually was named “Flinn’s Hill,” after the local Flinn family. Others believe it was named for nearby deposits of flint rock.

Through the first half of the 1800s, the hamlet grew to about 140 residents. A post office was established in 1823. Twenty years later the village was formally created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly. During this period, the Baptist Church and the United Methodist Church were built, as were many homes and commercial buildings that still grace the historic district. Stores, millers, physicians, blacksmiths, wagon makers, saloon keepers and a deputy sheriff thrived.

Road to Gettysburg

“…the beauty of the mountain scenery, of the mountain lassies, of the innumerable bouquets showered on us on all sides – of the waving of handkerchiefs, and the loud shouts of the soldiery…”

– Letter by a member of the 30th Regiment, North Carolina, marching through Flint Hill in June 1863.      

Strategically located on the road north to Chester Gap and Front Royal, Flint Hill was a stop off for tens of thousands of Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War. The village was spared any fighting, but citizens suffered looting and property destruction. Lore has it that residents hid their meat from Union soldiers upstairs in the Methodist Church, and at one point, the church served as a Confederate hospital.

Some residents joined the Flint Hill Rifles, part of the regular Confederate army. Others signed up with Colonel John Mosby’s Rangers who operated in the area.

As told by noted Civil War historian and Culpeper local, Clark Hall, Flint Hill in June 1863 witnessed the inauguration of the Gettysburg Campaign, considered by many a turning point of the Civil War.

Following the cavalry battle at Brandy Station near Culpeper, General Robert E. Lee ordered the Army of Northern Virginia to clear the northern Shenandoah of Union troops ahead of his planned invasion of Pennsylvania.

Hall explains: “The 2nd Corp of the Army of Northern Virginia left Culpeper and marched north on the Richmond Road, through Gaines Cross Roads (now the intersection of U.S. 211 and Ben Venue Road) into Flint Hill and over Chester Gap to Winchester, where they defeated a Union army garrison. Two weeks later, the corps arrived at Gettysburg, only to be routed by the Union army. Their retreat followed the same route back through Flint Hill.”

Another account from the period is noteworthy. In October 1864, Federal troops were in the area, seeking reprisal for the death of a Union soldier, reportedly at the hands of Mosby’s men. The Union troops captured two of Mosby’s Rangers at the blacksmith’s shop at Gaines Cross Roads. One was Albert Gallatin Willis, who earlier had dined at Rose Cliff in Flint Hill and the other was  a fellow fighter. Union officers ordered one of the two be put to death.

Willis’ companion, married with five children, was chosen, but pleaded for mercy. Willis, a Baptist lay minister who was single, offered himself instead. The next day, Willis was hung from a tree off U.S. 522 just below Chester Gap, near what is now Willis Chapel. His body was returned to Flint Hill and buried in the cemetery behind the Baptist Church.

Economic growth

Flint Hill regained its footing and experienced a growth spurt after the Civil War. By the 1880s many new homes and commercial buildings were constructed including two hotels, several general stores, an academy school (in what is now the Dark Horse Irish Pub) and a sawmill. The Macedonia Baptist Church was completed, bringing the number of churches to three.

The early 20th Century brought more growth, new businesses and expanded farming. A local bank, saddlery, barber and wheelwright provided services to the village’s 350 residents.

As motorized transport became more common in the 1930s, Zachary Taylor Highway was widened, eliminating walking paths and leaving homes and shops close to the road. Filling stations and garages opened as did the Russell Brothers’ Chrysler dealership, now occupied by Settles Grocery and Garage.

Village life

“This region was governed by people with common sense and experience,” said Bob Miloslavich, a local history buff who lives off Hillsborough Road, outside the village.

“There was a real sense of community in and around Flint Hill. Generation after generation, they took care of themselves and had a wisdom that they earned the hard way. Many had been poor for generations. If anyone got a little ahead, they looked after the others.”

Jean Lillard, whose mother Mabel was Flint Hill’s postmaster for many years, recalls village life in the mid-20th Century. “It was a great place to grow up. There were so many kids and activities. We had Scouts, 4-H, youth groups, softball, roller skating and other activities. Every day, we walked to the school which is now the Blue Door restaurant.”

Lillard’s cousin, Richard Brady, a long-time resident, was raised near the village, off Aileen Road in the area then known as “Pullentown.”

“My mother raised 10 kids and had her hands full,” he said. “To make extra money she also raised and processed chickens and sold eggs. She ordered the baby chicks through mail. As a kid, I remember going to the tiny old village post office at the intersection of Fodderstack Road and U.S. 522 [and] hearing their ‘cheep, cheep’ coming from cardboard boxes.”

Just down the street from the post office was Bradford’s store, which sold groceries and home goods and had a small restaurant. Originally operated by the Carys in the late 1890s, the store’s potbelly stove was a place where locals gathered and shared conversation.

During the lead up to Christmas, Marvin “Boo” Bradford and his wife Francis would transform the upstairs level into “Toyland.”

“It was the biggest thing around,” said Brady. “All the kids would line up at the steps then rush upstairs with their parents and see the toys. There was Santa in the corner handing out candy canes and oranges. It was a magical experience.” Parents would often return another day to make a purchase.

A popular hangout for the village men was the now vacant service station next to the Methodist Church. It had many operators over the years, including Clarence “Skindigger” Jones and Major Cowgill.

“The nice people congregated over at Bradford’s store and the rest of us hung out at Major’s station,” said Miloslavich. “Before TVs and air conditioning, all the men would go there in the evening. There’d be 40 or 50 guys sitting around spitting tobacco, telling lies to each other, and playing card games. Inside, that place was so smoky you couldn’t see a thing.”

Many families, including the Bradfords, Brownings, Reids, Easthams, Thorntons and Barksdales, contributed to the growth and livelihood of Flint Hill.

In the 1940s, 50s and 60s, the Foster brothers, Stanley and Herbert, farmed about 1,800 acres just north of Flint Hill, including cattle, orchard grass, corn as well as peach and apple orchards. Greg Foster, Stanley’s grandson, recalled: “To help run the operation, they employed a number of families who lived on the property, some who moved down from the Shenandoah National Park. ”

For years, the brothers worked on construction projects in Washington, D.C., including the bomb shelter at the White House, returning to Flint Hill on weekends. “The farm wasn’t always profitable so their income from the city jobs kept folks employed and the operation running,” said Foster. “They were hard working and loyal to the people who worked for them.”

Herbert’s granddaughter, Sharon Dodson, remembers days on the farm as a child. “We worked 10-hour days and my grandfather would provide housing, transportation, and lunch for all of our farm workers,” she said. “Lunch consisted of a meal that today would be comparable to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners, complete with at least three different pies for dessert.”

Firemen’s Parade and Carnival

The Flint Hill Volunteer Fire Department, organized in 1954, was another social hub. Like other fire companies in the county, it sponsored an annual Firemen’s Parade and Carnival. Hubie Gilkey, who represented Flint Hill on the Board of Supervisors for several terms, reminisces: “It was a premier community event with people coming from miles around. Miss Virginia always participated. It was the biggest and best parade in the county.”

The carnival and parade, which ended in 2013, were an honored tradition for almost 50 years.

Recently elected as president of Flint Hill Volunteer Fire & Rescue, Dave Bailey sees the company as a place where the community could always come together. “I feel a real responsibility to try to continue that tradition. There is a sense that people long for a place to gather, and in the future, we plan on hosting community events like dances,” he said.

Bailey was gratified by the attendance at a recent fundraiser at the fire hall where some 200 people from all over the county turned out. “Along with all that goodwill comes a sense of responsibility to make sure we are doing what’s right, not just in our ‘first due’ area, but also for the greater community.”

Flint Hill Tales

Wagons Ho!

In the 1830s, the availability of cheap fertile land in the new Western United States’ territories likely is what fueled a group of Flint Hill residents to head for Missouri.

John Corder Sr. was the head of a big family in and around Flint Hill. Land records in the early 1800s indicate members of the family bought and sold a number of properties, perhaps a sign of their interest in land speculation.

Whatever their reasons for leaving, it was said that Corder Sr., gave each of his four sons wagons, horses, cows and $5,000 for the journey. Others in the area joined the wagon train which stretched for three miles along Fodderstack Road.

After traveling for three months and some 900 miles, the settlers stopped about 45 miles northwest of St. Louis, Mo. The area reminded them of their home in Virginia so much so it was named Flint Hill. A former tobacco-producing community, Flint Hill, Mo., now is considered a suburb of St. Louis and has a population of about 1,000.

Horseback visits from Foxcroft girls

From 1915 to 1940, some 25 young women from Foxcroft School, a boarding and day school in Middleburg, would take an annual horseback ride from the school to Luray. The school’s founder and headmaster, Charlotte Noland, combined equestrian lessons with academics and the “Luray Trip” was a great way for the young riders to perfect their skills.

Their route would take them through Flint Hill – where they overnighted at the Rickett’s Hotel – much to the delight of village residents. And it just wasn’t boys who turned out to greet the young female riders; just about everybody welcomed them with open arms.

Teachers at the Flint Hill School gave up their boarding rooms at the hotel to accommodate the students. After supper the Foxcroft girls were treated to a play at the school or to a movie. As they walked around the village, young children would fix them lemonade.

Entries in Foxcroft’s 1916 yearbook, “Tally-Ho!,” reveal the girls’ enjoyment when in the company of the village’s “best and bravest.”

“…we received some gentlemen callers, and we have reason to believe that several of our number left pleasant memories behind them,” wrote one of the girls. And from the 1920 yearbook:      “Miss Charlotte had warned us in advance to behave very properly, and not to ‘wiggle-waggle’ or ‘cheek-to-cheek’ … And it is hoped that our hearts are still our own.”

There was, perhaps, more than a little mischief, too.

 “They did a lot of foolish things like young girls do … they once brought a baby pig and put it in someone’s bed,” according to an account of Roberta Spaulding, a former teacher at Flint Hill School.

A passage in a 1939 yearbook seems to confirm Spaulding’s assessment.

 “Flint Hill spared nothing for entertainment … the Prevention of Cruelty to Rickett’s Hotel no doubt, for it is a debatable point how long that worthy institution would have stood up under the brutality of our treatment.” 

The “Luray Trip” ended in 1940.

History of Resettlement Road

“Leaving familiar sights, their homes, their burial plots,

    Most left begrudgingly for some low country spots…

The blue of the mountains is not due to the atmosphere,

    It is because there is a sadness which lingers there.” 

— Excerpt from the poem “Why the Mountains Are Blue” By Wayne Baldwin

With the establishment of Shenandoah National Park in 1936, some 500 families were forced from their mountain homes in the park. For many, it was a dark chapter in the history of the park.

Families with economic means could relocate to nearby areas on their own. Others – about 170 families — with little or no money, were moved by the federal government to “resettlement” areas in several counties along the Blue Ridge Mountains. One of the areas was near Flint Hill.

The federal government purchased about 1,450 acres in the area which today is Resettlement Road and Dearing Road to accommodate 37 families. Small frame houses, varying in size from two to five rooms, were built on lots from two to 15 acres, with some parcels reportedly as large as 90 acres. The homes and land were owned by the federal government, but residents had the option of buying after five years.

Today, driving down Resettlement Road one can see one or two houses close to their original form, but most have been remodeled or torn down.

— By Bob Hurley for Foothills Forum

Coming up: Flint Hill’s changing demographics