history s stories: mom & pop store what’s in a crossing? Chatham bridge

history’s stories The year was 1890 and a new building was being built at 1806 Fall Hill Avenue, that would become a local grocery store. Not unusual back in those days as there would be over twenty such stores in the small Town of Fredericksburg operating from the early 1900's until the late 1950's when the large supermarkets would take the customers. Names such as North End, Perry's. Proctor's. Mitchell's, Sullivan's, and Perry's to name a few, would fade into the past. I remember as a young boy going into several of Mom & Pop Store By Ralph “Tuffy” Hicks the such as Charles Street Market and Perry, buying the penny candy and reaching into the cold water in the soda box for a Nehi-Orange. I along with other neighbor children would find Soda bottles as we could get two cents each for them so we could buy the Mary Janes and Fire Ball candy. That new building being built in 1890 would turn out to be ECONOMY FOOD MARKET . Today the store is still in operation still serving the Fredericksburg community for over one-hundred years. I can recall as a young boy going into the store with my mother in the 1950's and meeting the owner's BURROUS AND PAULA SNELLINGS. One of the advantages of writing for FP is that it allows me to have the pleasure of doing a story that brings back so many fond memories. I visited Burrous and Paula at their home in the city a few weeks ago. Burrous (Junior) who is now 94 and Paula a young 90 are two amazing people that loved to talk about the past business and their love for the customers they knew from their 51 year's operating the store. Frank Harding owned and operated the store from around 1900 until the Snellings purchased it in 1936. Burrous and Paula operated the store after his return from the Army in WWII in 1943. Their hours of operation were from 6:30AM - 9PM, six days a week closed on Sunday. The store originally had a gasoline pump and also kerosene. They sold fresh dairy products from Farmers Creamery, especially the ice cream. Burrous said that he was a meat cutter and his meats were popular in the area. They were proud that after 10AM each day Burrous would home deliver groceries throughout the area in his red truck. They get that twinkle in their eyes when they talk about raising their three children. Paula and Burrous both said that they would do it all over again providing a needed service for the community. In 1987 they sold the business to Paul and Theresa Kim. The Kim's have continued the friendly "Mom and Pop" service to the community Paul and Theresa have operated the store going on 34 years this year. Unlike the Snellings the Kim's originally lived over top of the store for several years before moving to a home locally. They have raised two children that are grown. One attended University of Mary Washington and the other University of Virginia . Prior to the purchase of the store Paul worked at the commissary at Quantico. The store is much the same with the signage unchanged. Paul has added an extremely popular Deli operation and is known for his sandwiches. Theresa and Paul know most of their customers by name. Unlike going to a supermarket, the front door is just a few steps from the curb and the items are many and easy to find and the service is personal and friendly. Family owned businesses are on the rise as people seek individual personal services, as it was in the early 1900's. Stop in the Economy Market and enjoy a tradition with Paul and Theresa. Do not forget your Lottery tickets.

Dedicated to : Hugh Cosner, Jules Elliott, Jack Harris, Connie Bourne & Ned Skinner.

Tuffy is the Front Porch resident FXBG historian John Wayne Edwards painting "Junior's Store

What’s in a Crossing?

THe historic chatham bridge

As an avid kayaker, one of my favorite places to paddle is along the Rappahannock River. It's quiet, even under the bridges, except for the momentary "glurp" of a sun-bathing turtle dropping into the water. The Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg is beautiful, and famous. Here, where cascading waters of the Virginia Piedmont ease into a lazy tidal flow, early settlers established the village of Fredericksburg, using the river as a key route of commerce. George Washington grew up nearby and was said to hurl a silver dollar all the way across the river. Here, Union forces built pontoon bridges to get into Fredericksburg, and back out again. Enslaved Americans crossed to freedom on the opposite shore and started new lives. Here, an amusement park once flourished on Scott's Island. Today, kayakers, canoeists and stand-up-paddlers enjoy the river's beauty, and hopeful fishermen congregate in Spring for the shad run. Soon, bicyclists and pedestrians will be able to pause at an overlook and leisurely view the river from high above. Fredericksburg is a river town and always has been. Like any such town worth its salt, people are connected by its bridges. Chatham Bridge, which links William Street in downtown Fredericksburg to its northern neighbor, has a rich history of people reaching the other side. Fredericksburg Department of Economic Development and Tourism intern Lily Eghtessad , who studied historic preservation at the University of Mary Washington, is revealing the fascinating history of Chatham Bridge. Her weekly updates are a great read, appearing online at www.VisitFred.com/spanniing-chathambridges-history. Our best-understood early iteration of Chatham Bridge (named for Chatham Manor and William Pitt, Earl of Chatham), was a privately owned, timber framed affair built around 1823. The bridge builder, Major Churchill Jones , died before it was completed, possibly due to "too much exposure" in superintending its construction. Within three years, a flood undermined the structure … and Chatham's toll bridge "floated down the restless current". In 1832 its replacement, Coalter's Bridge , was finished -- aided in all

By jon gerlach

likelihood by enslaved people laboring under harsh conditions. That bridge lasted until the Spring of 1862 - when Confederates burned it to impede Union forces who had arrived at Stafford Heights and Chatham Manor. With no other way to cross (all the bridges into town had been destroyed), the Union army built pontoon bridges and entered the City. Floodwaters soon washed away the pontoons. Another approach was needed, and a permanent crossing was built later that summer - a wire suspension bridge - anchored across the relic abutments of Coalter's Bridge. Washington Roebling , who accomplished this feat as a Union engineer in 1862, would later help design and build the famous Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. However, by the end of that war-rent summer, Roebling's suspension bridge in Fredericksburg had been reduced to ashes. The next bridge, officially named Chatham Bridge, was built in 1865-66. Skipping all the way forward to 2020, Chatham Bridge is closed now for construction while everyone looks forward to using it once again. But don't miss what happened in between: check out Lily Eghtessad's blog as she uncovers more of the bridge's history. So … what's in a Crossing? Here, a recurring pursuit of new and better ways to reach the other side.

An attorney and retired archaeologist, Jon Gerlach serves on the Architectural Review Board in Fredericksburg. 1862 lithograph by E. Sachse & Co., Courtesy Library of Congress