Posted: 8:22 PM - Sep 07, 2011
From The Northern Virginia Daily dated Friday 2 Sep 2011.
FRONT ROYAL -- Almost 150 years have passed since the front yard of the Thomas McKay House near Cedarville ran red with the blood of Union and Confederate soldiers and its rooms served as a hospital for the wounded. The arrival of a carpentry crew this week began an unprecedented effort by the county and Warren Heritage Society to partially restore the historic house for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Front Royal next year.
Society members hope the McKay House will be one of the sesquicentennial's star attractions. The house and the area surrounding it on U.S. 340-522 marks the spot where Confederates led by Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson snuffed out the last of the Union resistance.
A recent fire down the road at another historic house linked to the McKay family broke the hearts of preservationists and spurred efforts to spare the Thomas McKay House from the ravages of age. The Robert McKay Jr. House, built in the 1730s, is believed to have been the oldest structure in Warren County. The Thomas McKay House was built in 1820.
"This is an incredibly important project and it is truly an appropriate moment in the life of the county and the building to address its restoration needs," said Patrick Farris, executive director of the Warren Heritage Society.
Farris said County Administrator Douglas P. Stanley approached him with the idea of collaborating on restoring the building after the society failed to obtain grant money for the project. Both said the McKay house is the largest historical renovation the county and society have worked on together.
Stanley said the county's share of the project, excluding in-kind work by employees, is costing about $30,000. Farris said the Heritage Society is spending $5,000, the entire sum it receives every year from the county for its operating expenses.
"With the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Front Royal coming up next spring, the time is now to get this done," Stanley said.
While the county is contributing work crews this week, the heritage group is overseeing the work to ensure it maintains the historic integrity of the house and preserves options for future activities at the site.
The house once occupied a pristine rural setting. Its current location, within 50 feet of a heavily traveled four-lane road, prohibits uses that are likely to generate dangerous increases in traffic entering and exiting the road, Farris said. The traffic safety worries mean that the site is likely to be open only for specially arranged tours, he said.
The county controls the 1-acre site through an agreement reached with the adjacent Baugh Northeast Co-Op in 2005 as part of a rezoning for industrial use. The McKay site was subdivided under an agreement in which the county agreed to "maintain the original house to its historic character."
A passage in one of the Warren Heritage Society's annual journals captures the harrowing intensity of the battle fought there in May 1862. The author, Lorraine LeHew Hultquist, wrote the article as a high school class project in 1953.
She wrote: "Men were killed and wounded in front of this house and some of the wounded carried inside of the house, which was turned into a sort of hospital. Bloodstains still remain as unforgettable and silent witnesses."
A crew of four workmen on their lunch break at the site Thursday said they found few signs of the desperate struggle LeHew Hultquist described. Lee Cockrell, assistant crew supervisor, had spent the last two days dismantling porches on the house that were recent additions to the original structure.
"I was hoping we could find some old money but we didn't find any treasure, nothing," Cockrell said.
Heritage Society renovating McKay house for anniversary of Battle of Front Royal
By Joe Beck -- jbeck@ndaily.com
By Joe Beck -- jbeck@ndaily.com
 (View larger image) Warren County Parks and Recreation laborer Shawn Teachout, left, and a jail trustee, Tony Woodell, watch as a backhoe knocks down a row of cinder blocks from the McKay house on U.S. 340-522 north of Front Royal. The historic property is being partially renovated before a Civil War battle anniversary. Rich Cooley/Daily |
Society members hope the McKay House will be one of the sesquicentennial's star attractions. The house and the area surrounding it on U.S. 340-522 marks the spot where Confederates led by Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson snuffed out the last of the Union resistance.
A recent fire down the road at another historic house linked to the McKay family broke the hearts of preservationists and spurred efforts to spare the Thomas McKay House from the ravages of age. The Robert McKay Jr. House, built in the 1730s, is believed to have been the oldest structure in Warren County. The Thomas McKay House was built in 1820.
"This is an incredibly important project and it is truly an appropriate moment in the life of the county and the building to address its restoration needs," said Patrick Farris, executive director of the Warren Heritage Society.
Farris said County Administrator Douglas P. Stanley approached him with the idea of collaborating on restoring the building after the society failed to obtain grant money for the project. Both said the McKay house is the largest historical renovation the county and society have worked on together.
Stanley said the county's share of the project, excluding in-kind work by employees, is costing about $30,000. Farris said the Heritage Society is spending $5,000, the entire sum it receives every year from the county for its operating expenses.
"With the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Front Royal coming up next spring, the time is now to get this done," Stanley said.
While the county is contributing work crews this week, the heritage group is overseeing the work to ensure it maintains the historic integrity of the house and preserves options for future activities at the site.
The house once occupied a pristine rural setting. Its current location, within 50 feet of a heavily traveled four-lane road, prohibits uses that are likely to generate dangerous increases in traffic entering and exiting the road, Farris said. The traffic safety worries mean that the site is likely to be open only for specially arranged tours, he said.
The county controls the 1-acre site through an agreement reached with the adjacent Baugh Northeast Co-Op in 2005 as part of a rezoning for industrial use. The McKay site was subdivided under an agreement in which the county agreed to "maintain the original house to its historic character."
A passage in one of the Warren Heritage Society's annual journals captures the harrowing intensity of the battle fought there in May 1862. The author, Lorraine LeHew Hultquist, wrote the article as a high school class project in 1953.
She wrote: "Men were killed and wounded in front of this house and some of the wounded carried inside of the house, which was turned into a sort of hospital. Bloodstains still remain as unforgettable and silent witnesses."
A crew of four workmen on their lunch break at the site Thursday said they found few signs of the desperate struggle LeHew Hultquist described. Lee Cockrell, assistant crew supervisor, had spent the last two days dismantling porches on the house that were recent additions to the original structure.
"I was hoping we could find some old money but we didn't find any treasure, nothing," Cockrell said.