LoCoHistory

In the 19th century, urban traffic in Charlottesville required something other than a gas station for fuel. Instead, the equine motors needed water. To satisfy this daily requirement, the city installed four water fountains. The upper portion of the fountain was for two-legged animals, while other domesticates used the overflow from the “fishes” that was collected below in a basin. Unfortunately, none of the fountains survived in situ in the 20th century. But recently the Charlottesville Volunteer Fire Company and the City of Charlottesville restored one of them and erected it near Court Square (seen at the left in the photograph). The fountain dates to 1892, while the design was patented in 1880. The next time you are strolling down the mall, take a short side-trip to view the intricately carved motifs on this historic feature.

I am back from the field (an Assyrian city in southeastern Turkey which I assist in directing an archaeological excavation). I plan to return to once or twice a week postings. This week’s post is broad in its scope: animals from the past, focusing on the use of animals in place names. One can imagine the 18th and 19th Century flock of pigeons that lent their name to Pigeon Top. Or the herds of buffalo that once roamed the Piedmont, today only preserved as a geographic entity: Buffalo Meadow; the lodge of beavers that resulted in Beaver Dam; the brace of bucks memorialized in Buck Mountain; the sleuth of bears at Bear Creek; the gang of Elk in Elk Run; the pack of Wolves at Wolf Trap Mountain (today known as Edgehill Mountain); a volery of birds at the Birdwood Golf Course; a plague of locusts at Locust Grove. We need to update this list for the 21st Century with a labor of moles, a bevy of otter, and a muster of peacocks. For more trivia on clusters of animals visit: Fun with words: collective nouns.

I cannot end this post without a nod to a 21st Century animal sighting website: www.beaverlikemammals.com. Well worth a visit if you have ever asked the question “Hey, is that a beaver?” Oddly enough, after visiting the site last week, I have seen 3 BLMs.

As a tribute to the current “colony collapse disorder” among contemporary bees, I thought I would add a note about 19th Century bees in Albemarle County. An 1888 handbook, published to encourage “industrious farmers” to settle here, contains a chapter on “bees and honey” (pp. 48-51). William Dinwiddie’s summary describes “improved smokers,” “movable combs,” and “Italian queen bees.” He encourages everyone to get involved in beekeeping to discover the “delightful and profitable employment in it.” Moreover, he found it strange “that everyone who has a home in a region productive of honey, should not engage in its production; at least so far as to secure for his own table an abundance of this - nature’s own most delicious sweet.” So consider bee-keeping as a possible hobby this summer.

I had heard about the bird (Cardinal), the flower/tree (Dogwood), the dog (American Fox Hound), and the insect (Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly), but who knew we had a state fossil ? And no surprise, it’s named after TJ: Chesapecten jeffersonius. As the first colony, it seems fitting that Virginia would be given the first fossil to be described from North America (by Martin Lister in 1687). In short, it’s a bivalve mollusc of a fossilized scallop that is over 4 million years old (dating to the Early Pliocene Epoch). Note: while not technically “local history,” I figured the TJ reference was close enough to be included in this blog.

Which Virginia wine goes best with squab ? One of the many valuable tools available to historic researchers are the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Recently, UVA Special Collections posted the 1907 and 1920 Sanborns in a searchable format. There are 100s of forgotten treasures in these maps. One is a Pigeon Aviary, located in Belmont. In 1606, pigeons were introduced to North America for their homing skills and for consumption. Hence, the Colonial Era menu item: squab pie (from the meat of young pigeons). Incidentally, when sharing the location of the former Aviary (titled “Squab Plant” on the map) with a current Belmont resident, he noted that he sees dozens of pigeons at that spot, sitting on telephone wires. While clearly not the same pigeons, many pigeons have a nesting instinct that tethers them to their birth site which, in turn, made them well suited for training as message deliverers during time of wars. Who knows if today’s “city doves” are the descendants of the Flapper Era pigeons ?