Port Republic Road Historic District
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Discoveries about the Port Republic Road Historic District and its houses, each with its evidence. See all of Waynesboro.
Across the neighborhood
| Discovery | Status | Evidence and sources |
|---|---|---|
Shiloh Street was once Church Street The street east of Port Republic Road where Shiloh Baptist Church stands is labeled Church St. on the 1925 Sanborn map. | Inferred | 1925 Sanborn sheet 12 shows Shiloh Baptist Church on "Church St."; aligning the sheet to today's streets puts that street on modern Shiloh Street (within about 3 m). |
Elkton Avenue became Elkton Street The 2002 Port Republic Road nomination lists seven houses on Elkton Avenue. In the city's address records today the same houses are on Elkton Street. | Documented | Nomination inventory compared with Virginia's statewide address points (VGIN). |
House by house
| Discovery | Status | Evidence and sources |
|---|---|---|
347 Port Republic Rd, Phil A. Hilton House and Office A doctor's house and office, half built in 1925 The 1925 Sanborn map shows only the foundation of 347 Port Republic Road. By 1930 the house was complete. Dr. Phil A. Hilton built it and used it as his office as well. | Documented | Port Republic Road nomination entry for 347 Port Republic Rd, citing the 1925 and 1930 Sanborn maps. |
208 Port Republic Rd, Tarry's Hotel A weekend retreat for Black servicemen Tarry's Hotel at 208 Port Republic Road, built in 1940 by Vassar Tarry, a deacon of Shiloh Baptist Church, served as a weekend retreat for African American servicemen during World War II. | Documented | Port Republic Road nomination entry for 208 Port Republic Rd. |
Around town
| Discovery | Status | Evidence and sources |
|---|---|---|
Waynesboro and Basic City became one town in 1923 Voters in both towns approved consolidation in August 1923. The combined town was first called Waynesboro-Basic; the General Assembly renamed it Waynesboro in 1924. | Documented | Published histories of Basic City and Waynesboro. |
Sanborn's surveyors counted the town each time The title pages of the Waynesboro Sanborn maps give its population: 1,200 in 1886 (when the map also noted "Water facilities: Not good"), 2,500 for Waynesboro and the new Basic City together in 1891, 1,600 in 1907 (with 1,500 more in Basic City), 1,400 in 1913, 2,100 in 1920, and 4,000 in 1925, the first edition after the merger. | Documented | Population figures printed on the index sheet of each edition. These are Sanborn's own estimates, not census counts. |
Archibald Stuart born in 1757 Archibald Stuart, a Revolutionary soldier, legislator and judge, was born here on March 19, 1757, at his grandfather's home. | Published | Historical highway marker JF-15, "Walnut Grove" (Virginia Department of Historic Resources). |
Pratt family ownership The property where Archibald Stuart was born was acquired by William A. Pratt in 1868 and by G. Julian Pratt in 1900. | Published | Historical highway marker JF-15, "Walnut Grove" (Virginia Department of Historic Resources). |
Washington College graduate James Abbott Fishburne opened his school James Abbott Fishburne, an honor graduate of Washington College, opened a school in 1879 with 24 students. It eventually became Fishburne Military School. | Published | Historical highway marker Q-19, "Fishburne Military School" (Virginia Department of Historic Resources). |
Walker exploring expedition The Walker exploring expedition started from this vicinity in 1748. | Published | Historical highway marker Q-2-a, "Waynesboro" (Virginia Department of Historic Resources). |
Augusta militia assembly In June, 1781, the Augusta militia assembled here to join Lafayette in the East. | Published | Historical highway marker Q-2-a, "Waynesboro" (Virginia Department of Historic Resources). |
Early settlement in the 1730s Settlers began to arrive to present day Augusta County in the 1730s and by the Revolutionary War a small hamlet existed. | Published | Historical highway marker Q-2-b, "Waynesboro" (Virginia Department of Historic Resources). |
Early's last battle The last engagement of the Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early took place on the ridge west of Waynesboro. | Published | Historical highway marker W-160, "Early's Last Battle" (Virginia Department of Historic Resources). |