FOSTER FALLS IN WYTHE COUNTY VIRGINIA

Tucked in the backroads of southwest Virginia in the heart of Wythe County is the restored village of Foster Falls, a stop on the old New River Rail Line at a thriving mining community.

Foster Falls is now a part of Virginia's New River State Park which links a number of historic sites along a old Norfolk and Western railroad line now being part of a 57 mile linear park.  

Foster Falls is at milepost 24 of the 57 mile biking trail.  It is a restored mining village with many things to do.  There is a livery stable, watercraft, amphitheater, historic buildings and access to the New River.

The area became a mining community centered around a furnace that smelted ore into pig iron in the late 19th Century.  

At it's peak, the Foster Falls Mining Company produced 3,000 tons of iron for distribution across the country.  At the center of the facility was a large charcoal fired furnace.  All that remains is the remnants of the furnace chimney.

The Foster Falls Hotel, was more of a commissary, bunk house and general offices of the mining company than a tourist hotel.  After all, who wants to visit an iron smelting factory?!  After the mining operation closed down in 1914, it became for years the orphanage and training school for the Abingdon Presbyterian Church. It is slated to be restored as an operational hotel in 2020 by the Virginia Parks system.  For now, it is a photographic focus of any visit to Foster Falls.

The grand portico is the signature architectural feature of the Foster Falls Hotel. Playing with the late afternoon shadows I captured two different photographs, and really don't know which I like the best.

Windows and their reflections always catch my attention and it was no different at Foster Falls Hotel.  I captured a neat reflection in an upstairs window and another view inside by pressing my camera lens against the window pane...do you see any apparitions?

I can't wait to return one day real soon with my bicycle and ride north and back one day...and ride south and back the next day...then kayak upriver...what a great destination this will soon be!

As photographically alluring the buildings might be, they cannot compete with the glory and majesty of one earth's oldest rivers.  

At Foster Falls, the New River crosses a series of shoals that create several small rapids. The river calms right before the shoals and in the late afternoon many nice reflections are easily photographed.  


Below the shoals, looking upstream we tried to catch the sunset.  It was not as spectacular as we had hoped but nevertheless there were several great shots of nature's daily light show.

Trying a different filter, I was able to get some neat effects but still it pales in comparison to the real thing.

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you..."













"...or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you..."

"Which of these do not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?  In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind"   
                    Job 12:7-10

THE SHOT TOWER OF NEW RIVER STATE PARK IN WYTHE COUNTY, VIRGINIA

On the bluffs overlooking the New River stands one of the most unique engineering marvels of the late 18th century, a Shot Tower.  In fact if you look carefully as you cross the New River on the high bridge of Interstate 77 you can see this brick tower.

Lead has been mined in this area of southwest Virginia since colonial days. William Herbert, a welsh expert ore smelter from Bristol England was recruited by the mine owners to come to Wythe County to create what was for the time, a disruptive innovation in the musket ball business. Hebert purchased the property in 1767 and a shot tower was completed sometime thereafter. Taking advantage of the river bluff location, the current tower is built on the top of a 75 foot shaft drawing cool air from the river bank. The design is based upon the "drop shot" process created in 1753 by William Watts in Bristol England. Thomas Jackson is credited for building the limestone tower in 1807.

The process involves hauling lead ore to the top of the tower by using block and tackle hoist pulled by draft animals.  The ore then would be smelted and arsenic added to make the liquified ore more pliable. Then the lead is poured into copper sizing sheets. These copper pans would have holes in the bottom sized to the caliber needed to make musket balls. The molten lead would drip through the holes and while falling 150 feet to the bottom of the tower shaft would cool into spherical shapes before landing in water pool where the lead would instantly harden. This process replaced the laborious process of using molds to make the musket balls individually, allowing musket balls to be mass produced.  In fact, the process continued well into the 20th century.  The Jackson Shot Tower is one of 31 existing towers across the world.

The Jackson Shot tower is located on a river bluff in the midst of the rolling mountain hills of southwest Virginia. When you go there, take time to visit the back roads and see the wonderful rural scenery. 

Interspersed among the working farms are various structures which are remnants of the historical significance of the area.  We found a couple of farm houses that caught our eye and wondered of the families who once occupied this now vacant homeplaces.

On a low ridge, we stumbled upon a small cemetery. Many graves were adorned with flags for the Veterans Day weekend. These graves honored two soldiers killed fighting in the civil war.  One grave notes the young man died in the battle of Chancellorsville while fighting for the "Wythe Grays" of the Stonewall Jackson brigade. 

One of the businessmen lured into the lead mining ventures in Wythe County Virginia was Moses Austin.  A shopkeeper from Richmond, Moses married into a mining family and soon moved to Wythe County. The town of Austinville grew around the mining business operated by Moses and his brother, Stephen.  Finding himself overextended and increasingly in debt, Moses looked to the Spanish territory in the west to find new lead deposits. Granted a land grant in modern day Missouri by Spanish authorities, Moses abandoned Stephen and moved west. Experiencing another business set back in Missouri, Moses again received a land grant from Spain, this time in Texas.  

Dying in 1821, Moses never moved to Texas, but his son Stephen did.  There Stephen F. Austin was instrumental in the founding of the Republic of Texas.  Few know that the "Father of Texas" was born in Wythe County, Virginia.  Fewer still know that his success in Texas can be attributed in part to the failure of his father's lead mining business in southwest Virginia.

 

GRAHAMS FORGE MILL- Wythe County, Virginia

On this small parcel of land nestled on the banks of Reed Creek in Wythe County, Virginia, is one of the most historically significant commercial enterprises of the region.  The Grahams Forge Mill site is listed in the National Historic Registry, but truthfully it is just a dilapidated ruin of a once thriving 19th century business. Originally constructed on this site in 1796 was an iron forge known as Crockett Forge.  But the current building was built around 1890 and operated as a grist mill until 1934. It was owned by Major David Pierce Graham, a civil war hero and wealthy farmer who lived in a nearby mansion.

 Major Graham was the son of Squire David Graham whose family eventually owned 12 iron forges, general store, thousands of acres of property and was partners in mining ventures in the hills of Wythe County. The Grahams Forge Mill site was the epicenter of the family's commercial enterprise.

Behind the massive mill building was the remnants of a dam that crossed Reed Creek where water power was harnessed for the operation of the machinery.  Adjacent to the mill building was a large barn.  The buildings are built upon a limestone foundation and the mill building is a massive five story wooden structure that appears to be one match or a lightening strike away from being kindling. It is a haunting structure.  

The site is accessed by a short walk from State Road 639, Forge Mill Road.  It is an hour away from Winston-Salem via   I-77/I-81. We decided to venture there on the spur of the moment and were pleasantly surprised how easy it was to find. There is no parking, and access is by an overgrown path.  As inviting as the structure is to explore, I can only imagine how rickety the structure must be. What lies behind this door remained a mystery to the Fat Bald White Guy.  Across the street was the white church of the Grahams Forge Methodists.  Find the church and you will find the mill right before you cross the Reed Creek bridge.

On the site are several collapsed buildings and a two story building that looks like it was once a small hotel and general store.  If these buildings could talk, oh the stories they would tell.  Legend says the Major Grahams mansion is haunted, I bet this old store is too!  

Across from the porch of the old brick store building stands as a sentinel to a 20th century contribution to this site - one gas pump.  If you want to see this mill, I suggest you go soon because I am not sure how long it may stand in its current condition. Perhaps this commercial center of yesteryear will be restored as it is the most unique mill I have visited.

Fearlessly Adorned

The Memoir of J Frances Norman Collins

(Delivered at her service, July 19, 2018 by A.L. Collins)

“The Savior’s blood and righteousness,

My beauty is my glorious dress

Thus well arrayed I need not fear

When in His presence I appear”

Near midnight on Friday, July 13, 2018, Frances Norman Collins took her last breath and entered into the more immediate presence of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Her earthly body was transformed into a spiritual body, her mind is now clear, her legs now work again, she is no longer in pain and every tear has been wiped from her eyes.  Standing fearlessly adorned with the grace of Christ Jesus, she heard the words: “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord”

The Bible tells us of a servant of the Lord named Joshua, who was commanded to lead the children of Israel across the Jordan into the promised land of Canaan.  When the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant to the riverside, the river parted as they stepped into the water. With the Ark standing in the middle of the river, the children of Israel passed into the land of Canaan on a dry river bed. Joshua commanded that twelve stones be removed from the river bed and using them to erect an altar on the river bank saying: "That this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever" (Joshua 4:6-7).

Standing stones have been used throughout antiquity and during the present day to proclaim significant events. Arrayed around us in God’s Acre is a Moravian version of standing stones.  Recumbent white stones signifying the unity of death have been erected here for over two centuries. Each stone, the marker of a departed member of our denomination, proclaims the majesty of God through the life well lived.

My mother was born into an established Methodist family in Yadkin County but nevertheless, has many relatives buried in this place. The Collins family dates to 1838, but my mother’s great grandmother was Sarah Jane Vogler whose lineage dates to the founding of Salem. 

Moravians have a peculiar custom.  On the Saturday before Easter, we come to this place to clean and decorate the graves of family members.   It is our custom to pass along an oral history of what we know of each family member.  I have pondered during the last week, what her stone will mean to me? I wonder what story we shall tell of Frances Norman Collins.

She was born February 14, 1925, to Henry Arvil Norman and his wife, Bessie Reece Norman in the Smithtown Community in Yadkin County.  Her father was a barber, store owner, horse trader, and farmer.  He had the distinct talent of being a diviner, someone who could find water by holding a peach tree limb.  Frances and her brother Ray were raised on a farm. She often told of how she avoided working in the fields by tending the general store.  She would brag that she learned to drive a truck at age 13 and would pump gas in old timey glass canister pumps.

       She got her faith from New Home Methodist Church and her education from East Bend School. At school, she was a good student and a member of the girls’ basketball team.  She graduated in the 11^th grade and went to Lenior Rhyne College for a year.  In 1942, her life was forever changed by a blind date with a soldier boy from Winston-Salem, Harry Lee Collins, Jr.  They fell instantly in love and not six months later, on September 7, 1942, they eloped to South Carolina and got married.  She was 17 years old.  He was 22 years old and AWOL from the Army.

After following him from base to base, she waited patiently for him as he was deployed overseas. Their first child, Rebecca Jean Collins was born May 6, 1944.  In 1945, holding a baby doll, my father returned from war service to be greeted by Becky who exclaimed: “there is my sweet daddy with my baby doll!”

They initially resided in Smithtown in a house beside her parents.  Frances and Harry both worked for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.  In 1951, they moved to 1220 Ebert Street in Winston-Salem and soon thereafter became members of Ardmore Moravian Church.  On April 11, 1957, they were blessed with a son, Arvil Lee Collins, who was soon nicknamed “Buddy”.  Moving to 2087 Hawthorne Road in 1958, they raised their family in the Ardmore Community.  Their 60-year marriage ended in Harry’s death on January 20, 2003. 

During their retirement, Frances and Harry moved to Kernersville living next door to their son and enjoying the love, laughter and energy of two of their grandchildren, Whitney Hunter (Gray) and David Collins. She was also very proud of her granddaughters, Tori Whalen and April Manuel (Keith) whom she spoiled with love, affection and constant attention.  Always available for a chat, a meal or just a phone call, Frances remained a part of their lives until her death.

Her long life allowed her to see two great-grandchildren, Heather Millsaps (Ryan Moore) and Bay Routh graduate from college and began their careers.  Great-grandchildren, Will Hunter, and Salem Hunter are young children but were showered with her love during frequent visits with her at Trinity Elms Retirement Center in Clemmons.

Forsaking public work at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1957, Frances became a homemaker and a fantastic cook. She was a friend to many and loved by all who were embraced by her gentle spirit. While active in many church, school, and civic endeavors, Frances and Harry found their greatest joy as members of the Camel Caravan and Airstream travel trailer clubs where they made a host of friends as they traveled throughout the country.

The Apostle Peter instructed early Christians to be like Jesus and become living stones.  No doubt daily proclaiming what inanimate stone altars once proclaimed.  Peter explains: “But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you” (1^st Peter 2:9-10)

 Frances Collins was not only a living stone, she was our rock.

What we know about love, we learned from her.  We often would say to her in her last days: “I love you” To which she would reply: “I love you more” - something we never really doubted.  For you see she taught us that love is not a noun.  It is not something that is done to you.  No, love is a verb.  It is something you do for others.  If you met her, you were loved by her.

What we know about faith, we learned from her.   She taught us that faith means “putting your full confidence in things hoped for…being certain of things we cannot see…” (Hebrews 11 1,6). She often told us that “there is nothing going to happen to me today that me and my Lord can’t handle”.  She lived her faith in a life of quiet confidence, resilience, and patience.

What we know about hope, we learned from her.  Life taught her that “patient endurance develops a mature character and a character of this sort produces a steady hope.” (Rom. 5:4-5) That hope was conveyed to us by her unquestioned belief in each of us. Sometimes it was conveyed by a gentle word of encouragement, other times all it took was a stern look of expectation, but it always was accompanied by a warm embrace. At times when we did not believe in ourselves, we found that she believed in us, and somehow that was enough to keep us going.

She not only did this for her family but did it for others as well.  A few years ago, a first-grade classmate contacted me soon after my Mom entered assisted living.  She explained that as a young girl she always looked up to my Mom whose only contact with her was when Mom served as an elementary school grade mother.  My friend explained: “She always made me feel special and that is a feeling that gives you eternal warmth when thoughts turn to that person. I expect that she had that effect on more than a few and in my opinion, that's a pretty significant legacy to leave behind.”

Some years ago, I heard Dr. Billy Graham respond to a question about heaven.  He was asked if he expected his dog to be in heaven with him.     Dr. Graham responded by saying that he believed that heaven was a place where his every joy would be fulfilled.  And, if God believed to have his dog with him would accomplish that, then he expected to see his dog in heaven.  So, I began to ponder what heaven must be like for my mom. 

Ruth Briles Martin, one of our Camel Caravan Trailer Club children, and I discussed the happy reunion that must be taking place as she joined her Camel Caravan friends around a large campfire, eating doughboys roasted over the fire, swapping stories and singing Gospel hymns. Heaven will only be complete for my Mom if she is surrounded by her friends.

Her joy would not be complete without my father.  For 60 years they lived a fairytale love affair.  They worked together, laughed together, cried to together, danced and traveled.  While they were very different, their lives meshed together in a way that completed them both. Heaven will only be complete for her if they are reunited.

Still, the one thing that brought my Mom the most joy was being with her family.  We gathered together often on holidays and birthdays.  She embraced that time and soaked in the laughter and the love that surrounded her.  Her joy will not be complete until we can be with her again. 

The writer of Hebrews observes: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Heb. 12:1). 

Her eternal hope for us is that we will respond to that small voice within our souls.  That we will grow in faith. That we shall run the race before us with the same perseverance we have witnessed in her life. And, that one day we too may join with her before the throne of grace, fearlessly adorned in righteousness, and hear those words: “Well done faithful servant.  Well done indeed!”

Frances Norman Collins was born February 14, 1925.  She died July 13, 2018.  She was 93 years old.

A long life…well lived…we are blessed.

Thanks be to God. Hallelujah!   Amen.