Learn how four programs at DHR interact with Virginia's communities as part of the state’s historic preservation efforts.

Submitted by Amanda Terrell | DHR Director of Community Services
All photographs courtesy of DHR staff.

The Community Services Division houses a number of DHR’s programs. These include the Highway Marker Program, Community Outreach, Regional Preservation Offices, and Cemetery Preservation. As you might guess, members of Community Services Division team are often out of the office and working with communities across Virginia to help recognize and preserve the places that are meaningful to them.

The Highway Marker program, which began in 1927, calls attention to a wide variety of people, places, and events that have shaped Virginia's history. Virginia’s program is the oldest in the country and more than 2,600 markers dot the landscape. Last fall, program manager Jennifer Loux spoke at three dedication ceremonies celebrating the unveiling of new markers. Installed in September, "Washington Park Community" in Richmond highlights a neighborhood settled by emancipated African Americans that was later home to a renowned music venue listed in the Green Book. In Hanover County, "The Dissenters' Glebe of the Rev. Samuel Davies," unveiled in November, points out the residence and recounts the career of one of colonial Virginia's most influential ministers. Dedicated early in December, "Boston (1833-1850)" in Henrico County tells the story of America’s most accomplished racehorse in an era when thoroughbred racing was the nation’s favorite sport.

Community Services Division programs often build upon and complement each other. An example of this is DHR Community Outreach Program Coordinator LaToya Gray-Sparks’s recent work with students at Cumberland (County) Middle School. History teacher Lew Longenecker and his students have successfully applied for five highway markers that highlight underrepresented history. Their latest marker from April 2024 shares information about Lucyville, a town established in the 1800s by Reverend Reuben T. Coleman, who was born into slavery and became an entrepreneur after the Civil War. In the time leading up to the marker dedication, Mr. Longenecker’s students engaged with descendants of the Lucyville community, created walking tours, and collected oral histories to highlight its fascinating history. In the summer of 2024, LaToya helped further the students’ work by collaborating with them on a StoryMap about Lucyville and participating in a field day with the students and members of the Lucyville descendant community. For more information on Lucyville and the Cumberland Middle School students’ project, watch the VPM Hidden History video. Check out a StoryMap on the African American schools of Cumberland County that operated between 1870 to 1969.

LaToya’s other community outreach services include participating in public workshops and educational programs, collaborating with communities and local organizations to protect historic sites, and providing technical assistance to property owners and community groups. She works to raise awareness of preservation opportunities, encourage grassroots efforts, and build strong partnerships with local organizations, government entities, and residents.

Regional Preservation Offices (RPOs) provide services to constituents in three regions: Eastern (located in Richmond); Northern (located in Stephens City); and Western (located in Salem). RPO staff provide technical assistance on a variety of topics, including documentation of historic properties and sites and potential designation on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.

Staff from the Eastern Region Preservation Office made a site visit in late 2024 to Glascock/Union Mill in Richmond County on the Northern Neck. The property owner is interested in listing the mill in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places and asked for assistance identifying the likely locations of additional resources such as the miller’s house and mill races. Joanna McKnight, DHR architectural historian for the Eastern Region, and Mike Clem, DHR’s archaeologist for the Eastern Region, offered to examine and document the site to assist in the process.

The mill seat was established in the 18th century by the Glas[s]cock Family of nearby Indian Banks, but later burned, and the ruins that currently stand on the site date to circa 1833. To access the ruins, one must cross a swamp (via a fallen tree), which originally fed the mill pond, and pass a substantial earthen dam that likely dates to the 18th century. The dam washed out at some point in the 20th century, cutting off the use of the primary old county road and re-directing the mill stream; the site has no public access.

The mill ruins consist of three deteriorated walls with the end wall containing remnants of fireplaces at the first and second floors. The brick walls contain large openings for windows and at least one wide doorway into the lower floor. The mill’s water wheel and gears are partially intact.

In addition to the mill, there likely is a domestic site typical of the period. Walking the property with the owner, Joanna and Mike examined the landscape uphill from the mill for evidence of structural remains such as bricks from a chimney collapse, domestic debris, and vegetation that would typically signal habitation. Unfortunately, there was nothing apparent on the surface, so Mike suggested subsurface (shovel) testing to gather further physical evidence as to what the site may or may not have once held.

The Glascock/Union Mill appears to be the only mill of brick construction remaining in Richmond County. Research is ongoing to learn more about the history of the site. RPO staff will update the site information and work with the owners to explore listing in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register.

DHR’s Cemetery Preservation program provides information and resources to help preserve and protect the state’s historic cemeteries and burial grounds. The program also offers technical assistance with issues involving human skeletal remains, including issuing legal permits for the archaeological recovery of buried remains. For updates on the program, check out the most recent entry of “Grave Matters,” written by DHR Cemetery Archaeologist Joanna Wilson Green.

From this small sampling of recent activities, you may have noticed that much of the work of the Community Services Division involves people, not only historic places. Our work leads us to engage with and support people and communities all over Virginia in their efforts to preserve their important places.