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Clarks Gap Road/High Street
Virtual Walking Tour
Coale's Blacksmith Shop
This stone house served originally as a blacksmith shop.
It was built around 1821, probably by Lewis Coale, who had
married fellow Quaker Phebe Steer the previous year. From
1868 until the 1940s the shop was operated by blacksmiths
Silas Corbin (1832-1905) and his son Tom, who ran a store
there as well. In the 1940s, new owners converted the structure
into a home and antique shop. It serves now as a residence
only. |
Reuben Schooley House
This dwelling may have been constructed by Ephraim Schooley
(1786-1867), whose son Reuben ran a wagon and carriage works
on the site in the mid-19th century. But the late historian
John Divine speculated that the house was built c.1825 by
Joseph Steer, whose daughter. Lucy married Reuben Schooley.
The records are silent as to when Steer got the property,
but he was living there at his death (1859). Reuben Schooley
bought it from Joseph Steer's heirs. Not far from the house
is a ruined foundation, all that remains of a brick fulling
mill or "woolen manufactory" that may have been
built by Mahlon Janney before 1795.
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Schooley House
This lot was the site of blacksmith and wheelwright shops
before the house was built. The south end of town was the
location of Steer and Schooley Cold Iron Works and several
mills, blacksmith shops, and other industrial enterprises.
At the blacksmith's, horses were lined up to be shod from
morning until night on rainy summer days, the only times
farmers could spare from the field. Joseph Divine, grandfather
of the late Waterford historian and author, John Divine,
ran the wheelwright operation in the early 20th century.
Joseph Divine had learned the trade from Reuben Schooley
who lived next door and was a partner in Steer and Schooley.
Fred Parker, who had succeeded his father and brother, operated
the blacksmith shop in John Divine's time. It was then sold
to Charles Elliott who had moved to Waterford from Indiana,
following his daughters who had married local men. Mr. Elliott
moved the blacksmith shop closer to the house by sliding
it on poles. This is the building presently to the right
of the house, which is now a guesthouse. The wheelwright
shop was dismantled and moved nearby. Its whereabouts are
unknown. It is said that in the 1940s Chester Frye, a house
painter and barber, converted it to a chapel where he held
religious revivals. Little is known about the house. The
best guess is that it was built circa 1880. The front part
of the house is original-in the beginning, four rooms. Additions
were made in the 1980s to add a bathroom upstairs and den
downstairs. The kitchen was probably in the cellar, as there
is evidence of a fireplace. |
Steer-Divine House
African-American James Lewis (born circa 1800) probably
erected this house around 1850. In 1865 Quakers Frank and
Mollie Steer bought it, then sold it to Joseph Divine (1841-1933)
in 1875. Divine ran a wheelwright shop across the street
for many years; he apprenticed with Reuben Schooley before
joining the Union army and did not retire until he was 83.
The home has been enlarged over the years. |
Loudoun Mutual Insurance Company
This is the fourth office for the venerable Waterford institution.
Architect Albert Leuders designed the structure, basing it
loosely on George Mason's Gunston Hall. It was opened in
1949, 100 years after the founding of the company, then enlarged
in the 1990s. |
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