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Visit SoSi
In case you missed it, “Visit SoSi” was unveiled last week as the new regional tourism brand. What’s a SoSi? SoSi is a fun, flexible, and memorable way to introduce visitors to Danville, Pittsylvania County, and the surrounding region. In part, it’s an acronym for how the State tourism office describes our region – the Southside. The term “southside” is historic, dating from colonial times and then meaning south of the James River. More recently, Southside has come to describe the Piedmont region above the fall line – the area surrounding Danville. SoSi is also a play on sounds or words. “So,” come “see” all the great things to do…
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The Dr. William L. Robinson House, 753 Main Street
William Lavaille Robinson was born on Valentine’s Day 1845 to Thomas L. Robinson, a physician, and Martha Anne Isbell. The family appears to have resided in Cumberland and Chesterfield Counties for generations. William pursued medicine as well and in the fall of 1862 he entered the University of Virginia’s medical program. With the outbreak of war, however, he enlisted as a private in Company G of the Third Virginia cavalry. Though he engaged in several major battles, he was never wounded. During the battle at Stevensburg, a shell struck so close that it whipped his hat off his head, cut his bridle rein in two, and left his blanket riddled…
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The Barnes Penn House, 1020 Main Street
The Barnes Penn House – 1020 Main Street Reproduced with permission from Victorian Danville – Fifty-Two Landmarks: Their Architecture and History © 1977 Somehow on viewing this Queen Anne house one is reminded of a wedding cake, so bedecked it is with swags, wreaths, and ornaments. It is yet a pleasing sight on a block fast losing its residential status to commercial. Commenced in 1902, it was a gift from tobacconist James Gabriel Penn to his daughter, Mary Katherine, and her husband, Barnes R. Penn, who had married in 1897. The records show the lot 57 x 225 feet was conveyed from John E. Hughes on August 2L, 1902, to…
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A Brief History of the Old West End Commons
Once called Watson’s Field after its owner in the late 1800s, the proposed location of the Old West End Commons was and still is one of the largest open areas in the heart of the city. It has little street frontage, a spring, a creek, and a steep slope in some areas. Legend has it that a century ago tobacco farmers used the area in town for the markets to graze their horses and mules. The working name of “Commons” for this area comes from the country’s oldest urban oasis, the Boston Common, where Bostonians grazed their cows in the 17th through 19th centuries. In the 1940s, Dr. James Madison…
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Community Input Meeting – May 4
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QR-Code Markers Installed
Just in time for a beautiful spring walk, fifty-six (56) markers have been installed on homes and properties throughout the Old West End. A partnership between the City of Danville and Friends of the Old West End secured a grant from Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources (DHR). Much of the cost of the markers was offset by the grant. The primary goal of the project was to promote the Old West End Historic District through a digital platform. The smart-phone-readable QR Codes on each marker link to information about the properties on this website and to a Story Map on the City’s website offering even more information. The project offers…
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Amazing Paxtons in China – Part 4
Over the Hump – Crossing the Himalayas See also Part 1 — Paxton Origins, Part 2 — The Young Hall Paxton, or Part 3 – Vincoe Charity Mushrush Paxton After his marriage and a brief assignment to Tehran, Iran (1943), Hall Paxton returned to China as a Cultural Attaché (1944-1946) and later became the American Consul to Sinkiang, China’s northwest province (1946-1949) with a consulate in the city of Tihwa. His bride Vincoe completed her military service and joined him at that time. From their frontier post he reported back to the State Department about the efforts of various Communist factions – Chinese and Russian – to win military and…
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Amazing Paxtons in China – Part 3
Vincoe Charity Mushrush Paxton Click here for Part 1 — Paxton Origins, or Part 2 — The Young Hall Paxton. Part 2 ended with the marriage of Hall Paxton and Vincoe Mushrush. This flashback talks about Vincoe. Vincoe Charity Mushrush was born March 18, 1906, in Lawrence, Illinois. She was the daughter of Oscar and Clara Allen Mushrush, the youngest of four daughters. Her parents divorced in the 19-teens – unusual at the time. Vincoe and her sister Birdie remained on the farm with her father. Described as a slight person, Vincoe graduated from Bridgeport High School and continued her education at Wyoming University in Laramie and at Washington University…
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Amazing Paxtons in China – Part 2
The Young J. Hall Paxton If you missed Part 1, click here to read the beginning of this story. Hall Paxton spent the first twenty-three years of his life living alternately in the United States and China. He returned to America in 1912 to attend Pittsburgh’s Brookline Public School. One year later he returned to China, entered the Shanghai American School, and graduated with a high school diploma in 1917. Hall came back to the United States once more in 1917 to the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and then attended Yale College. He graduated from Yale with a B.A. in 1922. In the fall of 1922 Hall matriculated at…
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Amazing Paxtons in China – Part 1
Paxton Origins In his excellent book, If Streets Could Talk (available on Amazon), Dr. R. Lee Wayland tells much about the Paxton family. John W. Paxton was born in Rockbridge County in 1786. As a young man, he learned the jewelry art and trade in Lexington, Virginia. He arrived here in the area then known as Wynn’s Falls in 1812. John W. Paxton opened a silversmith shop on the north side of Main Street just above Market Street. He also was an owner of the Red Castle Tavern located at the corner of Main and Union Streets. In 1815, he married Sarah Coleman Price and with her had four sons and…
