A trip to Altavista

Saturday July 7, 2018 was one of the most beautiful days of the year. After a week of temperatures in the 90's, the air settled into a calm, pleasant pattern over central Virginia. Perfect weather.

However, Saturday July 7, 2018 was also the second day of quarter-finals for the FIFA Men's World Cup and England was playing. For that occasion, I drove down to Lynchburg to visit my parents. immigrants from Liverpool who have been here for over 50 years now.  There was a certain happiness that came with being with them as England went through to the semi-finals for the first time since 1990.

Of course, I had to watch and see who they were playing so I stayed inside to watch the Russia-Croatia match. At this point in the tournament, I'm losing patience as there are other things I want to do on my weekends! So while those two sides battled it out I began to plot at least a little bit of a trip.

I'm not much of an outdoors person, but I want to be. In my new job, I want to make sure I'm getting out and seeing the landscape all around us. I often don't do things because I don't know how to do them or I've not done them before. I'm a creature of routine and habit, but I'm at a time in my life where everything is new after doing the same job for more than eleven years. 

I was determined to overcome this, though, and so I probed around in my memory for something to do. I vaguely remembered driving to a park along the Staunton/Roanoke River in southern Campbell County, but I couldn't remember the name. So while the match proceeded, I did research to see if I could figure out. I noted that the town of Altavista has an English Park along the river. I thought I would go there. Within five minutes of the penalty kick that sent Croatia through, I was in the car heading south. 

I drove down Leesville Road toward Evington, an unincorporated area along the way. I had not traveled south of the junction with U.S. 29 for many years and I marveled that little had changed except for a few more developments. When I was in high school I used to drive through the area all the time when I was lonely. I turned off the radio and thought about how my life today feels so similar to that time in the late 80's and early 90's.

I made it to Altavista in about 25 minutes and it was exactly as I remembered it. There's a great deal of strip development as you get closer and closer to the town center.  The town center is a lovely spot. According to the Wikipedia article, it was laid out by the owners of a furniture manufacturing company in the early 20th century. Now in the early 21st century, the manufacturing company is gone but the town center has recently been upgraded thanks to a 2013 streetscape project. That project went through further repairs in 2017. 

The clock tower is part of the Staunton River Memorial Library. 

I arrived at about 5:25 p.m. and parked on 7th Street. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to find my way to English Park. I couldn't see the river, but years of living in Virginia have taught me you can spot a river's path by noticing where the downward slope of land ends and an upward slope begins. I decided to walk down Main Street to where it appeared I could get to the river by turning right along a road that headed down.

There wasn't anyone downtown when I was there and I didn't pass any pedestrians in the urbanized area. There were no open shops on my direct path, but I did arrive relatively late for a summer's day. The Schewel's had just closed, as had the antique stores. There was one restaurant, but I wouldn't see it until a little later on in in my journey.  But what really piqued my curiosity was this abandoned marquee.

Seeing this on my way into the town center made me want to stop and get a closer look

According to the website Cinema Treasures, the Vista has been closed since 1985 when a fire broke out inside. The facade was restored at some point, but by the time I visited it had fallen into disrepair again. I'm very curious to learn more and to see if there's any effort to restore it. I bet that would be very expensive. I know that revitalizing places like this can go a long way to restoring a small town community as a vibrant place. I'd like to know if there are efforts to do that here. And would it work?

As I walked on toward the road (Pittsylvania Avenue, in case you're wondering) I noticed there was a lot of car traffic along Main Street. The Cardinal Car Wash at the intersection had three customers, music blasting.

I crossed Main Street at Pittsylvania. I didn't see a sign for English Park, but my memory of the map I'd seen told me it had to be around there somewhere. There was a full house at an outfitting store along the way, so I guessed I was heading in the right direction and hoped for the best. There was a sidewalk for some of the way, but not all.

Even though I grew up in Campbell County so much of its history is unknown to me. For many years, the Lane Furniture was the biggest employer in town and shaped its development. I'm not going to even pretend I know the history at this time, nor do I know the current state of Altavista's economy. But I do know I'm intrigued to know more. It strikes me that more Americans should know about the power of large manufacturers and employers to shape communities.

The small sign indicates that a plastics company currently operates out of this space. Can you tell me more? 

The sidewalk ended soon after I moved further along Pittsylvania Avenue and I was left on my own. I could see the turn off for English Park in the distance and I risked walking along with traffic to get there. There was no clear sign I was in the right place but in the distance I could see a wide field. I could also feel the water.

The Roanoke River, also known as the Staunton River. I'm really not sure of the distinction. There's so much to learn!

The park, it turns out, is a gorgeous expanse of flood plain that stretches for a couple of miles along the river. Immediately south of the town there are playing fields, a playground, pavilions and concrete benches that are inviting to sit on. I took about ten minutes to write in my journal before getting up to walk more. After all, I'd been sitting down for much of the day watching the matches!

A view from the park bench

The trail itself is part of an Eagle Scout project from 2013. Another such project in 2014 planted an orchard. Even though communities can struggle economically, it's good to see that people are still investing time and effort in places. There's so much potential. Trips like this fuel my optimistic self.

3.2 miles isn't too terribly far. I didn't have time to travel through the whole way. 

As I walked, I noticed a pair of bridges crossing the flood plain. One carried vehicular traffic across to Pittsylvania County and the other was a gorgeous railroad trestle. The pairing of both of these magnificent structures together was breathtaking. I'm an admirer of civil engineering and the work it took to get transportation systems in place that could withstand the tendency of the river to flood.  They're also aging and when they go, will they be considered worth replacing?

This shot doesn't even begin to demonstrate the expanse these two structures have to cross. 

In the distance you can see the steel frame of the bridge that carries the highway over the river. I didn't get a good picture of that but I'd like to see it.

What a magnificent structure. As I was there, I got to see a train crossing it. I'll post that video at some point.

I had limited time and couldn't stay for too long so I couldn't make it all the way to the end. One thing missing from the park so far was a good vantage point of the river. There was a boat ramp as I first entered, but I wanted to get down to the banks to actually feel the power of the water rushing by. There were some families with young children who were at one section, but I didn't want to intrude upon them so I didn't walk to that part. So I kept on walking, wondering what various structures were along the way.

The property is within the Town of Altavista and all kinds of questions raced through my brain about how they manage their wastewater, how they get their drinking water. Eleven years of writing about infrastructure for a publication have made me the kind of person who wants to know how things work so I can explain them to others. That's not going to stop any time soon. 

Altavista's economic fortune for much of the 20th century was a direct result of being on intersecting railway lines. A clearing for the abuttment of another railroad crossing provided me the opportunity to scramble down the banks to get close to the running water. 

Finally got close to the water!

Around this point I got a text from my parents telling me they wanted to meet me for dinner in Lynchburg so I had to turn around at this point. I wanted to get to the end. I wanted to see it all. I wanted to sit down with my notebook and capture all of my thoughts. But time flows fast and it's important to manage it wisely. My time with my parents is very important to me. So is taking the time to write this. 

Note the caption on the sign. I believe in public service and view the work I've done to date as me doing my part. Now I want to try to expand upon that however I can. I look forward to returning to this orchard in the years to come. 

Along the way back to the town center, I noticed there was a staircase that could take me (or anyone else) over the railroad so that I could make it back in time to meet my parents. I love when I can take a walking journey that doesn't involve entirely covering the same ground. So I made my way through the northern end of the park, past the playgrounds. At the rear of a large building, there was a young mother playing with their two children while the father worked a metal detector. The building itself is the Booker Building, an empty structure which can be rented out for events. I'm curious to know the history of that as well. It's quite a big building. 

I predict one day I will likely cater an event here!

Who were these people? What's their story? I want a nickname in quotes, too. 

The stairs themselves seemed quite daunting, but I climbed up anyway. I was glad they were not locked because otherwise I would have missed my event.  This structure must have cost a bit and I'm curious to know the funding mechanism that paid for it. 

This was a bit daunting but it did lead to me being able to cross the railway and get a great panorama of Altavista.

So why did I pick Altavista for a quick sightseeing trip? In part I read an article in the Lynchburg News and Advance that morning about a pizza restaurant called Peace of Pie. I had not been to Altavista in many, many years so I wanted to see what was happening. I've spent so much time in Albemarle and Charlottesville and I need new ideas and new places. There's so much more to the Commonwealth of Virginia than my home.

I didn't get a chance to check out the restaurant but I'd like to go back sometime. I'd like to visit more places like this. I want to get to know the people there, understand their hopes and dreams, find out what they think about the future. At a time when much seems uncertain and there's a tendency to eschew hope, I want to keep fueling my optimistic self and find out who's doing work to strengthen their community. Ideas in one place can maybe spread to another. 

I'm a lifelong Virginian, born and raised here to immigrants from England. This is my home and I want to know it more. But as I said earlier about time being a river, my flow today is running out. I am off to go off on another adventure. 

This structure houses Peace of Pie. If you go, let me know how you liked it.

I'm tempted to call up and ask what the rents are. If I was starting a business that allowed me to live anywhere in the world, I can imagine I'd do it in a place like Altavista, which seems to be investing in itself. In this post I didn't get into the trails plan that is underway! 

Not many people out on a Saturday. I'll have to come back during the week some time.