Green Springs National Historic Landmark District

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Green Springs Historic District
Green-Springs-NHL-District.jpg
"Bracketts," located in the Green Springs District
USA Virginia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Louisa County, Virginia, USA
Nearest city Zion Crossroads, Virginia
Coordinates 38°1′23″N78°9′55″W / 38.02306°N 78.16528°W / 38.02306; -78.16528
Area14,004 acres (5,667 ha)
5,766.04 federal easements

56.67 km2
ArchitectMultiple
Architectural style Greek Revival, Italianate, Federal
NRHP reference No. 73002036 [1]
VLR No.054-0111
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 07, 1973
Designated VLRFebruary 20, 1973 [2]

Green Springs National Historic Landmark District is a national historic district in Louisa County, Virginia noted for its concentration of fine rural manor houses and related buildings in an intact agricultural landscape. Admitted to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, it became the first rural National Landmark Historic district. [3] Named for one of the historic manor houses (itself named for a spring known to Thomas Jefferson who grew up and lived in Albemarle County nearby), the district comprises 14,000 acres (5,700 ha) of fertile land, contrasting with the more typical poor soil and scrub pinelands surrounding it.

Contents

Description

The district is located 1.5 miles (2 km) north of Interstate 64 from exit No. 136, "Zion Crossroads." The district is roughly bounded by U.S. Route 15 and Virginia Routes 22 and 613. The area is named for a natural spring noted by Thomas Jefferson as possessing "some medicinal virtue." The district features a mixture of wooded and farmed lands. About 600 million years ago, when most of what became the eastern United States (including Virginia) was covered by a shallow sea, volcanic activity left a basin-like topographic feature which contains the only mineral deposit of consequence in the area, vermiculite. [4] That volcanic feature led to a heavy clay soil that retains plant nutrients and moisture, creating an open landscape suitable for farming. The area is noted for its park-like views, particularly from U.S. Route 15. [5]

Preservation

The district was preserved following attempts in the early 1970s by then Governor Linwood Holton, a Republican, and the Commonwealth of Virginia's Department of Welfare and Institutions, to build a diagnostic and detention center on 200 acres owned by Richard Purcell, brother of longtime politician turned Circuit Judge Harold Purcell. [6] While early plans suggested that payroll alone at the site would add $2 million annually to the local economy, opponents circulated drawings showing that the cellblocks surrounded by a 30 foot security fence and guarded by a 60-foot control tower would become an environmental eyesore, quite unlike the historic Rotunda at the University of Virginia a half hour's drive away and shown dwarfed in the corner as a scale model. [7] Opponents, who ultimately incorporated as Historic Green Springs Inc., noted the district had many historic homes which represented nearly a century and a half of architectural development, as well as vistas showing land "enhanced rather than despoiled" by human presence. [8] They ultimately used litigation citing the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970, together with favorable reports from the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and an unfavorable report from the National Clearinghouse for Criminal Justice Planning and Architecture at the University of Illinois. [9]

Initially, Governor Holton planned to use revenue-sharing funds promoted by fellow Republicans in the Nixon Administration, specifically newly available federal block grants distributed through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, as authorized under the Safe Streets Act. [10] However, after an unfavorable legal decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals written by Judge Simon E. Sobeloff, which overruled Judge Merhige's pro-development ruling, [11] Holton changed plans. Now Virginia would forego the million dollar grant and self-fund the center's construction, despite cost estimates having doubled in the interim. [12]

Initially, only one building in Green Springs, Boswell's Tavern (built circa 1735 and four miles from the proposed prison site) had been listed on the National Register for Historic Places, but by the end of 1970, two more historic properties were federally listed, and by July 1973 there were 34 listed properties. [13] When in October 1972 Governor Holton suggested obtaining sufficient conservation easements (permitted by the Virginia Open-Space Land Act of 1966) by next March could change his mind about constructing the prison at Green Springs, more than 7000 acres were placed under easement by that spring, compared to less than a thousand acres in Virginia as a whole since the act's inception. [14] In February 1973, the VHLC recommended designating Green Springs a historic district, despite its rural location and more than 10,000 acre scope, and forwarded its recommendation to both Governor Holton and to the federal keeper of the National Register of Historic Places. [15] Nonetheless, on March 30, 1973, Governor Holton announced the prison construction would proceed, since nearly half of the land in the district (especially the 1000 acres now owned by Richard Purcell and other parcels held by owners who hoped for vermiculite royalties discussed below) was not subject to the checkerboard of conservation easements. [16] By fall, Republican Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton (a Kentucky-born former Maryland congressman and chairman of the Republican National Committee) wrote the term-limited Governor Holton criticizing the proposed prison's location. [17] The Richmond Mercury published a cartoon entitled "Holton's Vietnam" (showing the governor opening his shirt LBJ-style to display an outline of Louisa County with the prison location starred), echoing a Washington Post editorial. [18]

In December 1972, W.R. Grace & Co. proposed to strip mine vermiculite from the area for fire-proofing insulation and cat litter, among other uses. [19] Although a combination of negative publicity and legal liability for other toxic mining techniques would propel Grace into bankruptcy in 2001, [20] it ultimately did not construct the vermiculite mine in Louisa County, instead holding that clay mix as reserves until ultimately deeding the parcel to Historic Green Springs in 1993, as the Secretary of Interior had suggested in 1976. [21] [22]

The vermiculite strip mine was constructed, albeit on a smaller scale, in 1979 by Virginia Vermiculite Inc., a company founded a few years earlier by Air Force veteran and former EPA official Robert Sansom, who had become a development advocate in central Virginia. In 1977, Sansom filed a lawsuit challenging Historic Green Springs's listing, and U.S. District Judge Robert Merhige invalidated the district's landmark status in August 1980, but new President Jimmy Carter signed an amendment to the National Landmarks Act on December 12, 1980 which in effect invalidated the ruling, so the district's historic status was soon restored. [23] Google Earth maps of the area clearly show the destruction caused by the mine. Following the Grace donation to Historic Green Springs in 1993, Virginia Vermiculite filed a lawsuit alleging that was an antitrust violation, although others considered the litigation a SLAPP. U.S. District Judge James H. Michael Jr. dismissed the lawsuit in 1995, and ultimately in 2000 issued a summary judgment against Virginia Vermiculite, which the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld (that appellate court having reversed the earlier dismissal, but the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in 2003). [24] Asbestos was also found in the Louisa vermiculite/clay mix, as residents had feared. [25]

Many significant houses and lands continue to be preserved and excluded from the development that is transforming areas around the historic district, especially near the Zion Crossroads exit from I-64, which had little water on site, although less than 3 miles from Green Spring, although the James River was about 23 miles away in Fluvanna County. In 2001, developer Charles D. Kincannon purchased the 140 acre Green Spring site formerly planned for the prison, although development there had been limited to no more than 3 dwellings because of septic issues. [26] Neighbors soon realized three large wells were being drilled, with the water to be pumped to Zion Crossroads to support a 1200 unit housing development and golf course. [27] A drought the following summer which affected several farms at Green Springs led to litigation to limit changes in the water table which would restrict traditional farming uses in the historic district led to monitoring. However, the James River Water Authority was also created, and developers then planned to pump water from state land at Point of Fork (at the confluence of the James River and Rivanna River) to support further commercial development at Zion Crossroads, including a Walmart distribution center. However, such pumping required approval of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Archaeological explorations by 1980 had confirmed that Point of Fork (the site of an arsenal in the Revolutionary War and War of 1812) had earlier been Rassawek (the historic main village of the Monacan Nation, which Captain John Smith had noticed in 1612), and thus warned against using the site for the pumping station. However, Colonial Pipeline proceeded with site work, and in 2016 its bulldozers unearthed artifacts and human remains, more than a year before notifying the Monacans (who with three other Virginia tribes finally achieved federal recognition in 2018). The Army Corps required consultation with Preservation Virginia as well as the Monacans and the state historic preservation board. In 2020, Rassawek was listed among the 11 most endangered historic sites in Virginia, and ultimately, the pumping station was constructed at another site. [28] [29]

National Register properties

Significant places listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places include:

Major historic properties

Major historic properties in the district include:

Other properties

Other historic properties include:

The district also includes the village of Poindexter at the intersection of Virginia Routes 613 and 640. [5]

Status

On May 30, 1974, the district was declared a National Historic Landmark. [38] On December 12, 1977, the United States Secretary of the Interior agreed to accept preservation easements for nearly half of the 14,004 acres (57 km2) in the district. These allow the NPS to own development rights to the land, and to ensure its continuing rural and agricultural nature. The district is an affiliated area of Shenandoah National Park. The National Park Service does not provide any facilities in the district.

See also

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  3. Brian Balogh (2024). Not in My Backyard: How Citizen Activists Nationalized Local Politics in the Fight to Save Green Springs. Yale University Press. ISBN   978-0-300-253788.
  4. Balogh p. 125
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (February 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Green Springs Historic District" (PDF). Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  6. Balogh p. 18 et seq.
  7. Balogh pp. 20,
  8. Balogh p. 79
  9. Balogh pp. 20, 73, 77-80, 101-103
  10. Balogh pp. 73,
  11. Ely v. Velde, 451 F.2d 1130(1971)
  12. Balogh pp. 89-91
  13. Balogh pp. 78-79, 134
  14. Balogh pp. 111-121
  15. Balogh pp. 120-121
  16. Balogh pp. 131-132
  17. Balogh pp. 149-150
  18. Balogh pp. 144-145
  19. Wilson, Richard Guy, ed. (2002). The Buildings of Virginia:Tidewater and Piedmont. Oxford Press. pp. 135–136. ISBN   0-19-515206-9.
  20. Balogh p. 204
  21. Balogh pp. 256-266
  22. https://energy.virginia.gov/geology/Vermiculite.shtml [ bare URL ]
  23. Balogh pp.227-238
  24. Balogh pp. 267-284
  25. https://files.gao.gov/special.pubs/gao-09-7sp/file52.html [ bare URL ]
  26. waters run deep - Style Weekly
  27. Balogh pp. 286-288
  28. Balogh pp. 295-299
  29. https://preservationvirginia.org/our-work/savingrassawek/ [ bare URL ]
  30. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (April 28, 1969). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Boswell's Tavern" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  31. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (December 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Grassdale" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  32. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (May 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Green Springs" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  33. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (July 16, 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Hawkwood" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  34. "Hawkwood". Journey Through Hallowed Ground. National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016.
  35. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (May 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Ionia" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  36. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (July 17, 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Westend" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  37. "Suspected twister damages historic home in Va. county that was epicenter of August earthquake". Washington Post (via AP). October 13, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2011.[ dead link ]
  38. "Green Springs Historic District". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved June 26, 2008.