They’re not much to look at. Pads of cracked concrete and rusted steel. Squat cinder block buildings that could pass for some 50s-era strip mall. Aged and rusty chain-link fences are usually involved, too. It takes a broad stretch of … Continue reading →
The farmers of west-central Maryland panicked when the German military spilled out of the woods. The invasion had begun. World War II was entering a new phase, or so they thought. But there was something different about these Nazis. Their uniforms … Continue reading →
Would you know a dew drop if you saw one? What about a muckle? A daisy cutter? While your nineteenth century lingo might need some freshening up, odds are good the ballists of the Capitol Conference would have no trouble … Continue reading →
Caring for our neighbors who happen to be mentally ill is among society’s most challenging responsibilities. In fact, during World War II, the federal government deemed it “work of national importance.” Conscientious objectors–draftees who refused military service but were willing … Continue reading →
In a grassy clearing on the forested grounds of Patapsco Valley State Park in suburban Baltimore are a couple stone staircase supports that go nowhere. Men once trudged down these steps on their way to a long day’s work. These … Continue reading →
Centralia, Pennsylvania is readying for its swan song. The cursed borough’s dramatic saga is coming to a close and media giants no longer come calling as they once did. But time’s approaching for an event that’ll be a measure of … Continue reading →
If ever you wanted a taste of our forefathers’ hardiness, you’d find it at Wash Woods. There, in thickets of low-slung evergreens, far from any human population, are the hidden ruins of a community that had no roads in or … Continue reading →
The treasure buried by Charles Wilson would be worth ten million dollars today–ten chests filled with precious gems, silver and gold bullion that have never been found, despite that Wilson wrote explicit directions to the stashed riches. As alluring as … Continue reading →
You can almost forgive the early visitors for their ignorance. What they took, what they left behind, seems quaint and antiquated. The damage they did, however, was permanent and marred irreplaceable treasures. Now their harmful handiwork serves as an example … Continue reading →
Used to be you had no problem seeing the Ghost Fleet. After all, there were 850 idle ships lashed together in neat rows of two dozen or more stretching five miles. Today, though, that vast armada is a dying flame. … Continue reading →
Revolutionary War earthworks–genuine ones that haven’t been touched up or reconstructed–are hard to come by anymore. They’ve been fending off the elements and growth for getting on two-and-a-half centuries. That’s why it’s so remarkable that a rural Virginia county contains … Continue reading →
The shorelines are indistinguishable from ones adjacent. They’re stretches of sand lapped by the Chesapeake Bay’s waves, full of life and memory, ceding ground as the sea level rises. These beaches are small slivers of the Bay’s 11,684 miles of … Continue reading →
Update: The City of Virginia Beach has promised local hotelier Bruce Thompson $18 million to help preserve the Cavalier. Thompson’s entire redevelopment will cost more than a quarter billion dollars, and will include the construction of 100 homes nearby, but the grand old structure is … Continue reading →
Concrete floats. Well, a concrete hull does, anyway. Form the material to make a vessel that displaces water and–voila–just like steel, concrete is buoyant. Go figure. I knew writing a book about the Chesapeake Bay’s abandoned history would lead me … Continue reading →
There are 50 keystones missing. Perhaps some adorn nearby mantles. Others maybe are forgotten, collecting dust in attics or as doorstops. Regardless, they’re gone, likely for good, wrenched from a once-palatial mansion that now shows just how cruel a curator … Continue reading →
The western end is an attractive backdrop for a trim, brick patio. The opening 4,000 feet east hides beneath jagged terrain and tangled thickets. These are the portals of the Church Hill Tunnel, ten blocks distant but a world apart. … Continue reading →
The April afternoon is hot–the first scorcher of the year–and I feel a sunburn rising as I stand on the dock at the Pamunkey Indian Reservation. That same heat tightening my skin has triggered some primal urge in the American … Continue reading →
Turn seaside at Eastville on Virginia’s Eastern Shore and you’ll be traveling on Indiantown Road. Most days this rural byway is lightly traveled. Traffic picks up just a hair when there’s some community activity–softball or basketball, for instance–at the Northampton … Continue reading →
There are 64 people buried at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. 64 souls in a small circle of sandy ground maybe 20 feet across. This is no grown-over, out-of-the-way country cemetery so common on the rim of the … Continue reading →
Nothing says spring like two fat roe sacs on a plate. That’s what our great grandparents thought, anyway. Much of the food our forbears looked forward to arrived in the manner that many folks want theirs today–slowly, locally, seasonally. Sadly, … Continue reading →
