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Earl Hamner, Jr., author of the fictional account
of the Waltons popularized on television, grew up in Depression-era Schuyler
(pronounced Sky-ler), in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This rural
town now has about 300 people, but once it was a bustling community with a
soapstone plant that employed 1,500 people. The plant is no longer operational
but you can see the post office, convenience store and several churches. It’s
the old Schuyler Elementary School that travelers come to see---it has been
converted to the Walton’s Mountain Museum.
The school that Earl and his brothers and sisters
attended is now a museum dedicated to the popular television show based on
Hamner’s fictional account of his childhood experiences. Earl Hamner, Jr. is the
original John-Boy and the museum includes replicas of sets from the show.
You’ll recognize the bedroom where John-Boy retreated to write. An Underwood
typewriter like the one that Earl Hamner, Jr. used when he began writing lends a note of
authenticity as does the 1930s period furniture. The bedroom has a display case
filled with memorabilia sent by Earl Hamner and cast members. In the case is
the Emmy awarded to Hamner, photographs of the cast and the Hamner family, dolls
representing characters on the show and stories about the show.
Fans of the show will also recognize the kitchen
where meals were prepared over an old wood cookstove like the one you’ll see and
the family sat on long benches at an identical wooden table. A wooden icebox
and antique hutch complete the picture. It’s easy to picture John and Olivia
surrounded by their children in the living room with its sofa and stuffed
chairs. There is also the Atwater Kent radio and organ that Ben often played.
Visitors linger longest in Ike Godsey’s Store with its drink box, scales and
barrels of penny candy. This now doubles as a gift shop and locally crafted
items are sold. The museum shows a 30-minute “Waltons” documentary that has
interviews with Hamner and cast members plus clips from the show.
The Walton’s Mountain Museum is open daily March
through November from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Admission is charged. The museum
has a special resource center with a 380-volume collection of Hamner’s scripts,
diaries and other writings. The collection is not open to the general public
but may be used by researchers; call (804) 831-2000.
To the west of Walton’s Mountain Museum is the
home of another Nelson County native who made good, Thomas Fortune Ryan.
Orphaned at age 10, he was raised by his mother’s family, the Fortunes. When he
left Nelson County at age 17, he soon proved the prophetic significance of this
family name, embarking on a career as a financier and stock investor. He became
one of the ten wealthiest men in the country with a net estate of more than $130
million. Ryan was director, share holder or officer of the Morgan Guaranty
Trust, the Southern Railroad, American Tobacco Company and Equitable Insurance.
He owned vast rubber plantations in Mexico and diamond mines in Africa. He was
one of the most substantial Catholic philanthropist in America. He amassed a
renowned art collection.
In 1901, Ryan purchased the Oak Ridge Estate,
once owned by merchant and tobacco planter Robert Rives. Rives sold goods to
Jefferson’s estate and his son studied with the great man at Monticello. The
influence of Jefferson’s architectural ideas can be seen at Oak Ridge,
particularly in the outbuilding used as an office by Rives and Ryan.
When Ryan purchased Oak Ridge he added two wings
and a third floor to the 1802 Rives manor house. He also constructed more than
80 outbuildings including a rare rotunda Crystal Palace-style greenhouse,
carriage house, railroad station, three-story farm manager’s house, children’s
cottage, chauffeur’s garage, dairy complex and springhouse/teahouse. Ryan added
the latest technology to his estate; he had his own power plant to generate
electricity as well as a 700,000-gallon water reservoir. Ryan’s goal was to
make his estate a showplace for farming, livestock, agricultural technology and
gardening. To further the latter goal he added a formal Italian garden and rose
garden. To provide recreational diversion there was an indoor horse training
track and a mile-long race track which plans to open again when restoration is
complete.
The first floor rooms have been restored to the
splendor of the Ryan years. Some three-quarters of the furnishings are from
Ryan’s residency, with a few reminders of earlier owners. The floors are
original (from 1908) and are appropriately made from oak. All but one of the 12
fireplaces, each a distinctive design, are operational. In the parlor,
highlighting the property’s antebellum history, are the handwritten will of
Robert Rives and an inventory of the mansion made at his death in 1845. The
stained-glass windows on the stair landings feature oak leaves and acorns, a
motif that can be seen throughout the house.
Items in the library, or antebellum sitting room,
represent the era of Thomas Fortune Ryan’s ownership. His estate was the first
in the county to have phone service and an Oak Ridge Telephone directory recalls
that distinction. There are also photographs from the period and an original
obituary of Ryan. In 1907 Ryan underwrote a series of reproductions for the
Jamestown Exposition (see Norfolk Naval Base selection). The collection
included 23 portraits of English kings and queens, statesmen and explorers plus
Pocahontas in English dress. After the Exposition the pictures hung at Oak
Ridge for 30 years before they were donated to the University of Virginia.
Several have been loaned back to Oak Ridge and hang over the library and other
rooms. On the mantel is a bust of Thomas Ryan made in 1909 by Auguste Rodin.
It is thought that the John Barry Room, named for
a relative of Ryan’s first wife, was the bedroom of Robert Rives. Later it
served as Ryan’s private office. The room now has memorabilia of Commodore
Barry, a distinguished naval captain in the American Revolution. He received
commendations from George Washington and is credited with establishing the
peacetime navy after independence from England. The mahogany-paneled dining
room, with Ryan’s original table, was the scene of lavish entertainment.
Tradition holds that although he served his guests elegant multi-course dinners,
his favorite meal was pig’s feet and salad greens. Rooms added by Ryan to the
original Federal-style dwelling include the spacious formal drawing room and the
more casual breakfast room, with its own paintings of the estate from 1908.
In 1989, the 4,800 acre Oak Ridge estate was
acquired by the Holland family. Work continues on the mansion’s upstairs rooms,
the outbuildings and gardens. The estate is the largest property now under
historic restoration in Virginia. Guided tours of the mansion’s first floor
and the immediate plantation grounds are available by reservation; call (804)
263-8676. The estate is also open to walk-in visitors when festivals and living
history events are scheduled.
Directions: From I-64 at Charlottesville, take
Route 29 south. Then take Route 6 east; midway between Faber and Esmont take
Route 800 south to Schuyler. The museum is on Route 800 at the intersection
with Route 17. For Oak Ridge Estate, return to Route 29 and head south to
Lovingston. Just past Lovingston take Route 653 east (Oak Ridge Road) for 2.4
miles to the Oak Ridge Estate entrance.
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