By Ashley McLeod, Staff Writer
Oct 9, 2015, 14:17
COLONIAL HEIGHTS — A house that played a key role in the Civil War will celebrate its 200-year anniversary on Oct. 17 and 18.
Violet Bank Museum will hold the event, which will include period music, military re-enactors, period dancers and more.
“It’s basically a celebration of what this building has been, its various uses and all the activities,” said Violet Bank’s Director of Programming Harvie Christie.
The house was used by Gen. Marquis de Lafayette during the Revolutionary War to fight off British Gen. Phillips during the Battle of Petersburg in 1781. The house also became Gen. Robert E. Lee’s headquarters during the Siege of Petersburg. From the location, which was a farm at the time, Lee had a vantage point of the enemy line across the river.
“There are very few buildings in this part of the state that can even compare,” said Christie.
The original building was built in 1778 by Thomas Shore but burned down in 1810. The only thing that survived the fire was the foundation of the house and the chimneys. The house was rebuilt and completed in 1815. In 1905, it was sold and turned into a cattle barn, and in 1919 it was used as a boarding house for soldiers from Fort Lee.
The house has been used for a number of things: the American Legion used it for a while, as did the Colonial Heights Chamber of Commerce, and at one time it was also a library.
The building has been a full-time museum since 1994 and holds a large number of artifacts from the original era of the home, including a number of guns, clothing from the time period, and even Stonewall Jackson’s desk which he used before the war, and a writing slate he used during the war.
The museum is also home to a Gatling gun, one of the most well known early rapid-fire weapons. Violet Bank is the only known museum in the state to have this early firearm.
Renovations on the house have been ongoing for years. There are a few cosmetic issues, which still need to be fixed, including replacing a missing panel on a door in the upstairs of the building, which Christie said will cost approximately $20,000.
“In order to keep the historical integrity of the door, we would have to import the wood from outside of the country,” said Christie.
There is also water damage located on the inside of the house.
“A little-known fact about Colonial Heights is that it was actually built on a swamp where the rivers came together. Over the years the ground level around the house has been raised about 5.5 feet,” said Christie.
The bricks are made from a lime-based mortar, and a process called wicking occurs. This is when the bricks pull water from the ground and into the plaster in the house. Because of this, there is noticeable damage to the inside plaster of the house.
Christie also said that although there are cosmetic issues, the foundation of the house, which dates back to the 1700s, is structurally fine.
“The house is structurally good, and would still be here in another 200 years,” said Christie.
