Historic Powhatan

We enjoyed two different excursions during our weekend away. The first was to Historic Powhatan, which was an old steamboat town on the Black River. We really enjoy historical sights, so this was a treat!

They still have 5 different historic buildings on site, and we took a tour of them all. Our tour guide was excellent, particularly with the kids. He was very open to their questions, etc . . . He was very knowledgeable, and we learned lots of interesting new stuff.


The first of our buildings was this old commercial building. It has served several different purposes, including a telephone station (we saw an old switchboard there) an apothecary, a wagon shop, a post office . . . just to name a few.


Next was the Ficklin-Imboden House. The oldest buildings on the site. Once a residence with an attached cook house (and possibly slave quarters). It was furnished with period furniture that was cool to see.


Enjoying all of the furs that were typically trapped at the time.


The fireplace

The loft was used as sleeping quarters.

Inside the cookhouse.

Next was the Powhatan Male and Female Academy.

The girls really loved this one! They have an entire classroom set up with books and slates and everything. Each girl got their own slate and slate pencil (btw, we learned that slate pencils are actually made of slate also. I was always imagining something more chalk like. The squeaking sound that those pencils make is outrageous! I felt very sympathetic for those old country school ma'ams!)

Each girl drew a picture. I just thought Meg's was really cute! (Notice the 2+4 that she added!)

Next was the the old jail.

Hopefully this is this only time I'll ever see any of them behind bars! : )

Lastly was the old courthouse.

Inside the courthouse. We also learned that the railing that divides the public area from the front of the court room is called "the bar." Hence the term "Bar exam" etc . . . Just one of those interesting pieces of information . . . hope to use that one at a trivia night some time : )

Another interesting piece of information . . . Back in the day in Powhatan they only held criminal court every 6 months! Yep, if you were a suspected criminal, you got to wait, in jail for up to 6 months before you were even tried! Gotta love it!

Overall I loved the historic buildings, but I think I was most impressed with Ali and Emma! They were sincerely interested in everything they saw. The tour lasted 2 hours, and they were still fascinated, and asked several really good questions. Ali was funny. They showed us 2 old vault doors that they recently recovered. They been painted over with black paint, and one of them has had the paint removed and has been restored. Our tour guide showed us the restored door, and mentioned that they will be removing that paint on the other one here soon. Ali asked if we could come back next year so we could see the door once it's been cleaned up. I couldn't help but to laugh. Of all the things that a 9 year old would want to revisit . . . an old vault door!