![]() Gordonsville also was home to the Exchange Hotel Civil War Receiving Hospital, treating more than 23,000 sick and wounded between Jand May 5, 1864. They came close…to the top of Cameron’s (Bell’s) Mountain, but they never took the town. The Federals tried on several occasions to capture this town, without success. Gordonsville was a critical crossroads in the Civil War, as key supply lines funneled through town by rail and road. The convergence of those historic routes with Route 15, at the traffic circle, position Gordonsville on the way to Virginia destinations in every direction. 33, the Rockingham Turnpike to Swift Run Gap and Rt. Also, two major roads connected Gordonsville to the breadbasket of the Confederacy, the Shenandoah Valley. It was a railroad junction with the north/south tracks of what was then the Orange & Alexandria, (today’s CSX) and the east/west Virginia Central, connecting Richmond to Staunton. Meanwhile, Gordonsville was a significant economic hub in the 19th century, becoming the center of trade in Orange County. The community became officially known as “Gordonsville” in 1813 when Gordon was appointed the first postmaster of the area surrounding his tavern. ![]() Later, he opened a popular tavern which hosted Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Major General the Marquis de Lafayette, among other famous figures of early America. Jefferson told southern legislators it was a “good house” for stopping over on their way to Congress. Gordon first settled the area when he purchased a plantation “at the foot of the southwest mountains” in Orange County in 1787. By the 1850s they were filling in the gap, which is Main Street Gordonsville today. After the railroad arrived in 1840, development began around the rail depot at the other end of town. Gordonsville grew up around a tavern established by Nathaniel Gordon in 1794, where the circle is today.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |