HomeMy WebLinkAboutVA200400012 Other 2003-08-23 COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE
Department of Planning&Community Development
401 McIntire Road,Room 218
Charlottesville,Virginia 22902-4596
(434)296-5823
Fax(434)972—4012
MEMORANDUM
TO: John Shepherd
FROM: Margaret Maliszewski
RE: VA-2003-10: Advance Mills Store
DATE: August 23, 2003
The Advance Mills Store is a contributing resource in the Advance Mills Historic District. The
district was listed in the State Register on June 14, 2000 and in the National Register on April 12,
2002.
The Advance Mills Supply was built in 1884 and an addition was constructed in 1900. The
Advance Mills Store was constructed in 1948 on the site. The 19th century foundations alongside
the 20th century structure graphically illustrate the evolution in building technologies during these
periods. The store and the site contribute to the character of today's Advance Mills as a well-
preserved example of a milling community that operated in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The County's Historic Preservation Plan, an adopted component of the Comprehensive Plan,
identifies the protection of the County's historic and cultural resources as a primary goal. The
applicants should be encouraged to pursue every possible means to adaptively use the existing
store building because demolition of this contributing resource will diminish the strength and
significance of the overall historic district.
If the structure will be demolished (even demolished in part), any new building to be constructed
should be similar in size, shape, and scale to the demolished building. Alternatively, the new
building should be compatible with the other remaining buildings in the district through
appropriate size, massing, and materials. Generally, any new building in a historic district should
be designed to support the dominant character of the overall district-- not create a focal point that
detracts from the historic whole. Producing measured drawings of the existing store building prior
to demolition (and providing copies to the County) would be an appropriate measure to help
mitigate the negative impacts of the demolition.
Also, care should be taken to avoid unnecessarily damaging the remnants of the Advance Mills
Supply site and to provide appropriate treatment for any underground cultural resources
uncovered during demolition or construction. The applicants may wish to secure the services of
an archaeologist to advise them on the appropriate treatment of such resources. Reporting any
such findings to the County would be appropriate.
6.1.9 WORLD WAR I TO WORLD WAR II (1914-1945)
By 1932, U. S. Route 29 (contiguous with then-State Route 28) ran from Earlysville
through the center of Advance Mills along present Route 743 (Map, Va. Dept. of Highways,
June 1, 1932). The present bridge (VDHR #02-0541) is a nineteenth-century structure moved
to this location in 1943 after an earlier wooden bridge had been washed out by a flood (Wetsel
interview 2/21/95 and Ballard interview 2/16/95). The bridge is a two-span steel structure with
one pony truss and one Pratt through truss supported on a concrete substructure (Figure 6.4).
These trusses were relocated from an unknown site (Virginia Dept. of Highways, Truss Bridge
Survey #49, 1974). This bridge is one of a small number of Pratt trusses still standing in
Albemarle County and is an essential element in the historic character of the Advance Mills
community.
Mrs. Frances Fray Ballard, born in 1927 in Advance Mills and the granddaughter of
Robert Briggs Fray, remembered that during her childhood the Fray family mill was producing
flour, cornmeal and animal feeds, although saw-milling had ceased by that time. The J. M.
Fray & Co. store was one of the largest general stores in Albemarle County in the first half of
the twentieth century, and like most general stores, it carried a broad array of goods. Residents
from the surrounding area sold their bought sumac, ginseng, and animal hides to the Frays as
middlemen. Sumac was often stored near the store for later sale; there was once a sumac house
in the field across Route 743 from the store. Clothes were also sold in the general store. An
addition was made to the store in the early 1900s and men's suits were added. There was also
a millinery department, and the store dealt in caskets and had a horse-drawn hearse.
Grist mills, such as the Fray family mill, were once a common sight throughout
Albemarle County and were an integral part of the county's agricultural economy. Before World
War II, Cecil Wetsel, raised in nearby Greene County, remembered going to Advance Mills on
many occasions with his father to deliver grain from his family's wheat farm for grinding.
Farmers often stored their wheat here while waiting for it to be ground. According to Wetsel,
6-17 Advance Mills
1
I
the store paid a penny a pound for sumac (which had to be dry and bagged in burlap), but would
pay a half cent more if the seller would take store coupons (good for J. M. Fray merchandise)
instead of cash. Burnley's was the closest railroad stop and "fancy" goods for the store were
shipped in by rail and brought by wagon from Burnley Station (Wetsel interview 2/25/95).
6.1.10 MODERN PERIOD (1945-PRESENT)
J. M. Fray & Co. continued both milling and retail operations until fire destroyed the
store in 1946 (CDP 2/24/1985). The mill burned on March 15, 1948. A diesel engine installed
in the mill to supplement water power ignited the fire (CDP 2/24/85). The Fray Mill joined the
ranks of numerous other grist mills in Albemarle County that succumbed to fire, flood, and
economic hard times during the mid twentieth century. (There are no longer any operating mills
in the county). Following the mill fire, the sites of both the store and mill were effectively
leveled and the turbines were removed from concrete supports and left to rust (Observer: 4/15-
21/1982). The foundations of both the mill (VDHR#02-2161)(Figure 6.5) and the store (VDHR
#02-2158) still remain as visible reminders of these once-important business operations.
Mrs. Rallard's husband, Ray Ballard, bought the burned out complex at auction for
$2,000 in 1948 and shortly thereafter built the existing cinder block store in which the Rallards
opened Advance Mills Supply (VDHR #02-2158) around 1950 (CDP 2/2/1986). A retired
engineer, C. H. Atkins, bought the old Fray farm (Holly Tree Farm) and mill site in 1967. In
1984 he put the remains of the existing dam to use by installing two turbines to generate
electricity for his own home and up to fifty others (CDP 2/24/85). Remains of both the original
mill dam, mill race, and the mill site can be seen on the east bank of the Rivanna River, south
of the metal truss bridge.
I
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA 22902 TMP 20-15A
D.B. 2329 P. 662 STATE ROUTE ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
PH: (434) 296-4113 641 JUNE 1 , 2004
2003 125 01