August 11, 2016

Fences and Signs, Thoroughfare Gap


Thoroughfare Gap is a pass through the Bull Run Mountains cut by Broad Run. Today I-66 and VA-55 pass through it, as well as a railroad line.

Here we see a sign posted by the Bull Run Mountain Conservancy showing area trails.

These pictures are from last summer. I've been familiar with that area since I was a child when my parents took us hiking there. Later, when I met my first husband he was working at a quarry on the mountain. He was still a teenager and had a brother-in-law who lived up there.

Railroad tracks, Thoroughfare Gap

Civil War Trails Marker

Chapman's Mill

Heart of the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap

<On August 28, 1862, during the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, the mill changed hands three times and suffered extensive damage as Confederate forces pushed their way through the gap from the west. Skirmishers from both armies alternately gained the mills upper windows and fired on their adversaries. Confederate Gen. James Longstreet’s wing defeated Union Gen. James B. Rickett’s smaller division here. This victory enabled Longstreet’s wing to unite with that of Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson near Manassas Junction, where Gen. Robert E. Lee subsequently defeated Union Gen. John Pope in the Second Battle of Manassas.
The Beverley family restored the mill by 1878, and it remained in operation under successive owners until 1951. An arson fire in 1998 reduced it once more to ruins. Chapman’s Mill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.>>

17 comments:

  1. Love the design of those fences. Minimal, but effective.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Darwin

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  2. Love the railroad tracks going on into the distance. :)

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  3. Hello, I like the railroad tracks and you posing with the fencing. Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

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  4. I take it the mill has not been restored then, shame

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  5. lots of history in this area and a fun place to relive your memories of the past

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  6. the mill went thru heck. love those fence rails!

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  7. So much history tucked away up there. The fence is great I enjoyed your post!

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  8. Great history lesson, Linda. My mom used to take us to some Civil War battlefields.
    ~

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  9. A very pretty and historic area. Nice picture of you by the rail fence.

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  10. Nice photo of you by the old fence!

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  11. A whole lot of history here. I have heard of the location.

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  12. How nice to see you by the fence. - I enjoy areas like this that help teach you about the history of the area.

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  13. I really like the photo of you by that fence.
    Great to see a railroad track and those trees, just makes for a very nice photo.

    All the best Jan

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  14. I very much enjoyed your photos of Thoroughfare Gap, since I've read so much of the history that took place there.

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  15. Boa história do local, adoro trilhos e cercas, bem legal essa.
    bj

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  16. Such a beautiful area ... I always read those trail signs and kept clicking my iPad so I could read this one.

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