A guide to Virginia’s literary heritage.Jane Baber
The Anne Spencer Garden.
Virginia is so rich in literary heritage that we’ve organized a special neighborhood we like to call the writer’s block. Of course, the following sites celebrating Virginia authors aren’t all in one block, but, strung together, they make a fine tour for any bibliophile.
Take in a chapter (or two) from the lives of a few of our favorite Virginia literati this year:
Poe Museum, Richmond
Discover the father of detective fiction and master of suspense Edgar Allen Poe by perusing artifacts like a lock of his hair and an issue of his Southern Literary Messenger. PoeMuseum.orgAnne Spencer House, Lynchburg
Civil rights activist and Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer was a devoted gardener, and today her house and gardens provide the same relaxation for visitors that she once enjoyed. AnneSpencerMuseum.orgBooker T. Washington National Monument, Hardy
Though his name is more often associated with Tuskegee, Alabama, Booker T. Washington was in fact born on a Franklin County plantation. Visit to learn more about Washington’s Virginia roots. NPS.gov/BoWaWeems-Botts House, Dumfries
Scare up some inspiration at the reputedly haunted Weems-Botts House, once home to Parson Weems, the first biographer of George Washington. HistoricDumfries.com/WeemsBotts
The golden years are about living your best life in ways you prioritize—be it weather, cost of living, or access to amenities like restaurants, golf courses, fitness facilities, and healthcare. With proximity to the mountains and coastline, Virginia is a nature lover’s mecca. And it’s one of the few states that counts Washington, D.C., as […]
People call Secretariat Virginia’s greatest athlete for good reason. The thoroughbred racehorse, foaled near Ashland at Meadow Stables, not only won the American Triple Crown in 1973 but set and still holds the record in all three of its races. Yet, until recently, all monuments dedicated to Big Red were found outside his home state. […]
—By Katie Farthing With the winds of hope and prosperity filling its sails, the Susan Constant landed at Jamestown in 1607 with 54 Englishmen aboard hoping for glory and gold. Fast forward 400 years, the original three-masted square rig has long since disappeared, but her lore has remained a vital connection to Virginia’s past, […]