New Castle

Our destination on our Friday drive, wherein we saw a camel unexpectedly en route, was to New Castle, Virginia.

This is where I wrote for a newspaper for a number of years - almost a decade, from about 1995 to 2004. I recently filled in and did some freelancing for the paper again while they looked for a new writer who lives over that way (it's a 40-minute drive from my house). 

I discovered during my little return to writing there that the bound copies of the newspaper - the morgue, as it were - were missing, and the current editor had no idea where they were. I vaguely remembered that the owners had wanted the old bound books tossed, and I also remember my alarm at this loss of history. I recall suggesting to someone that they should give the books to the historical society.

So, it was the historical society and its museum that was our true destination. I wanted to look for myself to see if the bound books where there.

The museum is located in what is known as "The Old Brick Hotel," although it's had numerous names over the years.

Inside, there are the usual museum things:

The Civil War display, found mostly in the southern U.S.

Other military display.

The dining area of the hotel/bar.

A kitchen replica.

Some plates I liked showcasing various things about the community.

The museum office/welcoming section. We saw this last because we went in the back door.

We took a tour of the museum, and I picked up a few history books to purchase. I found the old newspapers I was seeking, and also learned they were moldy and probably not something I really wanted to look through. I have moldy and dusty papers tucked away in a tub in the shed that I could get to just as easily.

One odd thing happened. I mentioned that my father had lived in New Castle for a few short years when he was a young lad, and one of the older ladies asked me his last name. I told her, and she jumped up and started looking for a piece of paper. "There are no members of that family here," she said, "but I have this."

And she handed me a piece of paper that showed where my ancestors, who were doctors in the Civil War, had kept records of their treatment of local residents. She was as surprised as I was to have this weird coincidence with my father's name turn up.

But we still had yet one more surprise to come.