Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Old Fort Boykin, owned by Mrs. Herbert Greer, and located on the James River near Mogart’s Beach about five miles from Smithfield, is one of the show places of Eastern Virginia. The old fortress, which was built in 1812 in the form of a seven-pointed star, has been peserved. The estate, comprising five acres, includes […]

Shoal Bay lies in that section of Virginia known as the Cradle of the Republic, just five miles from Smithfield on the Suffolk-Smithfield highway. It is noted for being one of the lovely old colonial estates and as the home of the first formal gardening in Virginia. The old house, built in 1676 by the […]

Bacon’s Castle is a perfect example of Tudor architecture. Its curved gables, jutting bays, steep roof, massive walls and cluster chimneys mark it as early colonial; while its deep window seats, wainscoted walls and low ceilings make the rooms exceedingly picturesque. Bacon’s Castle was built by Arthur Allen, who came to Virginia from England in […]

One must have lived at Gunston Hall, in winter and summer, in spring and autumn, to have any true appreciation of its charm. The old house has a personality which only intimate acquaintance can disclose. It is a small house standing on a plateau well back from the Potomac, quite self-centered and remote, but it […]

More than three centuries ago Francis Eppes came to the Jamestown Colony in time to be a member of the first House of Burgesses. In 1635 this same Colonel Francis Eppes of the King’s Council in Virginia received a royal grant of 1,700 acres in Charles City County, as well as fifty acres more for […]

On the way from Petersburg to the battlefield of the Crater is a large cemetery, within which can be seen a little church of unmistakable colonial architecture. This is old Bristol Parish Church, commonly known as Old Blandford, now restored in all faithfulness but with a newness that seems in curious contrast with its almost […]

The battles of Manassas, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor had been fought. Lee was defending the Confederacy behind a line of earthworks stretching from Richmond to Petersburg. Against this wall pressed the tremendous forces of the Union. In the summer of 1864 Grant concentrated his efforts against Petersburg, regarding it as the key to Richmond. […]

JUST before entering Petersburg from Richmond, over the Petersburg Turnpike, is a stone marker erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy. The road to the left leads to Violet Banks, the old estate of John Shure and the headquarters of General Robert E. Lee from June to September, 1864. The colonial estate of John Shure […]

Ware Church was built upon land donated from the estate called Mordecia Mount, the original seat of the Cooke family and later of the Throckmorton family, who donated the land for the building of the church. Ware Parish, in Gloucester County, was established about 1653. The first church was near Ware River, on the present […]

Colonel Augustine Warner first came to this country in 1628. He was Justice of York in 1650 and Justice of Gloucester in 1656. He named his house Warner Hall after the home of the Warners in England. The main part of the original house was consumed by fire in 1845, leaving only the two wings […]