Craig County Tourism

Monday is Memorial Day, a day when we remember those fallen Veterans of the Armed Services.

Craig County was connected to the War between the States by many young men who took up the cause. From World War One until the Present Day, many men and women have joined up with Uncle Sam.

We have a lot of Service Members who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Craig County has a lot to be proud of.

It reminds me of the time my Dad told of his landing on Omaha Beach in France. The men around him were going down fast.

Serving in the Navy , I know first hand how tough it is to tell a family their son or daughter gave the Ultimate Sacrifice.

I have lived in Craig for three years now; it is a beautiful community in which to live and raise a family.

Please, on this Day not only remember those who have gone before us but thank those who still protect our Country and our freedom to live in this beautiful area known as Craig County.

Mark Guthrie

Early in April, during spring break, my brother and his family came for a visit. We had an enjoyable few days, filled with socializing and driving. In addition to visiting me and our niece in Richmond, brother Joe wanted to show his wife and daughter his museum exhibit at the Prizery Community Arts Center in South Boston. I had gone with him for the opening of the exhibit, “The Crossing of the Dan” a couple of years ago.

As we were walking to their car, preparing for the drive to Richmond, I noticed a large, moving object coming down the hill toward my driveway.

I’ll be darned! A big ol’ snapping turtle! First one I’ve seen since moving here a couple of years ago. Joe, niece Lizzy, and I crowded around, checking it out. (Joe’s wife, Toby didn’t seem to feel the need to get close to the turtle, for some reason.) I’m thinking it was a female, looking for a place to lay her eggs. She was big; her shell was about a foot in diameter, so I assume she was old. They can live for thirty years, in the wild. The ridges in her shell were worn, and she looked like a moving clot of dirt. Looking closely, I realized she was missing claws on her front feet, could be from getting caught in a trap. She remained still as we checked her out. Surprisingly, she didn’t hiss at us. Lizzy was down on her knees, about a foot away, pointing her camera.

Wikipedia tells me that the Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentine) has a range extending from southeastern Canada, west to the Rockies, south as far as Ecuador. They are known for their belligerent behavior when out of the water. (Obviously, ours was the exception to that rule.) They have a highly mobile head and neck, a powerful beak-like jaw, and can weigh from 10 to 35 pounds, so don’t even think about picking one up by the sides of their shells. In the water, they are generally docile and timid. They mate from April through November and can travel extensively overland to lay eggs. The female can hold sperm for several seasons, utilizing it as necessary. (Without question, these are solitary creatures.) The female will look for sandy soil in which to lay her eggs, digging a hole and typically depositing 25 to 80, then covering them with the sandy soil for incubation and protection. Incubation is temperature-dependent, ranging from 9 to 18 weeks. Assuming a snapping turtle makes it through the egg and baby stages, they are some of the longest-lived vertebrates. The primary threats to turtles in general are habitat loss (including pollution), automobile activity, and collection for the pet or food trade.

I’m hoping our snapper found a good nesting spot.

by Holly Wadey, reprinted from the Oriskany Grapevine

Boy here it is April 1st but feeling a lot more like summer with the warmth of the sun shooting the temperature up to 84 degrees.  Not only is spring budding here in New Castle so are several new businesses that are as exciting as the prospect of spring.

The buzz on Main Street are two new restaurants which have recently opened.  The Locust Mountain Grill owned and operated by Joseph and Carolyn Harless opened its doors about a month ago and business has been booming.  Named for Craig County’s own renouned Locust Mountain Boys Bluegrass group the restaurant is decorated in country style decor with red and white checkered table cloths and lots of old time memorabilia on the walls.  It is opened daily except Wednesday and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. It serves up a breakfast that is destined to make some of the bigger pancake restaurant chains sit up and take notice.  If you aren’t a breakfast sort of person not to worry there is lunch and dinner to look forward to.  In addition to the traditional menu of hotdogs, hamburgers, French fries, onion rings, and sandwiches there is always a lunch to dinner special all home cooked of course. The special includes the entree with a large selection of vegetables to choose from with Pinto beans and cornbread a mainstay being offered every day.  And don’t forget dessert.  There is something for everyone including a sugar-free delight for those who can’t eat the real stuff.  And don’t be surprised if some Friday evening you hear the sounds of Bluegrass music coming from the popular restaurant.  It will probably be the Locust Mountain Boys featuring Steve Carper, Jr. (Carolyn’s brother), his son Jesse and maybe that infamous claw-hammer-style banjo-picking Steve Carper, Sr.   The downright delicious food, good company and affordable prices will keep you coming back time and again.

The newest kid on the block is The Garden Gate which opened March 31st.  Owned and operated by Loretta Keffer and her sister Lisa Carnack the restaurant/bakery is a totally new venue for New Castle.  Known for her good cooking Loretta decided to put all that talent to work for the whole community to enjoy.  Just walking into the place is like a breath of spring itself.  Small tables and booths are decorated with table cloths, flowers and of all things – really nice napkins that brighten your spirits in addition to keeping all that goodness from spilling into your lap should you accidently drop a crumb of it.  There are counters filled with homemade baked goods such as cupcakes, cakes, brownies, homemade bread and rolls and the best chocolate covered coconut cream and peanut butter Easter eggs you ever want to taste.  In addition to bakery items you can get a light lunch. Usually there are homemade chicken salad and pimento cheese sandwiches or you can get a lovely salad.  Homemade soup will soon be a part of the lunch time menu. And should you have to wait for a table there are two big overstuffed chairs by the front window where you can relax and read until a table is ready.  The ecclectic mix of primitive and country decor give the place a feeling of welcome and warmth.  And again the prices are just right for anybody’s pocketbook.

If you want to shop around after partaking of all that fabulous food on Main Street the Family Dollar is across the street and the Yard Sale Palace is down the block.  There is also a new consignment shop located in the old Broad Run Trading Post on Rt. 311.  Owners Steve and Amber White have transformed the little log cabin into an upscale consignment shop carrying a little bit of everything including clothes.  One of the most impressive things is the line of prom dresses and wedding gowns on hand – absolutely top of the line.  A big plus is the very large dressing room in which to try on all of those beautiful gowns.

Craig Creek Mercantile – home of Lilies Deli – is on Rt. 311 about 4 miles before you get into New Castle.  Don’t be fooled by its gas-station appearance.  Tucked inside is a delightful deli that serves just about anything you could want from tenderloin and gravy biscuits to fried okra, onion rings,  burgers and fries and daily home-cooked specials.  Just remember you can’t always judge a book by its cover so give it a try.  You’ll be glad you did.

Then there are the mainstay restaurants like Pine Top on Rt. 615 which has been around a long time serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with a wide variety of lunch and dinner entrees and homemade desserts.  The New Castle Grill located on Rt. 311 as you come into town also serves all three meals and offers a wide variety of menu items as well.  And if you are in a hurry there is always our new Subway on Rt. 615 across from the IGA Mick-or-Mack Supermarket.  By the way IGA carries plenty of hot food items in their deli including fried chicken, barbecue, meatloaf, chicken tenders, mac and cheese, vegetables and a different dessert daily.  It’s what I would call pot-luck.  You take your chances on the menu each day but you’re lucky to get such good food in such a short time.

Gwen Johnson

Freelance writer

Last week I was just chugging along through the work week, when I received a wrong number call.  Once the caller realized who he had called, he asked, “Oh…is this Wilderness Adventure there in New Castle?”  I responded yes inquisitvley.  The caller turned out to be one of the new owners of Big Pine Trout Farm.  He informed me that they had bought the property back in June and have really worked hard to make some major improvements.  I was totally unaware that the place had even be bought out.

The man I was speaking to was named Chris Richardson and he actually lives and works in the Baltimore area, if I recall properly.  He works on the website, helps book groups and I’m sure does a ton of other stuff while his buddy Jimbo Chewning runs the fishing trips and manages the property itself here in New Castle.  After having a nice conversation with Chris for awhile he said he would get Jimbo to give me a call sometime and set up a meeting.  I figured it would be at least a week before I heard back from them, if ever.  I get so many calls up at camp that really never come of anything so I’m used to it now.

Low and behold, about five minutes later Jimbo calls me up and we end up making an appointment for the very next day for him to check out our property at Wilderness Adventure.  He drove up to camp after lunch and we had a very nice meeting.  Jimbo seemed like a real go getter that has a lot of plans for the Big Pine property and all of its business aspects.  It turns out they are selling extremley fresh and delicious trout to the fresh market in the Grandin area of Roanoke.  They are now renting the refurnished buildings on their property year round to both members of their fishing trips and other interested parties in the slow months.  The third aspect of the business is setting up exclusive and top of the line fishing trips for a great rate.  You have the opportunity to catch 5 trout and then Jimbo, who claims to be a top notch chef, will prepare them for you for dinner.  It just really seemed like they had a good business and a lot going on down there.  It got me thinking what a shame it is that there is so much going on in Craig County that people from all over the area, including people right inside of New Castle, are totally unaware of.  Jimbo and I both discussed how virtually none of our business comes from the area.  We both however made verbal agreements that we would try to shoot each other business and both seemed to think we could have a valuable two way relationship.  I think that is important, especially during these economic times, for all of us in Craig County to think of ways we can help each other out.

If you have any ideas for the blog, even if you don’t feel like writing it yourself, or have any other tourism ideas feel free to email us.  The job of the tourism committee  is to help the entire community interact and thrive.  I know I plan on passing as much business as I can to my new friends over at Big Pine, I also plan on going by for a visit some day soon.  I’m not a very good fisherlady but I will certainly consider buying a few delicious fish for dinner one night or even suggesting that my out of town guests stay the night there for a new adventure.  I suggest you go check it out for yourself and start talking with other businesses that you could have a mutual relationship with in Craig County.

Julia Bradford, Group Program Director at Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing

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Our two most common harbingers of spring, the robin and crocus, arrived ahead of the official spring date. In fact both appeared before all the snow melted. In a few days the early iris, both yellow and purple, were in full bloom.

Craig County’s climate is ideal for the hardy spring bulbs. Daffodils foliage thrived underneath the snow and already flower buds are present. Tulips and day lillies are putting out new growth and we see foliage of many of the minor group of spring bulbs in our garden.

The daffodil is perhaps my favorite of all the many flowers I grow. Even as a child I was impressed with their cheery welcome to warn weather. Did you ever pass an old house or where there had once been a home and wonder about who might have planted these gems? I did and still do!

Carpenter Bees

I have a small back porch, just big enough for a couple of chairs and a small table.  That’s where I have my morning coffee and observe the goings on at the creek.  Living in the county has introduced me to previously unobserved critters.  One of them is the carpenter bee.

They’re those big, fuzzy black, slow-moving insects I’ve always called B-52s.  They tend to startle you but rarely act aggressively.  Since moving here a year and a half ago, I’ve been able to watch them through their yearly cycle.  What alerted me to them was the appearance of sawdust on the porch floor and circular holes in the rafters.

Xylocopa virginica is yet another roommate.  The Ohio State website tells me that carpenter bees are solitary, overwinter as adults within their old nest gallery, and emerge in April or early May to mate.  The females prepare the nest, excavating an entrance hole slightly less than a half inch wide.  She’ll bore a couple of inches perpendicular to the grain, then make a 90 degree turn and bore out four to six inches to crate a gallery for her offspring.  She puts a food ball, a mixture of pollen and regurgitated nectar, in the end of the tunnel, lays an egg on it, then walls off the brood cell with a plug of chewed wood pulp.  She repeats the process six to ten times and dies soon after.  The babies stay in their brood cells, going through the entire life cycle (egg, larva, pupa, adult) for about seven weeks, then chew their way out.  They use their birth nest to hibernate through the winter.

Carpenter bees like wood, particularly weathered wood, unpainted.  My house has aluminum siding, but the underside of the porch roof is unpainted wood.  There are places where holes have been plugged, with putty and duct tape.  I’ve added some duct tape patches, myself.  But this fall, when the temperature has fallen enough to make the bees less active, I’ll plug the holes (the ones I can see, anyway) and paint.  They don’t seem to like painted wood.

I’d really prefer to choose my roommates!

Large fluffy snowflakes have been in a rush this morning to reach down and join the many inches left behind from deposits in previous weeks. Here in Craig County the accumulation has been the deepest we have seen in several years and has tried to stop us in our tracks. Some of the rural roads drifted shut and had to be opened with a snow blower. The most common comment heard is -”We are tired of this stuff!”

Historic Old Brick Hotel

But we know Spring is just around the corner! In downtown New Castle, Spring means the  the Old Brick Hotel will open on the first Friday in April and each Friday thereafter from 1 – 4 P. M. for genealogy research and tours of the old Hotel. Other research and tour dates may be arranged by appointment. The library is stocked with all the county censuses available to date as well as marriage and death records. Family histories of many Craig County families are included in the works of several authors and are available to researchers. Volunteers, well versed in the history of the county, staff the library. Many publications are available for purchase as well as .

The three-story brick Old Hotel is a “must see” when you are in New Castle. Located on the corner of Main and Court Streets, it has been the headquarters of the Craig County Historical Society since 1983.

Antique display on the hotel porch

The following quote is from the 1990 edition of the publication “In and Around” and is used with permission of the Craig County Historical Society. “Little is known about the history of the hotel because early court records were destroyed by Union General David Hunter’s army of 18,000 on June 22-23,1864. The structure itself tells us that it was built in three stages by the different type and lay of brick. The brick in the front section on Main Street is redder and of a poorer grade than the back wing which is made of the same brick as the courthouse. The original brick is a brownish color but the hotel appears red because it has been painted at some time. Two floors of the front section were built first. The third floor was probably added later, and the back wing on Court Street was added at an even later date. Court records have been found which stated that court was held in the “Inn” while the courthouse was being built. It is believed that the “Inn” was the hotel, or the front section at least.

Elbert Lamb (1907-2000), of New Castle, said that his grandfather, Moses Lamb, built the hotel in the 1860s. It is believed that Moses did indeed do the brick work on the back wing, if not all of it, since his name as contractor is on the old hotel sign (restored).

Mrs. Mayme McClure, of Roanoke, said that one of her ancestors, James Gray, was the first owner of the hotel. Mr. Gray must have died before 1850 since he is not listed in the census records that year with his wife. This fits the theory that at least part of the hotel was standing as early as the 1840s.

The first deed to be found in Craig Court records tells us that Madison Crawford paid $2,700.10 to the estate of J. H. Walker in 1873 for purchase of the hotel and property. Madison Crawford was married to James Gray’s daughter, Mahalia. They left the hotel to their daughter Annie and her husband, James Henry Looney, son of Joseph & Melvina Day Looney. James H. and Annie’s son, Lee Looney, inherited the hotel from them. Lee married Nannie Welch and after her death, the hotel passed to their children: John Looney, B. R. Looney (heirs) and Anne L. Harvey. The Craig County Historical Society bought the hotel from the Looneys on August 11, 1983 for $21,000, planning to restore the hotel for a museum, meeting place and office with a library of history/genealogy books and records, craft shop and other uses for public benefit and enjoyment.”

Indeed, the building is being used today for the same purposes as stated above. The sixteen rooms and large halls are filled with a great variety of local artifacts and antiques, many donated by local citizens. Christmas dinners, reunions, school tours, and group meetings have made it a focal point of the community. The icing on the cake is the annual Fall Festival held the second Saturday of each October.  Then, the Old Brick Hotel is bedecked with red, white and blue as fundraising mixes with fun and fellowship in downtown New Castle.

So, come visit the Old Brick Hotel, just let us know when you want to come at a time other than the scheduled Fridays.

Back to Craig County Home Site.

Snow is snowy when it’s snowing
I’m sorry it’s slushy when it’s going
from Winter Morning Poem by Ogden Nash

Husband and I took a walk this afternoon through Scratch Ankle. We should have done this earlier when the sun was out, he said. But we couldn’t see then, it was too bright, I said. And we’da got hot, he said.

But now my face was cold, nose running, and fingers tingling in the hand that wasn’t being held.

Don’t walk so fast, he said. But we need to get our heart rate up, I said. You’ll fall down, he said.  But we know these people in this house….. and those across the road, too, I said.  That means we need to choose where we fall so we’ll be helped by someone whom we like.

Later, we were just past the Manor where the road was solid, crunchy snow and pine trees on one side.  This is nice, I said. Let’s stay here.  Walk in place?,  he said.

The way to make good hot chocolate great is a tidge of cinnamon.  And to make truly wonderful hot chocolate, stir in a blob of real whipped cream.

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Like everywhere else in this part of Virginia winter has dug in its heels here in Craig County and appears to be content to stick around for a while. An ice storm came through last night leaving crystallized mountain tops and slick roads closing schools once again.  But then that’s January for you especially here in the mountains.

But take heart.  Somewhere underneath all that frozen tundra spring lies dormant.  If you were out and about in New Castle yesterday you could say with conviction this rainy cold spell we’re in is for the ducks.  I had to stop my car in the middle of Main Street to let one waddle across from the Court House lawn to the front steps of Carter’s Exchange Bank.  He looked in the door but decided, however, not to go in.  I duly notified the Sheriff’s office that there was a duck on Main Street that Animal Control might want to apprehend for more reasons than one.  Fifteen minutes later I happened to pass the Court House again and there were seven ducks on the Court House lawn along with an Animal Control officer wondering t to do next.  They had come up from the creek that runs along Rt. 615 a block away, and the last time I saw them it didn’t seem like they were in a hurry to go back where they came from.  They were hunkered down on the lawn for the long haul so it seemed – hanging around for a spell just like winter I suppose.

In a small town such as New Castle you just might see most anything on the sidewalks in town.  One summer morning I went out to look at the dew on the day lilies, and there was a magnificent rooster feeding under the bird feeders.  He didn’t seem to mind at all that I was standing there.  When he was finished his breakfast he strutted on down the sidewalk that runs along Rt. 311, the town’s main thoroughfare, then suddenly he decided to cross the road in the heavy morning traffic. Fearing for his life I went out in the middle of the road slippers and all and stopped traffic because I wasn’t sure motorists would consider a rooster a pedestrian despite the signs that instructed drivers to give the right away those crossing the road.

So even in the midst of winter’s cold when it seems as though nature has frozen everything solid there are memories of summer that warm our souls.  It is nothing to see a flock of wild turkeys in the road anytime once you are off the main drag or deer grazing in a field.  And, ah, those magnificent birds that nest in the evergreens and flock to feeders year round are a blessing especially in the winter when you believe that Mother Nature may have caused every living thing to hibernate until winter passes.  Once upon a time I counted as many as 19 different kinds of birds that sought shelter in a huge old pine tree outside my kitchen window.

But even when I am unable to get out the winter sun warms the cockles of my heart. The African Violets bloom continually as do some of the so called Christmas cactus that seem to know no season. But the thing that brings a touch of summer to mind most are the beautiful salmon-colored geraniums blooming in a vase on my window sill.  They have rooted from pieces I have broken off of a plant left over from summer that had gotten scraggly looking and way too tall from the warmth of the sun shining through huge glass windows.  How exhilarating it is to look through geraniums and laced curtains to the crystal-like mountain tops that sparkle when the sun’s rays burst from behind the grey clouds of winter.  And how awesome to watch a full moon rise over the mountains casting its light on new fallen snow.  There is much to be said about living in a small mountain town where there are no stoplights and the only skyscrapers are mountain peaks.

Gwen Johnson

Freelance writer & Journalist

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….And it was a stately courthouse that Craig County built!

The County Justices received their commissions on April 4th and were sworn in at the first meeting on April 24, 1851. Barely into the business of running the new county, the seventeen Justices of the Peace had to turn their attention to appointing a committee to find a suitable site on which to build a courthouse. On June 10th of the same year, sealed bids were received and on July 14, 1851 the contract was let to build a Jeffersonian style courthouse. The structure was topped with an octagonal cupola and has a huge two-story Doric portico. Oral history has it that the Flemish bond bricks were made locally by slave labor. Mrs. Pryor Tatum wrote in a history in 1951 that the bell hanging in the belfry was a gift of a native son, a member of the House of Delegates, who was instrumental in forming the county. More oral history is that it was cast in the same foundry as the Liberty Bell.

Craig County's Jeffersonian Style Courthouse

One might draw a conclusion that there wasn’t proper planning time for the contract to be awarded so soon, but we must remember these men might have been pondering the plan for several years. Of primary concern to the citizens of the area in 1848 were the pros and cons of the expense of building the courthouse and running a new county. There would be far fewer taxpayers in this new county; therefore the monetary burden would be greater on each family.

The Craig County Courthouse was ready for business in 1852.

In less than ten years the county was hit hard by the Civil War. General David Hunter and his Federal troops were on the run from General Jubal Early when he reached New Castle in 1864.
Still bent on destruction, he stabled his horses in the Courthouse and burned many records. Marks from the axe can still be seen today. In the latest restoration, the newel post was preserved and stands in front of the World War II board in the courtroom.

The original wooden fence that surrounded the Courthouse lawn was replaced in 1902 with black ironwork. Before there was a town ordinance to prohibit animals from roaming at large, grazing cows on the lawn presented a maintenance problem. A black iron turnstile was installed to keep the animals off the lawn. This stile remained in use long after the cows were confined. It was moved to the Lions Park and installed as a children’s ride and later moved to Camp Mitchell for that same purpose.

The Courthouse underwent the first remodeling in 1935. Two rooms were added and the interior was modernized to meet the needs of the time.

As one enters the Courthouse lawn from Main Street, he faces the Confederate monument atop which stands the granite figure of a Confederate soldier looking toward the sunrise. Funding for this statue was raised by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in memory of the seven hundred men who served bravely for their county and country.

Bronze tablets flank the main entrance of the Courthouse. On the right is the list of the eight men who made the supreme sacrifice during World War I. On the left is the plaque in memory of the twelve young men who gave their lives in World War II.

Eight Norway maples stood on the lawn in memory of the World War I dead for many years. The trees grew old, and diseased and had to be removed with the 2000-2001 renovation.

WWII Memorial Plaque

A maghogany Honor Roll in honor of the five hundred who entered service from Craig in World War II hangs in the Courtroom.

Craig County citizens had another memorial erected on the lawn in 1988. It reads “Erected in honor of those who have or shall ever serve honorably in the founding or defense of our Nation with special gratitude to those killed or missing in action and to all prisoners of war.”

The structure underwent a major renovation in 2000-2001. Much needed space was added to house the Sheriff’s Department, Judge’s offices and Clerk’s office. The exterior architectue was repaired but left in appearance much as it had been in 1852.

Craig County is one of the few Virginia counties that has been able to preserve its original Courthouse and to have it is use continually for 158 years.

I first entered the door of the Craig County Courthouse in the fall of 1954. I had been hired to prepare the 1955 land book from the notes of the state assessor. My pay was seventy-five cents per hour. It was in the following weeks that I would get my first lessons in the history of Craig County. The constitutional officers, Pete Hutchison, treasurer, Willie Looney, Clerk, Margaret (Pat) Caldwell, Deputy Clerk and Ran Carper, Commissioner of the Revenue, helped me decipher the handwriting and spelling of many names that were new to me.

Last fall I located this land book which I had typed on a manual long carriage machine. Little did I know in 1955 that my work would be a future historical document and a little bit of Craig County history.

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