The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-22

/, towns Of Richmond and S1okoes' prior
10 tho var of 1776, Says the houses hero
are almost MI Of wood covered VIII VIZ
,ha same. thc roof With shingles. the
| sides and ends with thin boards, ana nor
| nlwavs lntlcd and plaistered within; only
/ those of tho better sort are finished IN
! that manner, and painted on the OUTSIDE
| The chiinncys arc sometimes OF p.ich
but more commonly Of wood, conted On
the inside with clay The windows OF
l fro hest sort have glass III them; Inc
rn.t havc none. and only wooden shut
| tcrs.''
This is doubtless n faithful picture rs
! far ns IT goes. Unreliable In many re-
f! spccts as this old loynlist had proved
| himself to be, he has been commences i.,
| bv Randolph or Roanoke, who says ms
book though repleto with fnlsehood aIla
! calln,ny. contains tho trncst picture OF
society md manners IN Virginia that is
extant." | have often asked myself inc
question, whether S1nyth. who 1nmblcd
evcrvwhere within and without the Two
I towns Of Richmond and Shokoes. ever
saw tho Ego house. and, II so, IL 1t then
bore those marks Of antiquity that 1t now
apresents? But he did note among INC
| most commanding and excelltHt sltua tons
nho,lt the town, the seat of Mr.. Adams
| on Church Hill and the elegant villa OF
| William Byrd which was then, and long
afterwards. known by the name OF EEL
| yidera, The Adams mansion OF WOOD
! stu ovcrloolis thu town from Monte
| Maria, but Byrd's villa has long since
passed away
wall--onc brick of thickness-that wound
about the place; the old brick house
whose deep foundations might have been
| seert -some years after Oregon I'LL be-
| came n noted suburb Of Rlchmond-the
snrng, on the eastern side of the wall,
| shaded by pines. IIarves woods stretcn-
ing away westward. and forming, as 1t
were. the background Of one OF the
| lovelicst pictures the poet ever conceived
| or the painter ever transferred 10
] canvas.
shall now recur to some Of Nor
doca Is, rccollectons OF Main Street as
it appeared to him i'll 1892, but part1cu-
lnrlv 10 that locality which embraced
| Tho old Market House and the upralse.a
commons, upon a section of which It
had boon built In 1880 ''nn act for
! locating the public SQUARES. to cniaiso
the town, ana for other purposes, : TO-
Gates the capitol, Halls Of Justice, State
House for Executive Boards. and a..housc
for the Governor, on Shockoe lilil, anu ana
q Public Market bolow}thc mr. on me
same side OF the creek,
| N
| Mordccal italiciscs the words same
side % as IL to call the attention of his
readers to them Is It at all probable
| that at tho time of the passing OF the
net the creek ran east Of the present
site Of the market?
| incline to think that the course or inc
1 old creek was Of n moro devious charac'
ter IN 1850 than It (. now appears. 70 be,
| and thatsIt then ran east o. me ste ulol
. 49,, AZ, ,1-r a |
I this conjecture be right, there can DC III
l difficulty with the act.
Z. But there was a m;lrket-house on the
east side OF the creek, and west of the
| line of Seventeenth Street, between
| Franklin and Grace which was older
probably than that created by the act
1 of 1880. An old citizen whom have re.
Gently interviewed remembers It wen
| ms a market house. Sixty or seventy
wears ago It was in the occupancy OF
! CAPTAIN Sam Freeman and his brother,
who we're then builders and contractors,
| The shelf Of land upon which It stood
between Franklin and Brond-Was IN my
day a. common, without other building
| on 1t than that whicl, went by the name
of the Old Market house. It presented
the appearance of a long. low. frame
| building OF story which might have
| been used professionally for market DUR
| ing the erection of its successor.
| Mordecai takes note of our well-knowl1
| Old Market but, strangely enough. says
nothing Of the supposed older ones
."rhc first ednce" (of the Old Market
| he says, was an open shed, supported on
wooden posts, and the slope from.it doWi
| IL Sorl1oc Greek was a green pasture
| ana considered n common, much used
| ~ tho laundresscs, whereon to dry their
clothes, they washed in the stream.
| A sprng OF cool water arose IN tho
] common on the sollthsidc Of Main Street,
but tho spot IS now occupied by build
| ing George Il. Sadlcr's famous restora-
! tlvcl, where fountains OF fireWatcr are
| substituted for the natural and pure Gle
! mcnt The creek was crossed by 1901
! passengers on n narrow bridge raised
| few feet above the surface OF the
water. but horses cooled their foot by
| fording it. When frcshcts lin the riVdrl
! occurred the planks were removed from
| the bridge and 4 ferry boat was substl-
| tuted, which conveyed vehicles, as well
as man and horse. across the wide and
sometimes deep stream
+, The old citizen hereinbefore mentioned
remembers the Old Markct-bcfore It's
reconstruction and enlargement in 1850
us being little moro than n shed, which
measured half the line from Main TO
Franklin Streets, a structure of two
stories called the Cage ndJoincd ut It's
northern extremity tho primitive market.
1ic,rin sat the captain of the nishtwnt!l
in charge Of dclinquents, white and col
ored. and here Il whlpping-post was fire.
Qucuty used for the punishment of petty
offenders Ms own recollection goes back
to the, time when a supplemental struc-
turc had been attached to tho meat
markct-a mere shed open on all Sides
in which only vegetables We're sold
There was no traffic In meat, vegetables
or fruit beyond Franklin Street. From
, this stree, rs far up as Broad no hut
=, hoYcl or house had been erected on the