The Rock Castle, Lexington, Virginia snapshot and copy print photos, 1920/1972

Containers:

Box 10, Folder 30

Scope and content:

The photos in this folder are as follows:

A circa 1920 snapshot of The Castle with picket fence. Included is a negative. A circa 1930 snapshot of The Castle, with cars parked out front. A circa 1930 copy print photo of The Castle with snow, taken from the south. A circa 1930 copy print photo of The Castle, taken from the north. A circa 1930 sepia print photo of The Castle, taken from the north. Included is a negative. A circa 1941 snapshot photo of The Castle, taken from the south. A May 5, 1941 snapshot photo of a rock garden in the yard of The Castle, taken by the Roanoke Photo Finishing Co., Roanoke, Virginia. A 1972 color snapshot photo of The Castle, taken from the south.

Biographical / historical:

Located right in downtown Lexington, Virginia on South Randolph Street, The Castle is one of the city's oldest standing structures. Built around 1778, this rough cut fieldstone and limestone building originally featured three separate rooms on each floor, each with its own exterior entrance. It historically served as a complex for lawyers' offices and housing for local students. It originally served as a law office for Andrew Reid, the first clerk of the Rockbridge County Court. Its thick stone walls famously protected critical county court records during a devastating town fire in 1796. Professor Hale Houston bought and remodeled "The Castle" about fifteen years before his death, turning the structure into two separate apartments. Upon his passing in 1945, Professor Houston left the building to the Rockbridge Historical Society to serve as a meeting space and a repository for local historical materials. It served as the society's very first museum headquarters before they moved next door to the Campbell House in the 1970s. It features decorative iron "H" tie-beams on the gables, installed during reinforcement, which are believed to subtly reference Hale Houston. The historic property now functions as commercial space, housing local operations and offers short-term overnight lodging rentals for visitors.

Access and use