Castle Hill cabinet card, stereoscope card, snapshot, and copy print photos, 1895/1950

Containers:

Box 6, Folder 47

Scope and content:

The photos in this folder are as follows: A cabinet card photo by J. L. McCown, Lexington, Virginia, circa 1895. A stereoscope card photo view, taken looking towards the west, with the train tracks in the front of the photo, circa 1900. A color postcard published by J. P. Bell Co., Lynchburg, Virginia, circa 1900 and included is a copy print. Two copy print photos originally by Miley, Lexington, Virginia, circa 1915. A snapshot photo, circa 1920. Six snapshot photos of the fire, 1922. One photo postcard of four men standing on the site after the fire, 1922. A book photo given by Miss Laura Figgat, 1950, with a photo of General Lee's office on the back of it.

Other descriptive data:

The DeHart Hotel (also known as Castle Hill) in Lexington, Virginia, was built in 1891. Designed by architect Samuel Foulk, it was a massive, ornate structure with Norman towers and onion-shaped domes, but it never officially opened for guests following an economic collapse in 1893. The building was later destroyed by fire in 1922. During World War I, the Washington and Lee corps were organized into companies based on age. About 150 twenty-year-olds, Company A, were housed on the main floor of the Doremus gym; about 120 nineteen-year-olds, Company B, in the Lees dormitory; and about 140 eighteen-year-olds, Company C, initially in Castle Hill, a hotel on U.S. Route 60, west of the campus. It was used as a dormitory for the W&L students. In 1919-1920, Miss Belle Larrick kept students at the Castle Hill and operated the dining room.

Access and use