Oldal 89 [89]
OCR
APPOMATTOX adi ROM Richmond, crossing the James through old Sgt ál Manchester, we follow the Petersburg Turnpike na Ill on our way to Appomattox. The soldiers of all \safl] our armies have trod this road and fought for a Cel) stand on nearly every foot of ground between rete) Petersburg and Richmond; for this part of Virad has been rightly called ‘‘the spanking spot’ of the nation. At beautiful Falling Creek, in Chesterfield County, we come to the site of the first iron works in America, established by John Berkeley in 1619 and abandoned in 1622 when the Indians fell upon and massacred Berkeley and all his men. During the Revolutionary War the British Red Coats traveled on this pike, and Tarleton with his troopers destroyed the iron works completely; but the falls over the dam and the double-arched stone bridge still remain to make a charming scene. To the left of the bridge is the entrance to Ampthill, the home of the Cary’s, built in 1732. From the site of the formal garden, which once graced this hilltop, a broad view of the lowlands and a commanding prospect of the river may be had. Washington and the famous men and women of his day enjoyed frequently the hospitality of this charming Colonial home. A little farther on at Kingsland Creek may be seen remains of the old fort built during the War Between the States to guard the road to Richmond. Mule teams and dusky drivers are today robbing both fort and hillside of gravel to mend the scars on the old roadway. The Tavern, or “Halfway House,” at Proctor’s Creek, claims to have refreshed the great Generals Washington and LaFayette on their march up this road, and one would have to pause but a few moments to have the cheery present owner tell of the hundreds of watermelons and cantaloupes he hospitably dis[54]
