For the past few months, the Germanna Foundation facilitated the clean-up efforts of another area non-profit group called StreamSweepers. StreamSweepers is a youth job corps program focusing on river restoration. Each summer about a dozen area young adults are trained and paid a stipend to go out on our area rivers to perform ecological assessments and […]
Bald Eagles Nesting at Germanna along the Rapidan River
In celebration of all the new births this Spring, the Germanna Foundation is pleased to share this photo (taken by Germanna Foundation volunteer Dr. Myron Wasiuta, OD of Culpeper) of an adult bald eagle and eaglet nesting along the Rapidan River in Orange County, Virginia. As stated in the Virginia Department of Game and Inland […]
Battlefield Preservation and Stewardship Workshop
I’m sharing this invitation to a Virginia Department of Historic Resources sponsored workshop being held in Petersburg, VA October 23-24 for a couple of reasons. First of all, as you may know, the Germanna Foundation preserves the ford on the Rapidan River that was used by troops during the Civil War Battle of the Wilderness. […]
Restoring Historic Salubria from Damage Wrought by the Mineral Earthquake
By Doug Harnsberger Spring 2012 Germanna Newsletter At 1:51 pm on August 23, 2011, the terra firma beneath Salubria rumbled and heaved the stately 1757 Georgian-style house. By the time the quaking action had subsided, the 5.8 magnitude Mineral Earthquake had ruptured and twisted both of the twenty foot high chimney stacks twenty degrees, and […]
Dedicatory Prayer for Siegen Forest
As a member of the Germanna Foundation, I hope that you hold in honor the stewardship we have been entrusted in caring for Siegen Forest, the 179-acre remnant of the original settlement, now covered in hardwoods which provides a valuable riparian buffer to the Rapidan River. As I testified before the Fauquier County Board of […]
Preserving Our Land
By J. Marc Wheat The following prepared testimony was presented on April 15, 2011 before the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors in Warrenton, Virginia, under the agenda item “A Work Session Regarding Germantown with Marc Wheat, President, Germanna Foundation.” Thanks to the financial and volunteer support of the members of the Germanna Foundation, the Foundation […]
The Historic Gardens of Salubria
Under the Garden Club of Virginia’s 2010 William D. Rieley Fellowship, scholar of landscape architecture, Sonia Brenner (UVA MLA 2010), spent 3 months researching the garden and landscape at Salubria. The following is a summary of her fascinating report, SALUBRIA: AN INTERPRETATION OF ITS GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE HERITAGE, which can be read in its entirety […]
“Destination Appeal” of Wilderness Battlefield, Germanna, Rapidan River focus of National Parks Service study
The Wilderness Battlefield Gateway Study was commissioned to assess future opportunities to balance preservation and development along Germanna Highway from the Rapidan River to the Wilderness Battlefield in eastern Orange County, Virginia. The link to the 200 page+ study is at http://telegraph.civilwar.org/aboutus/news/Wilderness-Battlefield-Gateway-Study.pdf The following points summarize the findings of land analysis and planning with respect […]
Salubria Preservation and Archaeology
The Germanna Foundation takes very seriously its stewardship of the historic property known as Salubria. Substantial efforts are being made to preserve, study, document and better understand the history of this architectural treasure. Germanna Trustee Kathy Ellis shares the following update: GLASS The Salubria Architecture Subcommittee in-service on March 13 was great fun, and I […]
Germanna Foundation statement concerning Orange County Comprehensive Plan
Statement of the Germanna Foundation Opposing Amendments to Orange County Comprehensive Plan The Germanna Foundation preserves what is best in the heritage of Orange County and works to transmit those values to the rising generations. The staff-initiated proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan short-change the future, and so we must ask the Orange County Planning […]
Salubria standing strong
Amazing! We are delighted to report that the Germanna Foundation is featured in its SECOND front-page story this week, in the Sunday edition of the Culpeper Star Exponent. Special thanks to Germanna Foundation members Doug Harnsberger (1717 Germanna Harnsberger descendant), Kathy Ellis (1717 Germanna Crigler descendant), Russell Hitt (1714 Germanna Hitt descendant), and Michael Frost […]
Salubria Receives the Attention She Deserves: Two Days of Coverage in the Culpeper Star Exponent
Culpeper Star Exponent [Front page, top of the fold, large photograph of Salubria] By Rhonda Simmons Published: July 15, 2010 Exactly how old is the oldest brick house in Culpeper County? We’ll have to wait until Saturday night to find out. Thanks to a new study, the community will soon learn more about the origins […]
Prying into Salubria’s past
By MICHAEL ZITZ The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, VA July 18, 2010 12:35 am Tree rings might seem to be exciting only to termites. But last night, they had Germanna Colonies descendents atwitter over the prospect that their ancestors may have had dealings with Daniel Boone and Thomas Jefferson and that Salubria may have influenced the […]
Preserving History at Salubria: More than bricks and mortar
By: By Zann Nelson, Culpeper Star-Exponent Published: October 20, 2011 It was more than bricks and mortar; there was something mystical about Saturday’s event at Salubria. Saturday, Oct. 15, Salubria, built by John Thompson, was the location of the quintessential “community working together” as preservation tradesmen, homeowners, and preservationists gathered at the house constructed in […]
Germanna’s Good Stewardship of Salubria is the top story in the Culpeper Star-Exponent
By: Steven Butler Published: Sunday, October 16, 2011, page 1, top story Culpeper Star-Exponent The Germanna Foundation in conjunction with several sponsors hosted a historic masonry restoration symposium Saturday at Salubria Manor. The symposium focused on the most suitable restoration techniques to repair damage to the historic masonry of Salubria, which was built in the […]
