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 […]
Germanna Ford Public Boat Launch
FaQ: Germanna Ford History: Once called the Rapid Anne in homage to England’s Queen Anne, the Rapidan River connects the Blue Ridge Mountains with the Chesapeake Bay. It’s the same waterway that flowed through and sustained the lives of Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, as well as German and English immigrants and enslaved Africans. […]
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 […]