is year Cooperative Livingis taking a road trip along thelength of U.S. Route 1 as it

crosses Virginia from the NorthCarolina border to Washington, D.C. In each issue, correspondent

Deborah Huso will relate her experiences along the way.

STORIES FROM THE ROAD

Cooperative Living/July 2013

It’s the perfect day for ice cream, about80 degrees, full sun, and I am drivingnorth on Route 1, sunroof open, sun-

shine raining down on my hair. Then itappears on the left — I’ve heard about it —this vintage ice cream stand from yesteryear,Carl’s. I pull into the parking lot, see a linesnaking up to the plate-glass windows, andrealize I have just driven into 1955. It’s allhere — the bright, oversized neon sign ontop of a flat roof, replete with a giant neonice cream cone. This throwback to the ’50s ice cream

stand has been at this location north ofdowntown Fredericksburg since 1947

Known best for its Revolutionary and Civil War history, Fredericksburg’s 20th-century history often goes unnoticed by visitors. Not so anymore. Come along for a vintage tour of this historic town.

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Located just north of downtown on PrincessAnne Street, Carl’s has been drawing a line of patrons since 1947.

by Deborah Huso, Contributing Writer

VintageFredericksburg

31July 2013/www.co-opliving.com

when Carl and Margaret Sponsellor openedCarl’s Frozen Custard in an old gas stationand restaurant. The couple built the cur-rent structure with its signature mid-centu-ry Art Moderne commercial architecture in1953. Carl’s is still a family operation, andthe chipper and speedy teenagers and col-lege students working the stand in summerstill use Carl’s original frozen custard andice cream recipes, making cones, sundaes,and shakes with the original 1940s Electro-Freeze ice cream machines!When I see the long line of people in

front of me, I figure that this little road stopis going to take awhile. Not so. I’m upto the window in five minutes, andbefore I can even get my change backinto my purse, a smiling attendant ishanding me my root beer slush floatand moving on to the next customer.

THE NEWER HISTORY OFFREDERICKSBURGYou’ll find a lot of places like Carl’s

along this stretch of Route 1 throughFredericksburg. In fact, much ofFredericksburg’s growth in the 20thcentury, particularly north of the his-toric downtown area, happenedbecause of the construction of Route 1(the major north-south route fromMaine to Florida) in the 1920s. Today,Old Route 1 follows Fredericksburg’sPrincess Anne Street through the city. “Princess Anne used to be Route

1,” Tramia Jackson, education coordinatorat the Fredericksburg Area Museum andCultural Center, explains. “The Rappa han -nock River was the first main form oftransportation in town until the railroadscame through. Then came Route 1.”Jackson, who is a native of neighboring

Stafford County, leads me through thetransportation exhibit at the FredericksburgArea Museum, which today occupies thebuildings that once served as the city’stown hall and as the 1927 PlantersNational Bank. And if you want to get an overview of

the transportation history of Fredericks -burg and its environs, this museum is theplace to start. Here you’ll see pictures of the1942 flood where the Rappahannock Riverrose 42.5 feet above normal levels andinundated Fredericks burg’s Caroline Streetand put the town of Falmouth (on theRappahannock’s opposite bank) underwa-ter. Once upon a time, the Rappahannockformed the major transportation route in

(Left) The friendly, efficient staff at Carl’s isadept at moving quicklythrough a long line of cus-tomers. (Below) Anothericonic Fred ericks burgeatery, the 2400 Dinerhas been in business since1955. In addition to stan-dard diner fare, the restau-rant serves acclaimedGreek and Italian dishes.

(Above) The transportation history of Fredericksburgis detailed in one of many interesting exhibits on dis-play at the Fredericks burg Area Museum and CulturalCenter. (Right) Tramia Jackson is the museum’sDirector of Education and Public Programs.

and out of town. Then came the Rich -mond, Fredericks burg & PotomacRailroad, which connected the city withQuantico in 1837, and then withWashington, D.C., in 1901.Just under two decades later, Princess

Anne Street was incorporated into Route1, connecting Richmond and Washington,and bringing new prosperity to town, asrestaurants, hotels, and businesses shot upalong this new concrete highway thatwould later be christened as the JeffersonDavis Highway.

PRESERVING THE RECENT PASTIn fact, Fredericksburg probably owes

the growth of its history tourism, mainlycentered on the American Revolution andCivil War, to the construction of Route 1. “Fredericksburg wanted the traffic,”

explains Emily Taggart Schricker, whoworks for Dovetail Cultural ResourceGroup but is also the volunteer coordina-tor of the Vintage Route 1 Tour ofDowntown Fredericksburg (see sidebar).“It brought tourism. People set up touristhomes. People were building gas stations.Tourist attractions started to grow. Thecity’s Civil War history started to getemphasized.” If you drive Route 1 throughdowntown, you’ll notice that the visitorcenter for the Fredericksburg Battlefield isright off this old north-south thoroughfare. All the signature attractions of

Fredericksburg, the places I remembervisiting on class field trips as a child, likeMary Washington’s House and the HughMercer Apothecary, gained notice andgreater visitation with the constructionof Route 1.Schricker is largely responsible for

the new attention the city is giving to its 20th-century history, though she cameto the role of coordinating the Route 1tour for the Historic FredericksburgFoundation quite accidentally. “I used towant to be a stunt person,” says thisPennsylvania native, who spent severalyears in Los Angeles trying to break intothe industry. In fact, it was her driveacross the country that spawned herinterest in mid-century architecture.“When I drove across the country to

L.A., I started to notice 20th-century archi-tecture, and L.A., too, has great mid-centu-ry buildings,” she explains. Once she real-ized she was getting older and that gettinga gig in the world of stunts was no easytask, she decided to pursue her growinginterest in historic preservation by comingback east to study at the University ofMary Washington in Fredericksburg.

Cooperative Living/July 2013

She retired to the Fredericksburg area in2008 to be close to her children and friendsfrom her years in the Corps. She opened herthree-room and one-suite bed and breakfastin Falmouth only a year ago. “It’s good I’mon this side of the river,” she says with alaugh. “Because this is where the Yankeeswere in 1862.” Holbert, who has a long his-tory of military service in her family andmany family heirlooms decorating her inn,was born in Alaska and grew up in Oregon.She, like so many who knew this region

decades ago, can hardly recognize the land-scape along Route 1 today, as it stretchesnorth from the Rappahannock River intonorthern Virginia. Today, this four-lane high-way is lined with extended-stay hotels,restaurants, and housing developments, aworld away from the vintage world of Carl’sIce Cream Stand. n

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While studying at MaryWashington, Schrickerbegan volunteering for theHistoric FredericksburgFoun dation. “I was justplanning to make a smallwalking tour of mid-cen-tury architecture onCaroline Street becausepeople here thought histo-ry ended after the CivilWar,” she says. “But whenthe executive director ofHFFI said he thought peo-ple would ‘dig’ a tour ofRoute 1, the event grew.”

A CHANGINGROADSIDE LANDSCAPEIt’s lucky that individuals like

Schricker are starting to notice the morerecent history of Old Route,1 because asyou progress north, evidence of the road’searly- and mid-20th-century historybecomes less and less obvious. JennyHolbert, owner and innkeeper ofLavender Heights Bed and Breakfast inFalmouth, just across the Rappahan nock,says she has seen the area change dra-matically in the last three decades. A for-mer U.S. Marine Corps colonel, Holbertfirst came here in 1978 for OfficerCandidate’s School at Quantico. A publicaffairs officer, Holbert served at theMarine base three times. “Fredericks burgis all developments now,” she remarks, asshe pours coffee and orange juice forguests one morning at her inn.

(Above) Take a trolley tour of the city’s mid-20th-century architecture at the annual VintageRoute 1 Tour & Fredericksburg Community Day, sponsored by the Historic FredericksburgFoundation. (Below) Emily Schricker is the tour’s volunteer coordinator.

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mid-century history at the Masonic Lodge, participate in a vintage fashionshow in Market Square, or stroll among the classic cars at Riverfront Park.

There will be activities for the kids, too, including a Junior ArchaeologyLab. All activities are free except the trolley tour, which is $20/person. Formore information on this year’s event, visit www.hhfi.org. n

Take a Vintage Tour of Fredericksburg

July 2013/www.co-opliving.com

IF YOU GO...The Fredericksburg Visitor Center (706

Caroline St., 800-678-4748, www.visitfred.com,open daily 9-5 Monday-Saturday, 11-5 Sunday)is located in the heart of Old Town one blockeast of Princess Anne Street (Old Route 1). If youwant to see a good sampling of what Route 1looked like in its heyday, drive Princess AnneStreet north of downtown. Look for Carl’s IceCream Stand (2200 Princess Anne St., 540-371-0000) and the restaurant that housed Hardee’s inthe 1970s at 2100 Princess Anne.

If you’re looking for more sophisticated eats (orat least something to eat before you devour an icecream cone at Carl’s), try the Café New Orleans(216 William St., 540-374-0404) with its eclecticlavender walls, velour-covered chairs and boothsand Creole- and Cajun-inspired fare. It’s rightacross the street from the Fredericksburg AreaMuseum and Cultural Center (1001 PrincessAnne St., 540-371-3037, www.famcc.org), whichis the best place to get a grounding in the city’shistory as well as see footage of the VirginiaDepartment of Transportation’s building of I-95,the interstate that would replace Route 1 as theEast Coast’s major north-south corridor.

Spend the night across the Rappahannockat Lavender Heights Bed and Breakfast (419 Forbes St., Falmouth, 855-820-5340,www.fredericksburgvabedandbreakfast.com),and lounge away the evening in the beautifulgardens that surround the inn. In the morning,consider visiting the nearby White Oak Civil WarMuseum (985 White Oak Road, Falmouth, 540-371-4234, www.whiteoakmuseum.com), whichhouses an extensive private collection of CivilWar artifacts gathered by museum owner D.P.Newton, who despite all the honors he hasreceived for what historians have noted to be oneof the largest locally oriented Civil War collec-tions in the country, shies away from interviewsand recognition. n

If you’re interested in learning more about the mid-century historyand architecture of Fredericksburg, head into town on Sept. 7 for the

second annual Vintage Route 1 Tour & Fredericksburg Community Day,sponsored by the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation. You can take atrolley tour of the city’s mid-20th-century architecture, see exhibits on

(Above) Take a taste trip to the French Quarter at the Café New Orleans on William Street.(Below) After a busy day of sightseeing, Lavender Heights Bed and Breakfast offers a restfulescape on the heights of the Rappahannock River overlooking Fredericksburg.