November 08: Well-preserved Palmyra

Lately, “Main Street” has become a tiresomely banal political slogan for Everywhere America.

But in some well-preserved parts of the country, like historic Palmyra in Fluvanna County, Main Street isn’t a saying; it’s the soul of the community, both past and present.

Downtown Palmyra, simply known to locals as “the village,” sits on a short stretch of Main Street nestled between the north shore of the Rivanna River and Route 15, about 30 miles southeast of Charlottesville. 

This single street, the seat of Fluvanna County for a couple of centuries, has changed relatively little in its lifetime, though a new bridge over the Rivanna, and a planned 1,000-acre annex to the downtown area, are set to alter the landscape. Brick homes, storefronts and historic monuments mix easily here.

Once a hub of activity due to trade on the Rivanna, Palmyra won the Fluvanna County seat in the early 19th century. First, according to Historical Society President Marvin Moss, it built a jail. Then, in 1830, came a courthouse in the neoclassical style inspired by TJ himself. The Old Stone Jail and the Historic Courthouse, now museums, still anchor the village today.

After most of Main Street burned to the ground in 1930, Palmyra was restored on a smaller scale due to Depression-era prudence. That, and the fact that Route 15 was built to bypass the town, have caused “its historical fabric [to be] essentially saved,” says Moss.

The boundaries of the village aren’t clear to anyone, but by the strictest measure its population is about 20, making it “the smallest county seat in Virginia.” Walking the village end to end takes about five minutes, and reads like a historical tour.

Country in the backyard

Residents of Palmyra appreciate its blend of historic charm and natural beauty. Elizabeth Hooper, a Main Street resident of 18 years, says, “It’s like having the city in your front yard and the country in your backyard.”

Her daughter, Jennifer Selph, keeps a dish full of coal at the entrance of their home. “In the past, coal was used as a sign of welcoming to visitors,” she explains. Over the years, Selph has picked up these chunks on the Rail Trail that runs along the riverbank behind her home. The trail follows the path of the now-defunct Virginia Airline Railroad.

More trails are just across the river from the village, where an extensive public trail system fans out across the countryside. Heritage trails fit for walking, hiking, and horseback riding stretch for miles and include some of the longest horse trails in the state. Public beaches, picnic sites and dog parks attract out-of-town visitors.

Selph retreats to the trails when she needs to clear her head. “It’s a great place to find peace when you’re overwhelmed, to not hear traffic or people.”

The meaning of "neighborhood"

Most residents agree that Palmyra is a “good little neighborly place to live.” Neighbors know each other and share quintessential town traditions. There’s even a village mockingbird. “He’s just wonderful,” says Selph’s next door neighbor, Mrs. Williams.

Mrs. Williams’s late husband had a business on Main Street for 45 years called Williams Appliance Center. “He had a lot of visitors. People in town often stopped by just to visit,” Mrs. Williams remembers.

Selph explains that an old high school friend, Ben Suling, lives across the street in the only historic home that didn’t burn in the fire of 1930.

One of the few structures that survived the blaze, an old fire hydrant, sits in Selph’s front yard.

Ben Suling drives by and waves.

“I see a lot of high school friends back in town,” says Selph, who lives right next to the Fluvanna County courthouse. The courts and the few local businesses bring the village plenty of traffic during the day. But on most days, by 6 o’clock, “everything is closed up and it’s quiet again.”

Bridge to the Southside

Fluvanna County’s population has more than doubled in the last 15 years, and Palmyra is feeling the effects.

There’s more traffic on Main Street as more and more people go to court for traffic tickets and marriage licenses. Selph says this has made residential parking difficult, despite the addition of a large parking lot for the courthouse. 

Population growth in Fluvanna has also contributed to an increase in commuter traffic on Route 15. About a year ago, the county opened a new bridge over the Rivanna just outside the village. It was built in keeping with the historic architecture of Palmyra and includes a pedestrian walkway, allowing residents easy access to the trail system on the south side. 

Selph recalls a time when she and her high school friends would walk on the old bridge at night and “never see a car.” Now trucks traveling from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Washington, D.C., keep traffic pretty steady.

In the greater Palmyra area, subdivisions are cropping up to the west, near Lake Monticello, and to the east, due to westward expansion from Richmond.  The Zion Crossroads development, a short 10 minute drive from Palmyra proper, drives growth too. 

And so, to accommodate the county’s growing population, downtown Palmyra is extending its borders to include a 1,000-acre plot of land on the south side of the river called Pleasant Grove, where new government buildings, a library, and a high school are being built. According to County Administrator Cabell Lawton, “The new bridge is the key to linking these two sides of the river.”

How this change will affect the village community isn’t quite clear. Its small area, buffered by both the river and the highway, hasn’t expanded much over the years, but the development of Pleasant Grove is bound to bring more residents into surrounding neighborhoods and add to traffic on Main Street.

An 1854 flyer advertising the “Sale of Palmyra” describes the town as “possess[ing] unusual advantages to induce investment,” “surrounded by a populous and fertile country, good society, [and] a permanent free bridge across the river.”

Not much has changed, but change may be coming.