Withrow house, Lexington Virginia snapshot photos, 1939/1986

Containers:

Box 12, Folder 32

Scope and content:

The photos included in this folder are as follows:

Three black and white snapshot photos taken in 1939.

Two copies of a color snapshot photo taken by David Metzger in 1986.

Biographical / historical:

The Alexander-Withrow House is located at 3 West Washington Street, Lexington, Virginia, at the prominent corner of North Main and West Washington streets. Built in 1789, it stands as one of the oldest surviving structures in Lexington. It is famously one of only two downtown buildings that survived the devastating town fire of 1796. The upper stories feature a rare, glazed-brick "diaper" (diamond) pattern. The distinctively dark coloration was created by placing these specific bricks closest to the heat source inside the kiln. It also features four massive corner chimneys, a structural quirk rare to the Shenandoah Valley. Originally, the house sat directly on street level with a steep gable roof. In 1851, the city lowered the main downtown streets by about 10 feet to ease grades for horses. Engineers underpinned the house, adding a brand new limestone ground story underneath it. Because the street was dropped, the original front doors suddenly hovered on the second floor. The Washington Street door was bricked up, and the Main Street door was converted to open onto a decorative, cast-iron hanging balcony. In 1855, the owner replaced the old gable roof with a trendy, flat Italianate roof with heavy brackets. Built by prominent merchant William Alexander, it served as his residence and store. It historically housed the town's very first post office (Alexander was postmaster) and its first bank. Purchased by Jack Withrow in 1875, the family held the property for nearly a century until 1969. His daughters, Margaret and Lucy, famously operated a popular local school and kindergarten in the upper rooms. Downstairs hosted a variety of businesses, including Munce McCoy's grocery store from 1923 to 1946.

Access and use