Latest news with #NationalRegistryofHistoricPlaces
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
5 Things You Should Know About the Nottoway Plantation's Horrid Legacy
The Black social media-verse has been ablaze with reaction to the burning down of Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, La. Officials believe the cause of the 160-year-old structure's destruction may have been electrical. But it is a place of history, and what was lost despite what it represented was a window into the past that allows us to examine what the place really was. So here are some things you should understand about the now-burned Nottoway Plantation: The property was steeped in slavery as an industry. Nottoway was built between 1857 and 1859 for John Hampden Randolph (1813-1883), a sugar planter who owned three other plantations in Iberville Parish, La.; Blythewood, Forest Home, and Bayou Goula. He came from a family of cotton planters in Mississippi and began planting cotton in Louisiana in 1841. He switched to sugar cane, and slaves constructed the 53,000 square-foot property, through which he amassed significant wealth, according to his own papers. Some Black people at Nottoway resisted, but others found further misery. By 1860, Randolph held at least 155 human beings in bondage there. Little is known about them to this day, but according to Freedmen's Bureau records show that at least 11 people escaped during the Civil War. As the Union army drew near, Randolph took about 200 slaves from Nottoway and his other properties into Texas to grow cotton. After the war, they were freed, but 53 of them contracted with him to return. Economically, Nottoway was cursed for generations. Postwar hard times hit the South, and the plantation was significantly reduced in size. After Randolph's death, the place changed hands a number of times due to foreclosure, crop failure, tax issues, the sale of surrounding land, and other problems. At least two later owners unsuccessfully tried to make Nottoway a sugar plantation again. It wound up in the hands of widow Odessa Owen, who lived there alone, unable to care for the mansion on her own. Millionaires tried to keep profiting from the legacy. Nottoway joined the National Registry of Historic Places in 1980, and after two more sales, it went to Australian businessman Paul Ramsey in 1985. He turned the property into a popular tourist resort. Ramsey died in 2014 after pouring $15 million into Nottoway to fix it, but it was sold to New Orleans hotelier Joseph Jaeger for $3.1 million in 2019. He was killed in an auto accident in 2024, and ownership changed again last October to Dan Dyess, a Natchitoches lawyer and preservationist. The new owner doesn't get it. Dyess has been quoted in the media as intending good things for Nottoway. He has said that he and his wife are 'non-racist' people who understand how people feel about its past, but had 'nothing to do with slavery.' 'We are trying to make this a better place,' Dyess said, according to the New York Post. 'We don't have any interest in left-wing radical stuff. We need to move forward on a positive note here, and we are not going to dwell on past racial injustice.' Madison J. Gray is a New York-based journalist. He blogs at For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Dominion Post
20-05-2025
- Business
- Dominion Post
BOPARC putting a new roof on the Wiles Hill Community Center
MORGANTOWN — The Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners recently purchased a new lid for the Wiles Hill Community Center. During its most recent regular meeting, the board approved a contract with Sutter Roofing for $155,500 to replace the old building's roof. BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Wiles said she was pleased to see the bids come in under the project's original $200,000 budget. She hopes it stays that way. 'You never know with an old building. Keep your fingers crossed for no change orders,' she said. Sutter Roofing was one of five bidders to make an offer on the job. The same company is currently replacing the roof of the Morgantown Ice Arena as part of a larger renovation of that facility. Built in 1910, the Fourth Ward School – more commonly referred to as the Wiles Hill School – served its educational mission for 89 years. In 1939, it received an addition thanks to FDR's New Deal-era Public Works Administration. Shortly after consolidation forced the school's closure in 1999, the 14,000 square-foot building was sold to BOPARC. It's served as a community/senior center, artist haven, dance studio, fitness space, concert hall, cafe and all-around gathering spot since 2005 or so. The building was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2004.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BOPARC putting a new roof on the Wiles Hill Community Center
May 19—MORGANTOWN — The Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners recently purchased a new lid for the Wiles Hill Community Center. During its most recent regular meeting, the board approved a contract with Sutter Roofing for $155, 500 to replace the old building's roof. BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Wiles said she was pleased to see the bids come in under the project's original $200, 000 budget. She hopes it stays that way. "You never know with an old building. Keep your fingers crossed for no change orders, " she said. Sutter Roofing was one of five bidders to make an offer on the job. The same company is currently replacing the roof of the Morgantown Ice Arena as part of a larger renovation of that facility. Built in 1910, the Fourth Ward School — more commonly referred to as the Wiles Hill School — served its educational mission for 89 years. In 1939, it received an addition thanks to FDR's New Deal-era Public Works Administration. Shortly after consolidation forced the school's closure in 1999, the 14, 000 square-foot building was sold to BOPARC. It's served as a community /senior center, artist haven, dance studio, fitness space, concert hall, cafe and all-around gathering spot since 2005 or so. The building was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2004.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Edward Hopper's watercolor of a Cape Elizabeth landmark sold for $1 million
May 19—Drive down Route 77 in Cape Elizabeth, and you'll spot a scene worth $1 million. In 1927, Edward Hopper made a small watercolor of the Spurwink Church. He painted en plein air, which means that he made the work somewhere near what is today the intersection of Spurwink Avenue and Bowery Beach Road. Last week, Sotheby's sold "Spurwink Church" for $1.016 million to an unidentified buyer. Pre-auction estimates had put the potential sale price at between $500,000 and $700,000. The auction house noted it was the first time in more than 30 years that the painting has been on the market. The prestigious auction house described this painting as "a quiet yet powerful testament to Edward Hopper's enduring sensitivity to place, light, and solitude." "As he did in his most celebrated works, Hopper saturates Spurwink Church in a warm, radiant light which imbues the scene with a palpable emotional depth," the description reads on the Sotheby's website. "Throughout his career, Hopper was especially drawn to the interactions of light with the landscapes and architecture in the various places surrounding him. Cape Elizabeth's bright summer sun offered no shortage of inspiration, with endless displays of sunlight and shadow against the bucolic scenery." The Spurwink Church dates back to 1802. The simple meeting house is the oldest public building in Cape Elizabeth and has been named to the National Registry of Historic Places. It was home to an active congregation until 1957, when its dwindling membership transferred ownership to the town. Today, the church is available for special events such as weddings, christenings and funerals. Hopper spent nine summers in Maine between 1914 and 1929. He painted the church's position at the top of a blustery hillside. The wind tosses the trees, and the rich blue of the Spurwink River can be seen in the distance. The watercolor is not large — just 14 inches by 20 inches. It was part of a private collection before last week's sale. "With its delicate balance of structure and atmosphere, 'Spurwink Church' encapsulates the contemplative stillness and emotional resonance that would come to define Hopper's oeuvre," the auction house said. "As both a record of Hopper's prolific time in Maine and a broader meditation on the passage of time and the poetics of light, 'Spurwink Church' exemplifies the depth and nuance of Hopper's celebrated artistic vision." Diana Boccardo is an independent consultant for Sotheby's and lives in Cumberland. She was not involved in the sale, but the lot caught her eye. Boccardo moved to Maine in recent years to be closer to her son and his family, and she immediately understood why the scene inspired Hopper. "I feel I can relate," she said. "I feel that Maine can be a muse for painting, for writing. I would also like to take a brush when I see it." Boccardo showed the scene to her neighbors and friends, who all eagerly followed the news of the sale. One was Maria Glaser, who has lived in Cape Elizabeth for 44 years. Glaser has friends who are buried in the cemetery that abuts the historic church and plans to be buried there herself. Glaser said she often drives by that intersection and admires the verdant landscape and the quiet loveliness of the area. She hopes the person who bought the painting lives in Maine — and, perhaps, would loan it to a museum here so admirers could see it in person. "I think it's exciting that our little town is in the hands of someone who truly, truly values it," she said. This story will be updated. Copy the Story Link
