This is a collection of my best photographs in one convenient place
Today I have a set of photos I took of Edgar and Tib, the Poe Museum cats. I always have such a great time at the Poe Museum. Visiting with the boys is a nice added bonus! I hope you like the shots!
Today I have some left over Church Hill shots that did not fit in with any of the other posts I made this week. I hope you like the shots I was able to get!
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) tunnel collapse. Work was being done to re-inforce the tunnel to open it back up for regular use when it caved in. At least four people died because of the collapse, two of which are still in the tunnel with the train.
Attempts were made to get the train and all of the bodies out, but additional cave ins proved to be too much to handle. One body was able to be recovered but the rest are still trapped inside. In the year following the cave in, the western portal was sealed off. The eastern end is still open but it is difficult to find. I tried once but I couldn’t get anywhere close to it. Admittedly, I did not really try that hard. The western portal is easier to find but it is behind a locked gate to an apartment complex. It is very easy to visit if you know someone with a keycode.
When the tunnel was being contructed in the 1870s, cave ins were a constant issue and several workers died on the job. At one point a cave in caused several houses in the Church Hill neighborhood to fall into the ground. The tunnel was useful for a time but ended up becoming obsolete.
The tunnel runs under Jefferson Park and part of the park was destroyed during the 1925 cave in. This collapse luckily happened when the park was empty. It is also fortunate that the cave in happened when a work train was inside of it, not a passanger train. Unfortunately however, some people were still inside when the collapse occured. There has never been an accurate estimation of how many people were inside when tragedy struck. There were at least four men who did not escape but people at the time speculated that the number could have been much higher.
One of the workers, Benjamin F Mosby, was badly burned by hot water that splashed on him during the collapse. He managed to get out through the eastern portal of the tunnel but died in a nearby hospital several hours later. People seeing him escape the tunnel ended up giving birth to the legend of the Richmond Vampire. Allegedly, a “vampire” was seen attacking one of the rail workers and was then chased to a grave in Hollywood Cemetery. Several people believe that the “vampire” that was spotted was actually just a very disfigured Mosby. The extensive burns over his body gave him a less than human appearence that probably startled uninformed onlookers.
This is a very basic recounting of the whole event. If you are looking for more detailed information, you can check out these sources. There is also a book on the subject that I read recently and would highly recommend. It is featured in the set of photographs below.
The Tunnel
Jefferson Park
Alleged Tomb Of The Richmond Vampire
RIP to all those who died because of this tunnel. You are not forgotten even if your names have been.
For this first day of October, I have the last set of photos I took at St John’s Church in Richmond. I had a great time wandering around there and I hope you enjoy the shots I got!
Yesterday, I shared some pictures of St John’s Church here in Richmond. Today (and tomorrow) I have some photos of the cemetery around the church. I really enjoy photographing cemeteries and seeing the different styles of headstones. I hope you like the shots I got!
Today, I have a collection of photographs I took at Richmond’s Historic St. John’s Church. This church was the location of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech. It is also the oldest church in Richmond. The church is still open today for religious services, but history buffs (or cemetery enthusiasts) can visit without attending services.
If you visit for something other than prayer, there is a visitor’s center where you can purchase souveniers or tickets for tours. They also hold reenactments at different times that you can watch.
While here, I took a short “pop in” tour to see the inside of the church. It has grown size since Patrick Henry was there, but you can still clearly see what the original church looked like. The staff members I spoke with were both very friendly and knowledgable. It was definitely worth a stop and I would reccomend it if you happen to be in the area. (Fun fact: the area is the Church Hill neighborhood which is named after this church).
I took a ton of photos while I was there so I will be breaking the pictures into three posts. For today, I have photos of the church itself. Tomorrow and the next day I will be posting shots of the cemetery. Enjoy!
Every so often in the recent months, I have noticed a cat on the roof when I am coming into my apartment building. She appears to be a rather young, healthy cat. I have a sinking suspicion that she belongs to someone in the building. I think she is going out of the window of her apartment to see who is coming and going. I have gottem quite a kick out of seeing her. I hope you do to!
While we were in Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, I happened to spot a Northern Bobwhite. I had never seen one of these little guys in person before! They are incredibly cute! It happened to be walking along side the wildlife loop road we were driving on. I hope you like the pictures I got of it!
Today I have a collection of photographs I took of the egrets I saw in Chincoteague. They were by far the bird species I saw the most. Several of them were polite enough to pose for me. I hope you like what I was able to get!
While we were on the coast earlier this month we did a kayak tour with Assateague Explorer. The tour was an amazing experience and I would reccomend this company to everyone I know! It was an incredible way to get to see Chincoteague and the wild ponies. At one point we were able to see the ponies with the Assateague Lighthouse in the background!
I had a wonderful time and I hope you like the photos!
