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Pleasant Grove West in Chesapeake, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
 

The Superintendent's House... from Tolls to Tea

— Dismal Swamp Canal Trail —

 
 
The Superintendent's House... from Tolls to Tea Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 17, 2023
1. The Superintendent's House... from Tolls to Tea Marker
Inscription.
"All persons sending or carrying Boats, Goods, etc. through the Canal must not forget taking money with them to pay the toll."
Norfolk Herald, January 22, 1819

The Superintendent's House, is the last standing vestige of the Dismal Swamp Canal Company. It was here that the tolls for use of the Dismal Swamp Canal, the stage road that ran alongside it, and the Northwest River Canal, were collected. This house is a 19th century version of prefabricated housing, first constructed elsewhere, then taken apart and the pieces numbered, then floated down the canal by barge to this spot. Roman numerals (some still faintly visible inside) were etched on the pieces to make it easier to put back together.

"Enemy" Occupation
1863-1864

"The books of the office were taken from me, with the building which contained them... goods were carried through under military permits..."
From a letter by Leroy Edwards, toll gatherer in 1864

Northern soldiers seized property and launched raids and forays up and down both sides of the two canals. One or more Union troops took over the house and used it as a barracks and stable while guarding the canal. Officers, however, occupied a much more comfortable residence... Glencoe, the Wallace family home, then a mile away. After
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the War ended, the toll keeper's house stood vacant.

Decline and Neglect
1889 - 1930s

When the War ended, tolls dropped and canal maintenance was neglected until 1889, when the company was reorganized. Beginning in 1896, great steam shovels widened the canal to twice its width, destroying the toll road/tow path and the house's extension. What remained of the house stood vacant again.

From Tolls to Tea
1930s

Sometime during the 1930s, a lean-to was built on the north end of the house to serve as the kitchen for a tearoom. Refreshments were served to travelers on both the road and the canal up until World War II, when it finally closed again. Oral tradition has it that the ladies had the original plaster replaced by paneling in 1934 because names and messages scratched into it by Yankee soldiers (and still visible almost 100 years later) were not suitable for a tearoom!

No clear date has been discovered as to exactly when the superintendent's house was erected here, but there are clues....

What's happening in the red boxes in these three photos of the toll keeper's house?

Can you see the ghostly shadow on the shutter, even today?

 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: ArchitectureIndustry & CommerceWar, US CivilWaterways & Vessels.
 
Location.
The Superintendent's House... from Tolls to Tea Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 17, 2023
2. The Superintendent's House... from Tolls to Tea Marker
(looking north • Superintendent’s House in background • Dismal Swamp Canal is on the left • Dismal Swamp Canal Trail is on the right)
36° 36.858′ N, 76° 22.745′ W. Marker is in Chesapeake, Virginia. It is in Pleasant Grove West. Marker can be reached from Glencoe Street, 0.2 miles west of George Washington Highway South (U.S. 17), on the left when traveling west. Marker is located on the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail, 5.25 miles south of the North Trailhead. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5221 Glencoe Street, Chesapeake VA 23322, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Glencoe (approx. 0.6 miles away); North West Canal (approx. 0.6 miles away); Dismal Swamp Canal (approx. 1.7 miles away); Outliers (approx. 2 miles away); Stone Mileposts along the Dismal Swamp Canal (approx. 2.2 miles away); From Towpath...to Highway...to "Toe" path (approx. 3.4 miles away); Herring (Heron) Ditch (approx. 4.7 miles away); Dismal Swamp Canal Trail (approx. 4.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chesapeake.
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Dismal Swamp Canal Trail
 
Also see . . .
1. Superintendent's House on the Dismal Swamp Canal.
At the 5-mile mark along the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail sits the Superintendent's House. Believed to be the only structure still standing and on land once owned by the Dismal Swamp Canal Company. By the
The Superintendent's House (<i>south elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 17, 2023
3. The Superintendent's House (south elevation)
mid-1800s, activity on the Dismal Swamp Canal increased greatly. The Canal was a key place for commerce and the transporting of goods by boat in and out of the area.
(Submitted on May 28, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

2. Phase II investigation at the Dismal Swamp Canal Superintendent’s/Lockkeeper’s House.
The house dates to the 1820s and was used as a Superintendent or Lockkeeper’s residence until the Civil War. By the late 1800s, the house was repurposed and was being used by the Wallace family as a store serving canal workers. During the 1890s, the area underwent canal widening.
(Submitted on May 28, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 
 
The Superintendent's House (<i>northeast elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 17, 2023
4. The Superintendent's House (northeast elevation)
(lean-to on the north end served as the tearoom kitchen)
The Superintendent's House (<i>southeast elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 17, 2023
5. The Superintendent's House (southeast elevation)
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on May 29, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 28, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 528 times since then and 464 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on May 28, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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Mar. 29, 2024