Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [60]
In June the James River Batteau Festival at James River Park celebrates the boats that once transported cargo on the river. Costumed pilots pole their batteaux down the river from Lynchburg to Richmond, camping along the way. (tel. 434-352-2621)
The town’s premiere event is the Historic Appomattox Railroad Festival taking place for two days in October. Parades, live bands, train exhibits, fireworks and hundreds of vendors have made this commemoration of the Norfolk & Southern Railroads’ donation of the train depot to the town one of the largest festivals in the state. (tel. 434-352-2621)
Bedford
Around Town
The hand-drawn sign and map of Bedford in the window of Arthur’s Jewelry marks its spot with an arrow and declares: “You are here – Best Little Town in the World.”
Plenty of small towns in the world would take exception to this motto, which locally is traced back to the mid-20th century, when a similar sign hung in the window of Wildman’s Barbershop. But there’s a lot to be said for the effect of such strident community pride. The streets of Bedford’s Historic Centertown are clean, nicely landscaped, pedestrian-friendly and lined with more than 200 historic buildings. Even the local radio station takes its call letters from the acronym of Best Little Town – WBLT. Simply put, everyone here believes it to be true.
Bridge Street has half a dozen antiques shops, furniture and jewelry stores, and unique local shops selling used books and stained glass artwork. The J.J. Newberry Co. 5-10 & 25 Cent Store (the glass sign is still over the door) now houses two curious enterprises: the Global Gallery – “Whole Life for the Whole World” – and Northbridge Gifts. Next door is House of Gargoyles, a gift shop carrying the theme of the ghoulish little critters.
Main Street is all about business, with an impressive complex of courthouse buildings, monuments to both the Confederate and World War II dead, and the Bedford City/County Museum (open Monday-Saturday, 10 am-5 pm, tel. 540-586-4520), located in the Masonic Building, an imposing brick structure called “the handsomest building in town” when built in 1895. A walking tour brochure, available at the museum or the Bedford Visitors Center, describes the highlights of Centertown.
But the main source of pride lately is Bedford’s status as home to the National D-Day Memorial, opened in 2000 to honor those who served in the invasion of France on June 6, 1944. Set atop a hill overlooking the city is the 44-foot-tall granite Overlord Arch. In case you’re wondering about the name, Overlord was the Allies’ code name for the Normandy landing. It’s more than simply a stone monument, however. A realistic experience awaits those who pass through the arch in an attempt to make visitors feel just a sliver of what it was actually like in the battle. There’s a boat with an open ramp onto a beach with figures of soldiers struggling and helping each other. There’s the sound of gunfire and splashing water as if bullets were hitting around them.
Why build the D-Day Memorial here, in central Virginia, when most other national war memorials are in Washington DC? In the battle, Bedford lost the highest number of men per capita than any other community in the nation. Of the 35 Bedford men who landed, 21 were lost. The small, rural town is emblematic, organizers say, of the sacrifice of hundreds of communities across the nation. A total of 150,000 servicemen participated in history’s largest air, land and sea operation that signaled the demise of Nazi domination of Europe. Two eight-foot walls bear the 4,000 names of those who never returned.
Since the memorial’s opening, scores of World War II veterans have made the moving pilgrimage to Bedford; for some, now in their 80s and 90s, the trip is a feat in itself. Open 10 am-5 pm daily; admission is $10 per vehicle. (Route 122 and US 60 Bypass)
Attractions