CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA —The City of Charlottesville announced today that a survey of the neighborhood known as “Woolen Mills” will begin as early as next week. The survey hopes to gather important information about the architecture specific to the neighborhood and perhaps qualify the region as historic at a later date.
The Woolen Mills neighborhood has long been recognized by the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) as an architecturally and historically important area that has much to relate about the industrial history of the area, and the lives of those who worked and lived there. In cooperation with the City and the County, DHR has recommended that the Woolen Mills neighborhood contains a historic district potentially eligible for listing in the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Neighborhood residents have initiated a project through DHR, with the support of the city and county, to pursue an architectural and historic building survey to document approximately fifty properties within the neighborhood that may result in listing of the Woolen Mills Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.
The Woolen Mills neighborhood is located at the eastern edge of the city along the Rivanna River, and extends slightly into Albemarle County. The project will take place during the week of January 8, 2007. It is anticipated that the project will last from three to five days. Field work consisting of property documentation (completing field forms, taking exterior photographs, drafting site plans, and mapping) will be undertaken by Virginia Department of Historic Resources staff assisted by University of Virginia student volunteers.
Other anticipated outcomes of the documentation of properties in Woolen Mills include use of the information as a planning tool, application for assistance with rehabilitation of properties from the Virginia and federal historic rehabilitation tax credit programs, and application of the information gained from documentation for educational purposes. Also, the project will follow an exhibit on the Woolen Mills neighborhood at the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society scheduled for October through December.
For further information please contact:
DHR Survey Program:
Susan E. Smead, Survey Program Manager
Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR)
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
Phone: 804-367-2323, ext. 107
Fax: 804-367-2391
E-mail: Susan.Smead@dhr.virginia.gov
DHR Capital Region Office:
Ann Andrus
Director and State Grants Program Manager
Capital Region Preservation Office
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
Phone: 804-367-2323, ext. 133
E-mail: Ann.Andrus@dhr.virginia.gov
DHR web site: www.dhr.virginia.gov
or Mary Joy Scala
scala@charlottesville.org
or Margaraet Maliszewski
MMaliszewski@albemarle.org
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