by Jon Baliles
Historic preservation is important for many reasons, like helping us better understand our past and how to improve it for future generations. One great advocate of preserving Richmond’s history to convey stories forward was Mary Winfield Scott, who passed away in 1983, but whose legacy lives on in neighborhoods across Richmond, and who was the subject of a great piece by Greg McQuade at CBS6.
Scott was a preservationist who helped save the 18th Century structure known as Linden Row on Franklin Street across from the city’s main library.
“[She] quickly recognized that we were losing places that made Richmond unique,” said Will Glasco, with Preservation Virginia, a group that was born from Scott’s efforts.
Julie Langan, the Director of Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources, said it wasn’t just bricks and mortar that were disappearing. Scott warned that what was being erased was the soul of the city.
“This is a quintessential Richmond property,” Langan said. “It would have been heartbreaking. I can imagine it because I saw similar buildings lost. She was a champion for them when nobody else really was.”
McQuade says that Scott singlehandedly launched the preservation movement in Richmond in 1935 with her first triumph of saving the Craig House in Shockoe Bottom, which had been built in 1787 and is still an oasis in that neighborhood.
“You know it is really part of our identity here and culture. And if we lose these historic sites we are just like anywhere else,” Glasco said. “She certainly had an eye for saving buildings that made Richmond unique.”
Scott spent time documenting blocks of buildings and what was there and wrote two books — Houses of Old Richmond and Old Richmond Neighborhoods — that document what survived and what was lost.
Scott put her money where her mouth was. During urban renewal when cities across America were gutted, the historian bought houses destined for demolition in Oregon Hill and across the city.
“I think in so many ways we need to be grateful to her. It is our character. It is why people come to visit us. I think we all know cities that had some character but are now very generic,” Langan said.
And best of all, when it came time to renovate and save a property, she got to work “She rolled up her sleeves and she used a trowel and brick mortar and started to repair the brick. She was literally a hands-on preservationist,” Glasco said.
McQuade wrote that a Virginia historical marker was erected in April on Franklin Street in front of Linden Row emphasizing Scott’s efforts.
“We did that because we thought she was deserving of the recognition. She was a visionary. I think there is an enduring legacy that is attributable to her,” Langan said.
Jon Baliles is a former Richmond City Councilman. This is an excerpt from the original article posted on his blog, RVA 5×5. It is posted here with permission.
