A WALKING TOUR OF THE VILLAGE

The following is a list of some the historic sites and structures in the village.  The numbers correspond to locations on the map and markers placed throughout the village.  The scissors and crescent on these signs reflect the Legend of Wizard Clip.  King Street is believed to have been the original main street of Smithfield.  It was supplanted by Queen Street early in the history of the village. 

 1.   MYER HOUSE - This log house is believed to have been built around 1818.  This is one of the finer examples of a log house with a plaster exterior.

 2.  MIDDLEWAY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH - This church was built in 1885 on the site of an earlier church and retains its Victorian interior.

4.  This greatly altered structure is the site of a blacksmith shop dating to at least the early 19th century.

5.  This house is an excellent example of the small clapboarded log houses built in Smithfield in the 1790's.  One of the villages two town wells was on this property.

6.  DANIEL FRY HOUSE - This early log structure was once the home of Daniel Fry, Middleway=s first postmaster, and is presumably the location of the first post office established in 1807 and operated until 1835.  The house has an interesting board and batten exterior.

9.  The house was built between 1750 and 1780.  The Middleway post office was in the small brick section when John Henry Smith was postmaster from 1851 to 1865.  It was also a dental office at one time.

10.  This brick and log house was probably built in the 1790's and once housed the village shoemaker.

11.  JOHN F. SMITH HOUSE - This log and stone house was built between 1750-1770 and was the home of John Fry Smith who operated the general store next door during the mid 19th century.  Later it was used as the village undertaker=s house and office and housed a barber shop.

12.  DAVID SMITH HOUSE -This brick house was built about 1804 and was used as the parsonage for the Lutheran (Union) Church in the 19th century.

14.   GILBERT HOUSE - The Gilbert House is the  only remaining large stone house in the village.  The original structure was built prior to 1800.   The stone front section of the house was built about 1830 as the residence of Dr. Randolph Kownslar.  In 1854, it became the residence of the village druggist after whom it is now named.  The drug store (no longer standing) was located by the present driveway. 

44.  TOWN WELL -This is the site of one of Middleway=s two town wells which supplied water to village residents in the 19th century.  The well continued to be used by residents into the 1970's.  The current  pump was reconstructed by the Conservancy in 1991 and the site was restored to reflect its appearance from before the Civil War.

16.  VIRGINIA INN (SAM STONE'S TAVERN) - The earliest portion of this house, the back section on the Grace Street side, was built by John Smith about 1750.  During the early 19th century  the front part of the house was used as an inn called the Virginia Inn.  A tavern was also located in a section of the house.  An apothecary shop is also believed to have been located on this site.

17.  The Old Rectory -This house was originally built as a two-story  brick house about 1830.  It served as the rectory for the Grace Episcopal Church for some 110 years.  The exterior has changed little since 1864.

18.  UNION CHURCH AND CEMETERY - This church is the oldest one remaining in Middleway.  A church was originally built on this site in 1798 for the Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations.  The present structure is believed to date from the 1820's.  One of the oldest Presbyterian congregations in the valley, Bullskin (Hopewell) was established about 1740 and moved here in the early 19th century and continued to meet in this building until 1933.

19.  MASONIC LODGE AND CEMETERY - The lodge hall was built in 1852 on land purchased from Dr. Samuel Scollay.  The Triluminar Lodge No. 117 was originally established in Brucetown in 1819 and moved to Smithfield in 1832.  This building also housed the Jefferson Academy in the early 1900's.

20.  GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND CEMETERY - This church was built in 1851 on land provided by Dr. Scollay.  The congregation had been organized in 1830.  The church retains its original interior. There is a minié ball embedded in the front of the chancery door from a Civil War skirmish.

22. GIBSON'S MILL RUINS - The site and ruins of one of Smithfields early mills is located at the end of East Street along Turkey Run.  The mill wheel is the only one remaining in Middleway.

23.  SCOLLAY HALL - This house was built in three stages during the 18th and early 19th centuries.  The oldest section was built before the Revolutionary War.  The main brick section was built by Dr. Samuel Scollay about 1823.  In the early 1790's Nicholaus Schall conducted Lutheran services there.

24.  WAR HOSPITAL - This early brick house, possibly from the 18th century, was used as a hospital during the Civil War and housed soldiers injured during the battle of Antietam.  It was used as a general merchandise store during much of the 19th century operated by the J. W. Grantham family.

25.  MINGHINI HOUSE - This early log house is another good example of the plastered log houses built during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  A school was once located in the house as well as an undertaker and casket maker.

26.  This house has a colonial era stone house in the rear to which an early 19th century federal portion was added.  It is an excellent example of house evolution in Middleway.  It was occupied for many years in the early 19th century by the Seibert family.

27.  HENRY SMITH TAVERN - The Henry Smith Tavern and Inn was located on this site.  It was a well known inland hostelry in the early 19th century and was a main stopover point for settlers moving West.  The tavern building was razed in the early 1950's. The  OLD ENGLISH CEMETERY is behind the current house on this site.  This early cemetery contains some graves of soldiers killed during the Civil War, including the Battle of Smithfield.@

28. MOSES SMITH HOUSE - This house was built in 1752 by Moses Smith.  It was later occupied by Edward Bell.

29. Little is known about this house, but it dates from the early 19th century.

35.  This house  is a fine example of an early Middleway log house built in the late 18th or early 19th century.  Its original clapboard exterior was removed during recent renovations. 

36.  MASONIC LODGE AND SCHOOL HOUSE -This house was used as a Masonic Lodge and as a school house from the 1830's until 1851. 

37.  This house may have been used by Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee after the Battle of Antietam.  It was occupied by Henry Smith. 

38.  This is an  example of a log house with a brick addition that was probably used for commercial purposes.

41.  This clapboarded log house, probably dating from the late 18th century, is believed to have been used as an inn and tavern in the 19th century named Ramsey=s Tavern.  It was occupied by Dr. Alan Davis.

42.  and 43.  These early 19th century houses are examples of the types houses that existed along King Street prior to the Civil War.  Several houses were destroyed during the war.

45.  SLABTOWN CEMETERY - This old cemetery contains graves of area African-Americans and was the site of the small village of Slabtown.