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While anyone who travels Interstate 81 through
Virginia�s Shenandoah Valley with regularity probably knows White�s
Truck Stop, midway between Staunton and Lexington, as an Interstate
landmark, there�s a lot more reason to hop off the highway at Exit 205
than a hamburger and fries. Just west of the interchange is the little
village of Raphine, home today to a post office, community bank, and a
smattering of historic houses and bed-and-breakfasts. On the surface, it
is a sleepy little town that may very well owe its existence to a sewing
machine.
|
Buffalo
Springs Herb Farm offers a variety of events to both cooks and
gardeners. |
In the 1880s, when the B&O Railroad finished its
north-south line between Staunton and Lexington, it spawned the growth of
several little railroad towns between the two valley cities. When
Rockbridge County resident and inventor of the first chain-stitch
single-thread sewing machine James Edward Allen Gibbs donated land for a
depot, he initiated the development of Raphine, named after his family
farm, which was, in turn, named for the Greek word raphus, meaning �to
sew.� While Wilcox & Gibbs sewing machines remain on the market
today, the railroad that once chugged through Raphine is long gone.
Raphine persisted beyond the heyday of the railroad,
however. Alice Patterson, who grew up in Raphine in the 1950s in the
residence that now houses the Back in Thyme Bed and Breakfast, says she
can remember when the town had three country stores, a feed store, and
even a car dealership. �It was a lot of fun to grow up here,� she
says. Patterson recalls how the local Chevy dealer parked the cars for the
new year on her family�s property to hide them from the public before
the big introductory sales event each fall.
The owners of that dealership were the Fulwider
brothers, one of whom was the father of longtime Raphine resident Margaret
Mynes. Mynes, who at 85 years of age continues to reside in the home where
she was born, says Raphine was once a booming town. �It�s changed an
awful lot because there�s so many new people moving in,� she notes.
�I�m the oldest resident of the village, and I don�t know a lot of
the people here anymore.�
But that hasn�t stopped Mynes from reaching out to
friends and neighbors. Until she injured her leg and knee in an auto
accident, Mynes held an open house at her home each Christmas, inviting
the public in to view her 30 themed Christmas trees. �I used to be known
as �The Christmas Tree Lady,�� she smiles. �People used to stop me
on the street and say, �Oh, you�re the Christmas Tree Lady.��
While the main street through Raphine has lost most
of the businesses that Mynes and Patterson remember, there�s a lot of
new growth in this community, most of it geared around a thriving tourism
base just west of town center. Here Raphine natives and newcomers alike
have developed a cluster of businesses that prosper on the community�s
agricultural roots.
|
Guy
enjoys tending his resident flock of ducks and geese. |
Among them are Orchardside Farm and Orchardside Yarn
Shop, owned and operated by Guy and Carole Griffin. Carole, a native of
Rockbridge County, moved back to the area in 1987 from Richmond with her
husband, both of them deciding to leave behind deadline-oriented,
high-stress careers in graphic arts. While Carole initially opened her
Yarn Shop in Lexington as a remake of the business her mother once ran in
Staunton, she and Guy decided to move the knitting shop to their farm
along Hays Creek about two miles outside Raphine in 1996.
Guy says moving to the country where Carole grew up
was a big risk. �Our first year out here we had a combined income of
$12,000,� he says, �but we�ve never regretted our decision.� It
didn�t take long for the Yarn Shop to take off. �Carole has a
reputation with her customers,� Guy explains. �Her selection of
inventory and customer service have earned her shop a reputation among
knitters as one of the finest yarn shops in the mid-Atlantic.�
|
Carole
and Guy Griffin said goodbye to city life to return to Carole's
native Rockbridge County, where they own and operate Orchardside
Farm and Orchardside Yarn Shop. |
On a blustery winter day, the Yarn Shop is warm and
cozy, the walls lined with multi-colored yarns, several ladies knitting
alongside a craft table in the center of the room, Carole smiling joyfully
over the work she loves. �It�s wonderful to be able to turn a hobby
into a living,� she says.
While Guy has learned the ropes of knitting to help
Carole in the business, he also initiated a business venture of his own on
their six-acre farm. A lover of gardening, he decided to start a
pick-your-own berry farm. �I have southern exposure here,� he says,
�a creek for irrigation, land suitable for berry plants, and nobody else
was doing it.� In 2000, he opened Orchardside Farm to the public,
offering red raspberries, black raspberries, blackberries, and
blueberries. �The two businesses work well together,� Guy says, �and
now we have multiple points of sale on the property. We�re unique in our
setting, and it�s pleasant to be here.�
The Griffins and their customers aren�t the only
ones who find this little community a pleasant place to be. In 1989,
newcomers Don Haynie and Tom Hamlin purchased a 220-acre farm just down
the road from the Griffins, restored the 1790 stone and brick farmhouse
there, and began an herb farm named in honor of the buffalo that once
roamed the Shenandoah Valley. The business partners searched for years for
a place to start an herb-related business and ultimately settled on
Raphine. �There was something about the spirit of the land here,� says
Haynie.
Today Buffalo Springs Herb Farm is a popular spot for
gardeners, cooks, and even a few random tourists. It features 10 themed
herb gardens, a nature trail and labyrinth, as well as a barn gift shop
with herbal products and gifts. �We�re sought out by people who like
offbeat destinations,� Haynie explains.
|
Jim
Young and his wife Georgie moved to Raphine and restored Wade's
Mill, a 250-year-old working gristmill that is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. |
Next door to the herb farm, neighbors Jim and Georgie
Young have developed a tourist attraction of their own with the
restoration of Wade�s Mill, a 250-year-old gristmill that these
Washington, D.C., natives continue to operate just as four generations of
Wades did before them. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places,
the old mill is still powered by a 21-foot water wheel fed by an adjacent
stream and produces high-nutrient flour on millstones.
The Youngs never really intended to be millers. They
claim when they purchased the mill 15 years ago they were just looking for
10 acres on some water in the country. �We just stumbled across this
mill,� Jim says, �and bought it three days after we looked at it.�
|
Jim
Young |
The mill was operational when the Youngs purchased it
and the equipment was in great shape, but the couple spent a year
restoring the structure itself as well as the house next door, which they
now use as their home and as a commercial kitchen for Georgie�s cooking
classes.
�There are very few of these mills left in the
U.S.,� Jim explains. �It�s hard work, and you wouldn�t do it if
you didn�t love it. We didn�t want to make this place cute. We wanted
to make it a mill.�
And so they have, grinding their own flour in the
evenings when their retail shop is closed. Most of the flour they sell
retail. Jim says they knew they had a gem on their hands that tourists
would enjoy. �The secret was just getting people here.�
The secret of getting people to Raphine appears to be
secret no more for these country businesses. Even Rockbridge Vineyards,
little more than a mile east of Wade�s Mill, has developed a following
among wine enthusiasts who take a short jaunt off I-81 to sample their
award-winning DeChiel Merlot and bittersweet V d�Or, an ice wine that
pairs perfectly with desserts. Winemaker Shep Rouse started the vineyard
in 1989, returning to his native Virginia after several years of
winemaking in California. A graduate of Washington & Lee University in
Lexington, he remembered the rolling countryside of Rockbridge County.
�He loves Rockbridge,� says his wife Jane, �and we like the weather
here, the fresh mountain feel, and the small neighborhood.�
The Rouses� vineyard is actually located on land
that once served as a dairy farm for the Mynes family, and their wine
storage and retail shop are located in the old dairy barn. Today the
couple has 18 acres of vines in production and produces over 8,000 cases
of wine each year. It�s a dream come true for Shep and Jane. �We�re
now living off this business,� she says.
Never mind that the railroad depot is gone. Raphine
is still going strong. �We�ve been truly blessed in being here,� Guy
Griffin remarks, as he watches Carole knit a new scarf. �If there�s a
problem or accident here, people look out for you, bring you food.
Neighborhood watch takes place here automatically.�
Margaret Mynes, who has had the good fortune to watch
children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren grow up around her,
says, she�s not really sure what the big attraction is in Raphine, but
remarks with a shrug, �It�s a really nice place.�
At A Glance ...
Population:
The Raphine post office serves around 1,200 customers.
Land
area: Raphine is an
unincorporated community in the rolling hills of the Shenandoah Valley�s
Rockbridge County.
FOUNDED:
Raphine was established in the 1880s when the B&O Railroad finished
its north-south line between Staunton and Lexington.
ELEVATION:
Approximately 1,855 ft.
FUN
FACT: Raphine is named
after the family farm of James Edward Allen Gibbs, inventor of the first
chain-stitch, single-thread sewing machine. Raphine is derived from the
Greek word raphus, which means �to sew.�
