The Peters Creek Historical Society has owned and maintained the Enoch Wright House in Venetia since 1976. Since then it has been lovingly converted into a “Museum of Westward Expansion”, open to the public only by appointment. This summer they have added a new service, an Open House on seven different dates in July through September. I was fortunate to be a part of the very first guided tour in this program, on Sunday, July 10.
Brothers James and Joshua Wright received adjoining grants of 400 acres each from the Commonwealth Colony of Virginia in 1772 and moved from Rockingham County to the Peters Creek area. After living in log cabins for over four decades, by 1816 Joshua’s son Enoch was prosperous enough to build a handsome twelve room brick house at what now is 815 Venetia Road.
The house was custom designed as a duplex, to house two different families identically. Initially Enoch, his mother, and his wife Rachel James occupied one side; their son Reverend Joseph, his wife, and their children, the other. The house featured a broad center hall and stairwell to the second floor, with six mirror-image rooms on each side.
From the center hall a doorway opened into a parlor in the front half of each wing, with a dining room behind it. Beyond the parlor, in a one-and-a half story extension was the kitchen. On the second floor two large bedrooms were located directly above the parlor and dining room. Above each kitchen was a separate room accessible only by a separate external stairway, probably servants’ quarters.
Every room in the house had an individual wood-burning fireplace; the kitchen fireplaces were large enough to permit almost continuous cooking. The current museum uses each room differently. One kitchen is laid out as a replica of colonial times, filled with antique tools and utensils and am impressive display of redware pottery, Delftware dishes, and pewter mugs; the other is equipped with modern utensils for Society functions.
One parlor is furnished in a late colonial/early Victorian style and features several chairs belonging to Joshua Wright’s daughter Charity; the other serves as a conference room for the Society. One bedroom has been completely furnished with Charity Wright’s original furniture, supplemented by examples of period clothing.
Charity’s husband was Dr. David Anderson; his Civil War uniform and medical bag are prized artifacts on display. In later years Dr. Anderson owned a nearby coal mine, in commemoration of which the Society has dedicated a room to the history of coal mining in the Peters Creek watershed. It features an outstanding collection of artifacts donated by retired miner William Jenkins, including several remarkable dioramas illustrating the underground mining process.
Of special interest to me was the Colonial Room, filled with intriguing artifacts from the earliest days, including a number of eighteenth century maps that I had never seen before. Complementing this display is a series of exhibits in the second-floor hallway commemorating the Native Americans who lived in this area prior to the arrival of the colonists, dating back to the days of the Monongahela People ten centuries ago.
Although the original Wright log cabins no longer exist, the Society was able to acquire a cabin in Claysville that had originally been built in 1780, carefully disassemble it, move it, and reconstruct it on the Enoch Wright property. Its primitive simplicity serves in graphic contrast with the opulence of its magnificent neighbor.
The Peters Creek Historical Society has served the Venetia/Finleyville/Gastonville area since 1967, preserving “local history for future generations to enjoy”. Among the special interests of its members are Quilting, the Whiskey Rebellion, early coal mining, and local memorabilia.
Fort Cox, also known as Coxes Station, is a special project of the Society. Located two and a half miles east of Finleyville, it was a stockaded stronghold built by Major Gabriel Cox on his grant of land as a refuge from Indian raids. It also served as headquarters for Virginia land commissioners issuing land grants until 1780. It is commemorated today by a Society historical marker and artifacts in the Enoch Wright House.
Open House at the Enoch Wright House is scheduled for three more Sundays this summer, July 24, August 14, and August 28, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm as well as two Wednesday evenings, August 10 and September 14, 6:00 to 8:00 pm. We hope they are as well attended as the first one was; this is an excellent opportunity to revisit the earliest days of colonial life in this area.