Literally hundreds of Virginia buildings of architectural or historical interest have vanished. Most were demolished or burned, while others were abandoned as populations and needs shifted. The consequence is that important models of architectural accomplishment and key symbols of human aspiration and achievement have disappeared and are largely forgotten. Lost Virginia is an effort to document and reconstruct the appearance of Virginia architecture in earlier times, when the nation's destiny and history were intimately tied to the Old Dominion's landscape and buildings. It seeks to recover, at least on paper, an impression of our lost architectural heritage. Organized into categories of domestic, civic, religious, and commercial buildings, the more than three hundred vanished structures illustrated within include slave pens in Alexandria, George Washington's singular sixteen-sided barn, a one-room schoolhouse in Greene County, and the 18th-century Valley homes--long mistaken for forts--of German-speaking settlers. Soldiers in both blue and gray tramped by the now-lost Rockingham County courthouse, and a cathedral-like federal post office in Roanoke joins Rockbridge County's fantastic Alleghany Hotel on the list of exceptional but short-lived buildings. Also documented are creations like Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Company Pavilion, destroyed just months after it had been erected for the Jamestown Tercentennial Exhibition, and the Thomas Jefferson-designed Barboursville in Orange County. --jacket.

Virginia’s back roads and rural areas are dotted with traces of once-thriving communities. General stores, train depots, schools, churches, banks, and post offices provide intriguing details of a way of life now gone. The buildings may be empty or repurposed today, the existing community may be struggling to survive or rebuilding itself in a new and different way, but the story behind each community’s original development is an interesting and important footnote to the development of Virginia and the United States. Lost Communities of Virginia documents thirty small communities from throughout the Commonwealth that have lost their original industry, transportation mode, or way of life. Using contemporary photographs, historical information, maps, and excerpts of interviews with longtime residents of these communities, the book documents the present conditions, recalls past boom times, and explains the role of each community in regional settlement.

Join author and historian Amy Waters Yarsinske as she takes one final stroll through a Virginia Beach lost to time. The Oceanfront's Cottage Line, the music halls of Seaside Park and dunes so large they dwarfed the old Cape Henry lighthouse are a memory. Gone, too, are many of the city's iconic landmarks and open spaces, lost to storm, fire and the relentless onslaught of post-World War II development. With a deft hand and rare vintage images, historian Amy Waters Yarsinske recalls a time when the likes of Chuck Berry and Ray Charles played beneath the sizzling lights of the Dome and locals shagged the night away at the Peppermint Beach Club.

Sisters Anna and Sara must rely on each other for strength as they face being separated by the foster care system in this heartwrenching tale of sisterhood, family, and survival. Sara and Anna Olsen face an uncertain world. Their mother left home and may—or may not—be coming back. Their father is a drummer in a band and comes home long after the girls go to sleep—if he comes home at all. Too often, ten-year-old Sara and twelve-year-old Anna are left to fend for themselves. Then one night, three loud knocks at the door change everything: their father is in jail and social services has come to take the girls away. Rather than risk being split up, Sara and Anna decide their only option is to run away. But the girls don’t get very far, and when the authorities catch up with them, Sara and Anna are forced back into the foster care system. Along the way, the girls encounter good people who want to help them but they also meet people who have no patience for mistakes or accidents. As Anna begins to act out or withdraw completely, Sara knows that it’s up to her to take care of her older sister. But what if she can’t anymore? What if she finds a forever home that may not include Anna? Will Sara keep the promise she made to her mother to stay with her sister or will she find the courage to do what’s best for herself? In a starred review VOYA said “Sara’s story will tug at heart strings; Readers will cheer for her to succeed.” Inspired by true events, this heartrending and hopeful novel of survival, friendship, and sisterhood, tells the tale of two sisters who must find the strength to face anything that life may throw their way.

Once the capital of the Confederacy and the industrial hub of slave-based tobacco production, Richmond, Virginia has been largely overlooked in the context of twentieth century urban and political history. By the early 1960s, the city served as an important center for integrated politics, as African Americans fought for fair representation and mobilized voters in order to overcome discriminatory policies. Richmond's African Americans struggled to serve their growing communities in the face of unyielding discrimination. Yet, due to their dedication to strengthening the Voting Rights Act of 1965, African American politicians held a city council majority by the late 1970s. In The Dream Is Lost, Julian Maxwell Hayter describes more than three decades of national and local racial politics in Richmond and illuminates the unintended consequences of civil rights legislation. He uses the city's experience to explain the political abuses that often accompany American electoral reforms and explores the arc of mid-twentieth-century urban history. In so doing, Hayter not only reexamines the civil rights movement's origins, but also seeks to explain the political, economic, and social implications of the freedom struggle following the major legislation of the 1960s. Hayter concludes his study in the 1980s and follows black voter mobilization to its rational conclusion -- black empowerment and governance. However, he also outlines how Richmond's black majority council struggled to the meet the challenges of economic forces beyond the realm of politics. The Dream Is Lost vividly illustrates the limits of political power, offering an important view of an underexplored aspect of the post--civil rights era.

In 1889, a massive storm caused a tiny creek in Virginia to turn into a raging river, and the rushing waters washed away an embankment where the railroad crossed. Eighteen souls were lost when a passenger train plunged into the washout.

The beautiful piano sitting in the corner of Jill King’s apartment begs to be played. For over a year, it has sat untouched, ever since a terrible accident shattered Jill’s ambition of becoming a concert pianist. The ragged scar on her left hand is a cruel and constant reminder of the death of her dream.But another dream is about to come to life—an unexpected, horrifying dream that will present Jill with a responsibility she never wanted. And choices she never wanted to make. Hundreds of lives depend on Jill’s willingness to warn her small, oceanside town in Nova Scotia of a nameless, looming disaster. But doing so could cost Jill her reputation, jeopardize the political career of the man she loves, and ruin their plans for a future together.The fate of an entire community hangs in the balance as Jill wrestles with the cost of heeding one still, small voice.