The main part of my research may be done, but, as with an old house, there will always be little things to do. I'm sure I will continue to "accidentally" dig things up, unearth treasures, and it's quite possible that one day I'll be locked in the crawl space and be forced to tunnel out. So at least there is potential for more learning.
No story would be complete without a beginning. True, you could make a beginning out of any part of a story, but it really wouldn't make sense if you picked some arbitrary point. That being said, I think the best starting point is the subdivision of the land on which the house was built. From there, I can regale you with stories of the people who have owned/inhabited the home for the past 127 years.
To truly begin the history of 275 Carolina Avenue, though, we have to start with a completely different house: 120 College Avenue -- formerly 413 West Main Street. The yellow gothic cottage situated on a tiny parcel of land on College Avenue used to be a farm house located in Pittsylvania County.
Built around 1871 by William P. Graham, the house originally faced West Main Street and rested on roughly 83 acres of land. In 1874, William P. Graham sold the house to his cousin, Abram Wimbish. The 83 acres of land contained all of the area from the current Virginia Avenue to Carolina Avenue, then at a diagonal to South Main Street at the Southern Railroad. From there, it followed the railroad to the outer edge of Howeland Circle and to West Main Street. Beers' 1877 Map of Danville and Pittsylvania County show the property containing a natural spring, a large and small orchard, and even a proposed half-mile race course.
Around 1877, Abram Wimbish sold a portion of his land to the City of Danville "to afford it room enough to lay its water pipes and reach the city reservoir." At this time, the City Reservoir was located on Virginia Avenue. Wimbish reserved a 30 foot right of way for himself around the reservoir, which may still exist in part today.
In 1884, shortly after the death of Abram Wimbish, the vast acreage was subdivided. Abram had left his wife, Fannie, with a fair amount of debt, and in order to settle those debts and allow Mrs. Wimbish to keep her house and outhouse -- yes, the deed actually specified that there was a lien on the house AND outhouse. The majority of the land was purchased by J. M. Neal and E. H. Miller. They purchased everything from roughly Westhampton Avenue to Howeland Circle. J. T. Watson bought the triangular parcel from the intersection of Virginia and Carolina to South Main and back to Virginia. The last parcel, facing a newly opened street (now known as Carolina Avenue) contained 11 acres of land. This parcel, stretching from the alley down Carolina Avenue to Westhampton and back to the railroad, was purchased by W. P. Robinson.
Well, that's it for now. My next entry will begin to delve into the true history of the house and the people. To be honest, my research didn't go much into Wimbishes. Most of what I got comes from Victorian Danville Fifty-Two Landmarks: Their Architecture & History. Except the house and outhouse thing. I actually did read that for myself at the Pittsylvania County Courthouse.
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