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NEW BOOKS!
Songs of the River
by Miriam MacCarthy
Retrospective of the paintings of award-winning local White Stone artist Miriam “Mimsy” MacCarthy, accompanied by her narrative descriptions, poetry, and personal musings on 40+ years of “river life,” reflecting her love for the land, water, and people of the Northern Neck and Tidewater region. This collection of reproduced images of MacCarthy’s watercolor, oil, and acrylic artworks includes portraits, nature scenes, still life, and historic sites. MacCarthy introduces readers to family members, friends, and neighbors through her portraits and charming stories of local families with names like Carter, Gaskins and Dunton. Landscapes and waterscapes shape stories of the rivers and life during simpler times in White Stone, Kilmarnock, Reedville, Weems and beyond. Hardcover, 11×8.5, 144 pages, 2025. $45.00 (LVHS Members $40.50) plus tax/shipping. Buy now.
Lady Mary Tea Room, Lancaster County, Kilmarnock, Virginia, Steeped in A Tale of Tea
by Susan Anthony-Tolbert
This is the story of the “tea movement” in the United States in the 1920s and 30s, presented against the economic, political, and technological backdrop of the era, with an emphasis on The Lady Mary Tea Room in Kilmarnock VA and including The White Stone Tea Room (aka Gregg’s Gas Station). These were the only two tea rooms found on the Northern Neck of Virginia in researching this time period, but others in the Virginia-Maryland-DC region are mentioned. Establishing a tea room of their very own was a step for women to emerge as more independent in the early days of the 20th century. Run by women for women, they were places of refreshment for women travelers, but also spaces of female refuge and conversation, often with a political connection to rights for women and civil rights. The origins of tea drinking and its history over centuries are also discussed. Softcover, 6×9, 104 pages, 2025. $18.00 (LVHS Members $16.20) plus tax/shipping. Buy now.
The Stronghold: A Story of Historic
Northern Neck and Its People
by Miriam Haynie
65th Anniversary Reprint
This classic 1959 history gem is back in print with a new introduction by local historian and antiquarian Henry Lane Hull. Miriam Haynie tells the history of the Northern Neck of Virginia, covering the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, in a charming and easy-to-read narrative format. She writes about the distinguished men and women born here and relates many of the traditions and customs special to this region. Softcover, 6×9, 250 pages. $20.00 (LVHS Members $18.00) plus tax/shipping. Buy now.
Almost in the Clouds! The Story of the Miskimon Fire Tower, Miskimon, VA
by Susan Anthony-Tolbert
This is the history of the Miskimon Fire Tower, known variously as the Lancaster-Northumberland Fire Lookout Tower or the Northumberland-Lancaster Fire Lookout Tower on the Northern Neck of Virginia. It was built in 1938 and served the local communities for around 50 years. The story is not only about this skeleton of steel and wood but of the women and men and their experiences as fire lookouts or fire spotters in this tower of around 100 feet. The tower and its spotters are important reflections of a part of American history in the protection of a most valuable commodity–our forests. Softcover, 6×9, 140 pages, 2024. $15.00 (LVHS Members $13.50) plus tax/shipping. Buy now.
Edward Dale of Lancaster County Virginia
by Robert D. Lumsden
Biography and historical context of Edward Dale (c.1620-1695) of Lancaster County, including his personal and public life; wife Diana Skipwith, relatives, and friends; and his various roles as a Burgess, Major, Cavalier, Clerk of Court, Justice of Court, Gentleman, Neighbor, Husband, and Father. Features extensive citations and abstracts of Dale’s activities which appear in the colonial records of Virginia and Lancaster County. Softcover, 8 1/2 x 11, 220 pages with full name index, color illustrations, and appendices with primary source abstracts, 2024. $35.00 (LVHS Members $31.50) plus tax/shipping. Buy now.
Records of Indentured Servants
Lancaster County Virginia 1650-1750
by Margaret L. Forrester
Within this book are the records of nearly two thousand souls who were indentured servants in Lancaster County, Virginia. These records, covering the years 1650 to 1750, are abstracted from Lancaster County deed, will, and court order books and are presented in chronological order with a full name index of the servants and others mentioned. It is hoped that their stories within these records will give a more complete picture of colonial life in Lancaster County and the legal, social, and economic aspects of this system of contract labor. Margaret L. Forrester is an experienced genealogist and researcher in the Northern Neck of Virginia. Paperback, 8.5×11, 342 pages, 2024. $28.50 (LVHS Members $25.65) plus tax/shipping. Buy now.