Last week on my way to Haven Beach, I pulled down Fitchetts Wharf Road near Moon.
Moon is a place and a post office.
The moon is that thing that causes people to go crazy
whenever it's full.
The moon is that thing that causes people to go crazy
whenever it's full.
Many (if not most) of the homes in this area have signs
with clever moon-related names.
(I love the ocean of green in that field.)
Above, at the end of the road (which is actually the beginning of Fitchetts Wharf Road) is the old Moon Post Office. From page 74 of my book, the post office (established in 1902) "was inundated with postmark requests on July 20, 1969, to commemorate the landing on the moon."
I wonder why they decided to name it Moon. I probably should know this and may have at one time...but if so this information must be housed in the section of my brain known as The Sieve. The Sieve keeps expanding the older I get and the more I have to juggle. Pretty soon I'll just be walking around with a colander for a head.
Anyway, the reason I even drove down Fitchetts Wharf Road is because a reader sent an e-mail asking if I knew the location of a cottage her family used to rent back in the 1960s. Her description follows:
"My sister ( a bit older) remembers turning at the Moon post office, to get to the cottage. ...The cottages, very small, were all in a row.. 4 or 5 of them, with only one that had a full time family who lived there year around. The rest were rentals that were rented full time. The cottage next door , rented by our next door neighbors in Richmond (Hassey Ramos). One the other side, the family that lived there year around was named (we think) Andy Hundley. There was an old, very large house within walking distance.. belonged to an older gentleman, named Captain Vernon. The men folk would go out with him and in his boats early on Saturday mornings and fish .. bring back the fish to clean at a special covered “fish cleaning station” which was a area with a roof and tables for cleaning fish.... all within walking distance from the cottages. "
If you happen to have information on the location of these cottages, let me know. My uneducated guess based on my very quick trip down there is they were on Billups Creek Road, but who knows.
This concludes our trip to
p.s. In unrelated news, I saw my first lightning bug of the season last night. There are very few insects I like, but lightning bugs are okay in my book.
16 comments:
You live in the loveliest area with the prettiest tree-lined lanes! I can see why a family would want to rent a cottage there for a little R and R...which sounds nice, doesn't it?
Thank you for "a trip to_Moon on Gossamer Wings"...too special to be "just one of those things"...
I think I may already have developed Collander Head Syndrome; I am glad to hear there is a name for it.
LLC
Fly me to the moon... (on second though, looks like driving might work better...)
Tomorrow we start our trip. We see Mathews at the very end--saving the best to last dontcha know. I really excited to see it and take a few hundred photos of my own. Also can't wait to meet CBW in this first of what will likely be many trips to the area.
--Betsy
I like lightning bugs, too. They're the harbingers of summer. Can't believe you saw one so early.
I love the look of Moon . . . and those cottages sound wonderful.
Word from our local extension offices is that we;re about 3 weeks ahead of where we should be in regards to weather and things popping up (I need to know this for my job, I don't just chat with the extension offices for craps and giggles). I love lightning bugs. I also love driving through Moon and think it's amusing to see the sign that says "Moon Post Office". I'm easily amused.
Wait. You mooned the post office?
what a nice bit of out & about you had there .. I am thinking that Moon was chosen because it said it all ..
In other moon-related news, I hear that this Saturday night, sometime in the 11:00pm hour - will be what is called a "SuperMoon" - huge and orange and low to the horizon. Get your camera ready...
On the nose! The cottages are at the end of Billups Creek Road, in what used to be known as the 'acre of pines', but since Hurricane Isabel is known as the 'acre of sunshine' (not really, but that's what it's become). They were owned by Captain Vernon James. I grew up playing in those woods and crabbing off the dock in front of the cottages. My mom's ancestral farm is one more cove up the creek.
I've heard they wanted to name it "Noon" because that's when the mail came. I think there was also a land grant made to someone in that area whose last name was Moon. I don't know which to believe. When my mother was born, the neighborhood was called "Fitchett's" because the post-office was at the wharf.
AMN
http://lva1.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/F/QBMJCTUTV5DQ5J87G64SIGJPSR4CS1YMMT6CC55LBEJYBBJXG1-01799?func=full-set-set&set_number=001712&set_entry=000023&format=999
the grants are available at Library of VA. This one says that it's in King and Queen County, but we know better, because Lilly's Neck and Milford Haven are in Mathews. I think Abraham Moon may have abandoned this grant, and someoneelse repatented it later.
AMN
How cool to hear about the super moon! We'll be in Gloucester county Saturday night, which means less urban lights to get in the way of star gazing. One more fun little thing to do for our trip. Yay!
--Betsy
I don't know when, if ever, we'll get out your way but I know we'll love it if we do. Just too rural to be believed, my city-bred husband will freak. I love it.
K
CBW,the next time you talk to the reader who sent you an e-mailing regarding the cottages located on Billups Creek.I have a few friends with valuable information awaiting you on this subject.All we have to do is have my people get with your people,so we can get this done. The friends i am referencing have close ties. As a matter of fact they actually owned a house and two cottages on the cove further up Billups Creek.The total number of cottages was six.This was an old English landgrant. The captain referenced was in deed Vernon James.He retired from Gulf Oil Company.He was never married.Get with me and we will tie up any loose ends
Moon sounds like my kind of place, but then just aboout anywhere in Mathews County would be my kind of place. As long as I don't see or hear my neighbors.
I haven't seen any lightning bugs yet. I remember catching them as a kid and putting them in a jar with holes in the lid. Then I would put the jar on my window sill in my bedroom and watch them until I fell asleep. Sometimes we girls would take the glowing stuff and smear it on our earlobes like earrings.
Wow, thanks, AMN and JP, for all the great information about the cottages and the area. I've alerted the reader who emailed me, and I know she'll be thrilled to hear we've successfully identified her vacation spot.
Thank you very much!
OH MY GOSH!!! Street name signs in Mathews!!! I had not seen those before or I didn't pay attention...I think they would have popped out to me though...Need to come over and ride around one day...
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