Virginia Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

—Archie Gold of Jetersville landed a blue catfish weighing 95 pounds, 11 ounces last July from the James River near Richmond. The whopper is a state record.

—Built in the early 1800s on land once owned by George Washington, the Colvin Run Mill in Great Falls (pop. 8,549) is a restored and operating water-powered gristmill.

—Many of the buildings on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg (pop. 39,573) are constructed of Hokie stone, a native limestone. The word Hokie originates from the college’s 1896 cheer, Old Hokie.

—Katie Couric, born in 1957 in Arlington, is the first woman to solo anchor a network evening newscast after taking over the desk at CBS Evening News in September. Her reported $15 million annual salary is the highest for a network anchor.

—The image of the nation’s founding father as a dynamic hero gets a boost in the $110 million Ford Orientation Center and Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, which opened in October at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens.

—Clay T. Armstrong of Mechanicsville (pop. 30,464) hooked the state record striped bass last March with a 68-pound, 1-ounce whopper caught in the Atlantic Ocean just south of the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach.

—Authentic Colonial-era fare such as shepherd’s pie, apple tansey, Welsh rarebit and peanut soup is on the menu at restaurants, including The King’s Arms, Chowning’s and Shields taverns, in Williamsburg (pop. 11,998).

Sam Snead won 82 Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) tournaments, more than any golfer in history. He was born in 1912 in Ashwood.

—During the Civil War, the Exchange Hotel in Gordonsville (pop. 1,498) became a hospital for 70,000 soldiers, both Confederate and Union. Now restored and with its high-ceiling parlors, the graceful building is a museum dedicated to the Civil War era.

—Built in 1802, the Goose Creek Stone Bridge near Atoka is one of the last arch stone bridges in the state. The bridge has four arches.

—Ticonderoga Farms in Chantilly (pop. 41,041) is billed as the state’s largest cut-your-own Christmas tree farm. The fourth-generation farm also grows giant firs and pine for hotels, churches and other lofty settings.

—The Historic Roanoke City Market in Roanoke is the state’s oldest farmers market in continuous operation. In 1882, licenses were issued to 25 “hucksters,” or vendors, around the same time the city was chartered. Today, market stalls feature furniture, pottery, stained glass, jewelry, fresh flowers and produce.

—Established in 1734, Orange County (pop. 25,881) is named in honor of William, prince of Orange, who married Princess Anne of England the same year.

Whether Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, was at home in Monticello near Charlottesville (pop. 45,049) or in the nation’s capital or abroad in France, he recorded the temperature and weather conditions each morning and afternoon in notebooks made of small ivory cards. Then once a week, he transcribed the data into a leather-bound volume and cleaned the ivory wafers to be reused for the next series of recordings. His notebooks cover the period from July 1, 1776, to just months before his death on July 4, 1826. Today, the National Weather Service honors outstanding service by volunteer weather observers by bestowing the Thomas Jefferson award.

—The first statewide wildlife trail in the nation is the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail, a driving route with wildlife viewing sites from the Atlantic Ocean on the eastern border to Mount Rogers, the state’s highest peak, in the southwest corner.

The world’s most lightning-struck person, Roy Sullivan, a former park ranger in Shenandoah National Park, headquartered east of Luray (pop. 4,871), survived seven lightning strikes between 1942 and 1977. The strikes knocked off a toenail, set his hair ablaze twice, and burned his eyebrows, stomach and chest.

The Sir Christopher Wren Building at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg (pop. 11,998) is the oldest academic building in continuous use in the United States. Construction began in 1695 on the building designed by the famous English architect.

Wilderness Road State Park near Ewing (pop. 436) lies astride the Wilderness Road, carved by Daniel Boone in 1775 to open America's western frontier. Visitors can hike the historic road and visit Martin's Station, a replica of a 1775 fort.

Aviation pioneer Scott Crossfield was the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound, reaching speeds of 1,300 mph in November 1953. The 84-year-old Herndon (pop. 21,655) pilot died in a plane crash in April.

One of the most daring escapes from slavery to freedom was made by Henry Brown of Richmond, who had himself shipped in a crate to the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society in 1849. Thereafter known as "Henry Box Brown," he became a famous anti-slavery crusader.