In a not-too-distant past, small villages did the best they were able to take care of themselves and, whether called upon or not, to provide for their neighbors’ needs. If an idea was hatched for a local improvement, it was shared around the neighborhood. If the notion was deemed worthy and grew legs, good things happened.
Take the village of Greenwood, for instance. It was designated by the U.S. Postal Service, in 1854, as Greenwood Depot, a Virginia Central Railroad mountainside water stop at the east portal of the easternmost of four tunnels designed by Napoleonic-era engineer Claudius Crozet for the Blue Ridge Railroad.
Commencing in the 1890s, several Greenwood-area farm estates became home to residents of some means who took an active interest in the welfare of their adopted neighborhood. They employed many locals as caretakers of their respective properties and were not reticent to participate in worthwhile projects within the community. Churches and schools were of particular interest.
Approaching the mid-1950s, the rural village of Greenwood displayed great pride in the modest prosperity created, in part, by long association with the railroad, farming, and productive fruit orchards. The preceding decades, nevertheless, had been fraught with challenges not limited to a devastating pandemic and two tragic World Wars.
Ella Williams Smith (1888–1974) (Mrs. James Gordon Smith) first arrived at Greenwood from Richmond in 1904 at the age of 16. Her family lived at Rose Hill Farm during the summer months. Ella grew to be much involved in the life of Greenwood, and published, in 1972, a memoir titled Tears and Laughter in Virginia and Elsewhere that included animated descriptions of Greenwood life during the early decades of the 1900s.
In 1960, however, Mrs. Smith penned a brief ten-year history of an important structure considered by many to be a genuine ornament to the village—Greenwood Community Center.
She began: “It would be hard to write a history of the Greenwood Community Center, without beginning with a tribute to our neighbors with whom I have worked on various projects for over fifty years. It is true that many have come and gone, but always there has remained a wonderful spirit of usefulness and cooperation and a sort of pioneer outlook that is willing to face the unknown, provided that it seems to have possibilities of good.
“After World War II, the President of the Community League (P. T. A.) appointed a committee to make plans for a suitable War Memorial. This committee met and considered such modest ideas as a drinking fountain in the school, bleachers on the athletic field or a small erection on the school grounds with a bronze tablet and a flag pole. However, none of us felt much enthusiasm and, for a while, the matter dragged on. Then, all of a sudden, we realized that we could begin a more fitting memorial, something that we had thought of as an unobtainable dream.
“In August 1947, the committee made its report, part of which I quote: ‘Your Committee is convinced that a suitable memorial to the boys who died in the service of their country should be something that will not only be of pleasure and benefit to their erstwhile neighbors, but will advance the cause for which they lost their lives, democracy and a free expression of ideas in a world where disunity and totalitarianism are a constant threat. Surely, the local neighborhood is where democracy should begin.
“Life is greatly enriched and much understanding gained by personal contact between neighbors of different backgrounds and different cultural levels. There is too much loneliness in the modern world where leisure time is a factor of increasing importance…’ That night both Lady Astor and Admiral William ‘Bull’ Halsey addressed the Community League, and a large crowd gathered to hear their inspiring speeches. Our resolution to build a community center was unanimously adopted at that time.
“We first planned to erect a building on a plot of land adjoining the school, which the owner very kindly offered to donate, but instead, decided to purchase an eighteen-acre tract of land with woods and a pretty mountain stream, out-of-door facilities being very important.
“By the spring of 1950 our building, two bowling alleys and swimming pool were completed and the baseball diamond on the way. In May of that year the Center was formally dedicated as ‘A Memorial to the Fallen, A Thanksgiving for the Returned. World Wars I and II.’ There were over five-hundred people present and Lady Astor, whose heart has always been with us, made the principal speech.
“From the beginning, our facilities have been much used, in spite of dire prophecies that we would soon have a useless building on our hands. While the Center was primarily meant for the Greenwood Community—to whom it belongs, a gathering place for neighbors—we are thinking less and less of our neighbors as limited to geographical locations and are delighted to have the opportunity of welcoming hundreds of people from outside the community who join in our activities.”
Dire prophesies? HA! A useless building? HA! During the Center’s first 18 years (1950–1968), it hosted a Neighborhood Labor Day Fair that had all the makings of a traditional county fair. During its next 30 years (1969–1998), it was the home of the Greenwood Arts and Crafts Fair, an East Coast destination event. For its first year, the organizers’ two-day event attracted over 80 artists from around the state, along with some 2,000 attendees—the largest crowd to-date that had ever attended any event at that venue.
Succeeding years saw ever-increasing crowds wending their way to the base of western Albemarle’s Blue Ridge Mountains to admire and support 140 artists and craftspeople gathered from coast-to-coast at “one of the oldest and most highly respected shows in the state of Virginia.”
Greenwood Community Center continues strong and is now administered by Albemarle County Parks and Recreation. Since its inception in 1947 and the opening of its doors to the public in 1950, that once unobtainable dream has proven o’er and again its usefulness as a fitting tribute to the sacrifices made for democracy.
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