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HOW MANY differences can you spot in
The Rappahannock River predominates, of course. The streets are laid out in neat grids, as is the case today in the Historic District. Mary Washington's tomb is still in place, and so are the graves at the City and Confederate cemeteries.
Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Charles streets are familiar still.
But Prussia Street? National Boulevard?
How about the hospital, the school, the opera house--all either on or near Main Street? And the college, on Prince Edward Street?
Don't even think about looking for the U.S. 1 Bypass. Or, for that matter, U.S. 1.
Here's a bit of local history to go with the map, just to show that a few things have changed since George Washington left town.
Prussia Street, a main thoroughfare beside the railroad, merged into National Boulevard, which ran alongside the National Cemetery.
According to Edward Alvey Jr., author of "The Streets of Fredericksburg," Prussia Street was named in honor of Prussia, the German state, because of the state's connection with the German-born George II. George II was king of England when the streets of Fredericksburg were first laid out--and Prussia Street it remained for decades, until the 1900s.
Alvey wrote: "When the United States entered the war in 1917, anti-German feeling reached a crescendo, as American soldiers fought against 'Prussian militarism.' There was a strong sentiment in Fredericksburg to change the name of Prussia Street. The City Council acceded to this demand, and, at a meeting on June 18, 1918, renamed the street in honor of Lafayette."
The Marquis de Lafayette was a friend of hometown hero George Washington, a French general who secured the allegiance of his country during the Revolutionary War.
Alvey notes in his history that Lafayette visited Fredericksburg in 1783 to bid a fond farewell to George's mother, Mary, before returning to France.
He came back to town in 1824 with much fanfare, which included an elaborate procession, a ball at the Masonic Lodge and services at St. George's Episcopal Church.
Mary Washington Hospital has moved twice since its location beside the river. The school on the map--once Lafayette School--is now the Central Rappahannock Regional Library headquarters. Main Street is now Caroline Street. City Council voted in 1935 to re-establish the street's original name in honor of Caroline, who, according to Alvey, was an "intelligent, cultured German princess." She later married King George II.
At the same time, Commerce Street was renamed William, in honor of George II's third son.
The opera house was at the intersection of what are now Caroline and William streets. It was torn down in the 1950s and replaced by an F.W. Woolworth five-and-dime store. That building is now the Antique Court of Shoppes.
The State Normal School for Women, the predecessor of the University of Mary Washington on a hill west of the city, does not appear on the map. The college noted in the Prince Edward Street neighborhood refers to Fredericksburg College, which had a women's dormitory at 1200 Prince Edward St. (at its intersection with Lewis Street). Classrooms were next door.
The map itself came from the 1920 Automobile Blue Book Publishing Co. Blue books included prices of cars and other information.
Ben Hicks, who lives in Fredericksburg, came across the map at the University of Texas library Web site and submitted it to Flashback.
He first read about the map collection on another Web site (digg.com) and consulted it in hopes of finding a 1910 map of Fredericksburg for a project he's working on. So far, the closest he's gotten is 1920--which, coincidentally, was the year his father, DuVal Hicks, was born.
JENNIFER STROBEL is a staff writer with The Free Lance-Star. E-mail her at
Email: jstrobel@freelancestar.com.
