Letters of CharlottesvilleIssue 2 Wednesday, September 18, 2002 Shareware Drought PerspectiveThe current ten-month rainfall has totaled 25.32 inches from November to August. The same period 1929-1930 saw 23.37 inches. The most severe drought of record was Nov. 1976 to Aug. 1977 at 18.65 inches (Virginia Climate Advisory, October 1977). Authorities have designated 55% of water capacity as a trigger for new stricter mandatory conservation measures, or about 80 days of water supply remaining at normal demand. The remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna brought an inch or less of rain to central Virginia last weekend. Tropical cyclone Isidore, now in the central Caribbean Sea, is expected to become a hurricane and might follow a similar path bringing significant rains by mid next week to parts of the East Coast. News from Sep. 1930Local industry was booming despite the Great Depression not quite a year old. The nation was in the middle of a crime wave blamed not on the economy, but on prohibition of alcohol. Gunfights occurred weekly in Charlottesville and Albemarle. The Great Hurricane of 1930 grabbed headlines for two weeks (“STORM VICTIMS BEING BURNED IN SANTO DOMINGO,” Sep. 6, The Daily Progress). Other local stories in the Progress: “WATER SHORTAGE IN LOCAL SCHOOLS,” Sep. 30. “CROP PROSPECTS WORST IN YEARS,” Sep. 15. “FALL ARMY WORM ATTACKING LAWNS,” Sep. 24. “BLIND WORKSHOP NEAR COMPLETION”, Sep. 10. “[Delegate L.L. Watts] traced the growth of the temporary workshop on South Fourth Street, East, which has been operating since 1925.” The 1930 trade school for the blind on Monticello Rd. at Belmont Ave. was remodeled in the past two years. From the sidewalk, the building appears to have no history whatsoever. For a flashback to the drought of ’77, see the previous issue of Letters of Charlottesville or visit: www.oocities.org/HealingCharlottesville Two charts to in print version and at MSWord first page. MSWord second page. South Fork History1962 South Fork Rivanna Reservoir land purchased and still owned by the City.1966 SFRR filled and water production begins in August. 1968 First Albemarle zoning allows high density development. 1969 Four fish kills at night possibly due to low oxygen. Hurricane Camille in August. 1970 SFRR closed for two weeks after fish kill attributed to Endrin discharge at Crown Orchards. 1972 Fish kill at Lickinghole Creek attributed to ammonia spill at Morton Frozen Foods. RWSA formed. Clean Water Act. Hurricane Agnes in June. 1973 RWSA forms advisory committee on reservoir pollution. 1974 City asks county to downzone near SFRR. UVa says SFRR is “sick.” 1975 EPA says accelerated pollution is occurring. 1976 Albemarle begins downzoning. Nature Conservancy, City, County, and Virginia Commission on Outdoor Recreation purchase 80 acres as Ivy Creek Natural Area. 1977 Clean Water Act tightens restriction of discharge of toxins. Worst drought on record. First mandatory water conservation for 35 days. 1979 Watershed Manager official created. Hurricane David in September. 1980 Downzoning appealed to Virginia Supreme Court, Albemarle prevails. 1981 81.5 acres added to Ivy Creek Natural Area. 1983 Land purchased for possible future Buck Mountain Creek Reservoir. 1988 Hydro power plant installed. Virginia bans phosphates in detergents. 1995/ Major flooding in region. 1996 Sugar Hollow Reservoir placed on dam failure alert after heavy rains. Blizzard of ’96 in January, Hurricane Fran September. 2002 Second mandatory water restrictions begin August 23. Letters of Charlottesville will compare the two droughts’ daily demand versus water supply when authorities release the data. More information at: www.albemarle.org/engineer/reviewgroup/watergroup/eng_wrm.htm.
Runaway WreckerA Lethal Wrecker flatbed careened without a driver more than a hundred feet down Montrose Ave. at Monticello Rd. Tuesday evening September 10. Customer Frank Tomlin drifted his disabled pickup from his driveway with a push from the wrecker driver onto the idling flatbed’s ramp. Pointed downhill, the tow truck’s emergency brake disengaged. Tomlin and his pickup were taken along for the ride. The tow driver chased alongside, stumbling and suffering road burn. The rear of the ramp of the flatbed bottomed out in the gully leaving gouges in the pavement. The truck stopped short of a house in its path. A city bus and impatient, honking drivers were delayed while the pickup was secured and flatbed maneuvered back into traffic. The pickup was delivered undamaged. No rescue or police were called. Tomlin was unharmed. The extent of the Lethal driver’s injuries is not known. Neighbor Thomas Dowell heard the commotion. Dowell and Tomlin ran for City Council in 1976. They report that, in the past, at least two unmanned vehicles have taken the same path. A tree stopped one. A house stopped the other. Award Offends CommunityThe Charlottesville Democratic Committee, consisting of 135 members, has decided to bestow the Drewary J. Brown award to Francis H. Fife, two-term City Council member 1970-1978, mayor 1972-1974. The award honors those who have served well Charlottesville or its Democratic party. The late Brown is considered a local civil rights leader beginning in the ‘60s and was president of the local NAACP. On Council, Mr. Fife presided over the largest, most-contested civil rights violation in city history, which resulted in Garrett Square and acres of vacant land where a heavily built-up section of town had existed for a century. On exhibit at the Albemarle County Historical Society is a peek into our past. Marguiretta de Crescioli’s mansion of prostitution at 303 Fifth St. SE was torn down in 1972 and became a parking lot facing the Charlottesville Warehouse Corp. at 401 South St. E. The exhibit is at 200 Second St. NE in the McIntire Building, the former downtown library. Osage Orange TreeNative to north Texas and nearby Oklahoma and Arkansas, named for the Osage Indians, this tree was widely planted as living fences before barbed wire. 50-ft tall, 30-ft spread, this thorned tree is deciduous with somewhat long-pointed, egg-shaped leaves with smooth edges. The wood is hard, used in making bows (bois d’arc). Boiled wood chips make yellow dye. The sap is used for tannin. The bark is orange-brown, furrowed, tight, fibrous. According to Charlottesville native, 27-year gardener Sandy Cason, the tree and its fruit are a natural insect repellent. An osage orange, wrinkled and green, can be placed in a cupboard or under a bed to keep away bugs. The odorless fruit will disappear in about a year. Animals don’t like the tree or its fruit. The sap may cause a rash. You can buy and sell them at farmers’ markets. The tree is not unusual at old estates. Until the 1970s a linear grove near the western edge of Garrett Square was likely a living fence on Oak Hill farm. Fort Osage, first outpost in Louisiana Purchase territory, was built in 1808 by William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) on the Missouri river and discontinued 1822, now Sibley, Missouri. Also, Osage Indian Charles Curtis was U.S. Vice President 1929-1933. The tree can be found at the southwest edge of the parking lot at Riverview Park, between McGuffey School and Market St., where Rugby Rd. peels off from Barracks, and elsewhere. Eagle SpottedCharlottesville resident and native of Orange, delivery driver for CK Courier, Edwin Sturm saw an American bald eagle while walking back to the van at Westminster Canterbury on Pantops September 17. Two others stopped to watch the rare sight, says Sturm. - Posted Sep. 19, 2002.
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