Cooperative Living May 2020 - 36
CrossRoads | Story and photos by Audrey T. Hingley, Contributing Writer
Foneswood
A Sense of Community
Electricity was the biggest thing that ever happened to
Foneswood, Va., and Alma Fenwick remembers it vividly.
M
ore than 80 years ago,
Northern Neck Electric
Cooperative ran a power line
from Oak Grove in Westmoreland
County to the community of Warsaw,
electrifying houses and farms in places
like Foneswood for the very first time.
" When we got electricity in 1939,
that changed everything, " Fenwick
recalls. " We got our first refrigerator in
1940 - before that, we had an icebox
- and the convenience of that and
lights was a big deal. "
Fast forward to 2020
and the advent of power
has not done much
to change the rural
nature of Foneswood,
an unincorporated
community of about 755
in Richmond County.
" I was born and raised in
Foneswood, but it was never a bustling
place, " says Fenwick, who was a
teenager when she flipped on a light
switch at home for the first time.
34 | Cooperative Living | May 2020
Still, there is a sense of community
in Foneswood, much of it centered
on Ephesus Christian Church, which
will celebrate its 150th anniversary
in July 2020.
" People in Foneswood are humble
and kind, " says the Rev. Danny Maupin,
pastor at the church for nearly five
years. " The atmosphere is, 'Hey, if you
stop by, you're welcome.' People make
you feel at home. "
LEGEND AND LORE
Located on the north side of the
Rappahannock River, Foneswood
once was home to a post office,
several general stores, two schools,
a blacksmith shop, many farms and
scattered homes. Benjamin R. Battaile
was appointed postmaster in 1854
but the post office closed in 1857, a
few years before Battaile was mustered
Left, Alma Fenwick; Right, the residence
of Stanford and Edna Mae Mitchell that
also served as a store and post office.
co-opliving.com
into the Virginia 55th Infantry in the
Civil War.
The post office reopened in 1871
with Robert A. Fones, the community's
namesake, as postmaster.
" The Northern Neck was isolated. A
boat or ferry was the only way you got
over the river before the [first] Downing
Bridge in Tappahannock opened in
1927, " says Aubrey Mitchell, who grew
up in the back of Peed's Store, which his
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Cooperative Living May 2020
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