I was staring into a glass case at an old German-language Bible used by early Virginia settlers, trying to make out just what the elegant etching on the right-hand page depicted, when the Polish group came into the Luray Valley Museum.
My ears pricked up at the familiar Polish sounds of my childhood as the woman and three men advanced into the first exhibit, on the valley’s Native American beginnings. They moved quickly, the man at the head of the group translating and giving the others just the most slapdash idea of what they were seeing — “Indian artifacts and such” — before stopping in front of a mannequin of a female figure in a rawhide dress and beads, representing a native woman of the Shenandoah Valley.
“Oh, and here’s that whole legend of Pocahontas,” announced the self-appointed guide, obviously not reading any of the signs, and I wanted to shout, “No, no, no! Wrong part of Virginia!” But the group was already heading past me into the next room, full of elaborate 19th-century cast-iron stoves (“Fantastic,” the woman breathed, pausing to stare before taking off after the others), and beyond. I could hear their voices sounding back through the museum’s small maze of rooms for a while, before they left the building and headed up the parking lot to the Luray Caverns.
I couldn’t blame them. The spectacular caverns are the draw in this Shenandoah Valley town, and you wouldn’t want any overseas visitors who made their unlikely way here to miss them.
But it seemed a shame that they couldn’t get more out of the museum, which officially joined the Luray Caverns complex in August. Yes, it’s small and specialized. But so engrossing, an eye-opening amble through the history of the Shenandoah Valley (of which the formerly Luray, now the Page, Valley is a subset).
Some things I learned:
That “Shenandoah” comes from various Indian words – Gerando, Cenantua, Chenandor – meaning “daughter of the stars.”
That the valley was first explored in the 17th century by a German doctor (though an English expedition – the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe! – later claimed it, natch, for the crown).
That the region, once rich in iron ore, was a major producer of iron goods for Virginia and beyond.
Which explains the aforesaid stoves and their decorative plates, covered in curlicues and flowers and other ornaments that seem too intricate for a material such as iron. But there they are, looking, as the woman said, fantastic. “I’ve never thought of stoves as works of art before,” remarked my husband as we paused to examine a plate depicting Aesop’s fable of the turtle that wanted to fly. Imagine something so literary on a stove today!
The most surprising thing, though, was the extent of German and Swiss influence in the region. The English may have snatched claim to the valley, but the Germans were major settlers, and they brought their world and their ways with them. Just look:
Here’s a display on the Henkel press, once the largest producer of German-language Lutheran books in the country. Here’s a streitholtz, a funny-looking musical instrument that’s rare today but once sounded everywhere in the Shenandoah. And there’s a pie chest, its tin door panels perforated with the German fylfot motif. You’d recognize that if you saw it; it’s a more curvilinear version of the swastika. In fact, says the display info, it was a traditional good luck sign until Hitler and the Nazis “vilified” it, and sure enough, it pops up time and again, on quilts and other artifacts.
Elsewhere, I was taken with the genuine Conestoga wagon that once hauled freight to Baltimore; a display on four brothers who went to fight in the Civil War and, sad story, never came back, save for one; and a pair of curly-toed ice skates just like the ones you see in those old-timey prints of gents gliding on the ice in their frock coats.
It was a day for anything but skating, though, gorgeously warm and sunny, so we headed outside. But alas. The hands-on gem-mining station hadn’t yet opened for the season, disappointing the kids who’d been running behind us, exclaiming over the museum’s shotguns and cannonballs. (They got over it when they saw the orange cat lazing on a nearby picnic table.) And the reconstructed 19th-century farming community that’s slowly going up on several acres behind the museum’s log house was still off-limits.
That bummed me out. I’m into old buildings, and these are the real thing – authentic valley structures, like the Elk Run Dunkard Meeting House, disassembled and transported to the site for preservation. Belleview, the home of the valley’s first judge, was so meticulously de- and reconstructed, a park employee told us, that its irregular foundation stones were numbered so that they could all be put back in their original position. One day, possibly as soon as this summer, it’ll be furnished and opened for public viewing.
But for now, we were only able to admire the valley-style “fort house” from the outside. Which, after a day so lovely and enlightening, turned out to be anything but a bummer after all.
If you go
STAY
The Mimslyn Inn, 401 W. Main St., 800-296-5105, . Newly refurbished grand hotel in downtown Luray. Rooms from $115.
DINE
The Speakeasy. Casual bar and restaurant in the basement of the Mimslyn Inn. Entrees from $12.95.
Gathering Grounds, 55 E. Main St., 540-743-1121. Hip downtown coffee shop serving gourmet sandwiches, from $5.25.
PLAY
Luray Valley Museum, 970 U.S. Hwy. 211 W., 540-743-6551, . Part of the Luray Caverns complex, open daily 10 a.m. until 1 1/2 hours after the last caverns tour begins, which is 6 p.m. April 1 to June 14 and 7 p.m. June 14 to Labor Day. Admission included in price of Luray Caverns ticket, $23 adults, $21 seniors, $11 ages 6-12.
