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In the village of Brownsburg in the northern part of Rockbridge County, time stands still.
Wood frame and bricks homes that have existed for two centuries or more line the main road, which was once the thoroughfare from Lexington to Staunton. In its more prosperous times, Brownsburg was home to a host of tanneries, blacksmith shops and merchantiles.
When one visits Brownsburg today, one can almost hear the clip-clop of horse hooves falling on the old stage coach route, the ringing of hammers from the village smithies and the cheerful greetings of villagers as they crossed the threshold of the general store for a game of pool, a shave or some new shoes.
Earlier this month, friends and neighbors of a man whom many identified as the heart and soul of modern-day Brownsburg gathered to dedicate a bench in his memory.
Longtime Brownsburg resident Dick Barnes died this past May. He came to the area in the mid-1980s when he was executive director of the Kappa Alpha Order and he moved the KA headquarters to Lexington.
Barnes soon began restoring a 1785 house and one-time feed store, the Lucas house, and turned it into his home. While the renovations were going on, he stored many of his antiques in a building across the road that had served as a general store and even a pool hall. Eventually he operated the former general store as Old South Antiques.Dick Barnes led the founding of the Brownsburg Community Association in 1998 and the Brownsburg Museum in 2008. Julie Fox is the director of the Brownsburg Museum.
“The village essentially remains intact,” Fox said. Being cut off by the construction of U.S. 11 and later by Interstate 81 has kept Brownsburg preserved and protected from the modern world. Cars that come through seem like anachronisms.
The vehicles passing through town on this chilly Saturday happened upon a crowd of some 25-people outside the Brownsburg Museum. The bench dedicated to Barnes was placed next to a marker designating Brownsburg as a target of Gen. David Hunter’s raid of the Shenandoah Valley.
Cutting the ribbon on the bench was Darrick Bowman, who had been a student in Barnes’ fifth grade class at Hobgood Elementary School in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Barnes taught school for five years in Murfreesboro, first at the Hobgood Elementary School and then at the Campus School.
“He was one of the best teachers I’ve ever had,” Bowman said. He influenced Bowman in such a way that Bowman pursued a career in education himself.
Bowman remembers Barnes’ U.S. history class especially and the “shoebox float” project. Students were assigned two states each and created tableaux of things unique to their particular states. Some 60 years later, Bowman still remembers his two states were New York and Wyoming. The students also created booklets about their states.
“The fact that I remembered what my states were got a good laugh [from Barnes],” Bowman said.
It was in Barnes’ class that Bowman found out that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.
Bowman kept in touch with Barnes over the years and visited Old South Antiques may times “I was always amazed by his knowledge of colonial antiques,” Bowman said.
Each year Barnes would load up a Ryder truck with some of his antiques and head south for the Heart of Country Antique Show in Nashville, Tenn. Bowman would always make the trip from Murfreesboro to Nashville to see his former teacher and good friend.
Barnes always opened his home to him when he visited. “He was a gracious host,” Bowman said. “He did everything he could to make you feel welcome.”
Following the dedication, there was a small gathering at Barnes’ former home which is now an Airbnb operated by Sam and Beth Rowe. Bowman is pleased that the Rowes are carrying on Barnes’ warm hospitality.
“They have decorated it just like Dick would have,” he said. He could still feel his presence in the house. Staying at his friend’s old home that night, through the dormer windows of his second floor room, Bowman had a perfect view of the bucolic surroundings.
“What has always struck me about Brownsburg is how peaceful and quiet it is,” he said. “The solitude and quietness are really remarkable.”
