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Wish You Were Here: Historical Documentation Through Postcards

Wish You Were Here: Historical Documentation Through Postcards

by | Aug 1, 2025 | 20th century, Architectual Restoration, Behind the Scenes, Betty Washington, Collections Management, Furniture, Historic Kenmore, Historic Preservation, Kenmore Assoication, Lewis Family, Lives & Legacies, Residents of Kenmore, TOPFIVE

Postcards were a staple of vacations.  Collected and sent back to friends and family so they could be part of your adventures. Many of us can remember trying to pick up postcards on the first day of vacation to get them in the mail quickly so they would arrive...
New Kids on the Block: The 20th-Century Houses of Kenmore Court

New Kids on the Block: The 20th-Century Houses of Kenmore Court

by | Jul 23, 2025 | 20th century, Architectual Restoration, Archives, Historic Kenmore, Historic Preservation, Howard Family, Kenmore Assoication, Lewis Family, Lives & Legacies, Residents of Kenmore, TOPFIVE

When you visit Historic Kenmore today, you will find a preserved city block with gardens and pathways reaching from front to back. The tranquil estate is only interrupted by two other houses along Lewis Street, hidden behind a tree line. These buildings remain the...
Kenmore Goes to Sea: Ship Naming in the US Navy

Kenmore Goes to Sea: Ship Naming in the US Navy

by | Apr 30, 2025 | 20th century, American Revolution, Civil War, Colonial America, Developing America, Founding Figures, Historic Kenmore, Kenmore Assoication, Lives & Legacies, Washington family, Washington in the World

On July 22, 1942, Annie Fleming Smith wrote a letter. Smith was a prolific letter writer—her innumerable missives had helped raise the funds that saved Kenmore two decades earlier—so it is not surprising that she put pen to paper on that summer day. What is surprising...
Lovely Linoleum and Other Historic Floor Coverings – Two Hot Takes

Lovely Linoleum and Other Historic Floor Coverings – Two Hot Takes

by | Apr 22, 2025 | 18th Century Crafts, 20th century, Architectual Restoration, Collections Management, Daily Life in the 1700s, Historic Kenmore, Lewis Family, Lives & Legacies

Linum (“Flax”) and oleum (“oil”) – Fashionable and Affordable As a Historic Preservation student at the University of Mary Washington, I’ve grown to appreciate almost all aspects of materiality. Over the past four years, my education has...