By now, a typical University student is probably tired of walking.
One's day may consist of trekking to dormitories on Alderman Road to visit friends, then to classes in New Cabell Hall on Central Grounds. Then it might be a 15-minute walk to the Aquatic and Fitness Center and then back home before going to the Corner for a late-night sub at Littlejohn's - all in one day. Talk about blistered and hurting feet.
University students are not just tired of walking. They are sick of it.
And what exactly do they learn from all these walks - other than that University Transit Service buses should come more quickly? Certainly not that Thomas Jefferson's godfather discovered the Cumberland Gap or that Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves, is made from Albemarle brick. Not that young Paul Goodloe McIntire, founder of the Commerce School, offered food to Yankee soldiers during the Civil War.
More than likely, one's bandaged feet and futile cursing to the high heavens have led to very little information, if any at all.
Finally ready to fix all this ignorant stepping? Forgo one Saturday morning of sleeping-in to do something much more educational. Join the Walking Tours of Downtown Charlottesville to learn about 250 years of Charlottesville history during a 60-minute stroll around town.
Operated by the Albemarle Historical Society, the walking tours begin promptly at 10 a.m. Saturdays and 5:30 p.m. Thursdays, from early April through late October.
Tourists meet at the McIntire Building across from Lee Park, a one-acre square designed by early settler Thomas Walker, tour guide Joy Perry said. Walker was a legislator, surveyor, adventurer and Thomas Jefferson's godfather, she added.
Perry, a retired schoolteacher from the Tidewater area, has been leading around Charlottesville tourists for 10 years. Only when her frayed and tattered tour tote wears out, the veteran story-framer and a current Albemarle County resident says, will she quit.
The streets of downtown Charlottesville may be full of tales of tragedy and triumph but they strangely lack curves. Walker, who arrived in Charlottesville in 1737, wanted everything in the city to be on a perfectly symmetrical "corner," Perry said. For instance, Walker wanted an area of flat land near water for the location of the courthouse, she added.
The tour stops in front of the courthouse on Jefferson Street, whwich was constructed in 1803. Perry, walking quickly and far ahead of her audience, was on a mission to revive history in its fast-fading reality. Walkers followed because they did not want to miss a word. The courthouse, she explained, was set up so that the jury faces the defendant and the lawyers. Traditionally, the jury bench runs along the side of the room. Perry, once called to jury duty in this same courthouse, said she enjoys the set up. "It brings out the truth in all its glory," she said, adding that the courthouse was formerly a gathering place where church services were held every Sunday, much to the delight of Jefferson, an avid Deist.
In fact, Jefferson Street, as Perry pointed out, should rightfully be named "Worship Street" because of the many churches that have lined the street at different points in time. In its entirety, the core of the downtown area is a total of 55 acres.
In 1832, the first synagogue was built in the place of the current public library. Because the Jewish religion prohibited followers from driving to services, the Jewish community set up its own village within walking distance of the synagogue, Perry said. Accordingly, the downtown area shops used to be run by multiple Jewish merchants. When Jews were forced to move their synagogue to Jefferson Street, they lined up along the road and moved the building brick by brick to its new home, Perry said.
Eschewing the long-held notion that history tours are typically about yawns and facts, Perry explained that she "likes to talk about people."
"I hope you know I'm paraphrasing," she said. Though you could almost imagine her amidst the whirring of time, sipping tea with Jefferson himself, "I don't really know what he said," Perry admitted.
Still, Perry never steers from her objective role as a presenter of history. A representative of the Albermarle Historical Society, Perry tries to remain as objective as possible. When offering her own interpretations of history, she covers her AHS badge, making it clear that she is giving her own personal opinion. Appearing to hang on her every word, 10 people participated in her walking tour last Saturday morning.
The walkers included a family who recently moved to Charlottesville and a couple visiting the city from Columbus, Ohio. Visitor Jennifer Connor said she enjoyed all the rich details of the ever-evolving architecture. Her two young girls, Alyssa and Amanda, cited the courthouse tour as their favorite stop.
Schoolchildren, tour organizer Jean Dooley said, can glean quite a bit of knowledge by taking the walking tours. Once a guide at James Monroe's Ash Lawn-Highland, Dooley has organized the tours for the past 12 years. Dooley said around Halloween, there are "spirit walks," where ghosts of residents past come out to share their stories of more history than horror. Like the other tours, the spirit walks are free of charge for large school groups. Customarily, the Albermarle History Society asks tourists and residents only for a voluntary donation of $5 at the conclusion of each tour.
A goal of the tours is to enhance the public's understanding of Albemarle County, Dooley said. The hope is that University students will also come to learn about "their adopted home"
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