Historical gem: Waynesborough deserves community’s support

Sometimes when you have lived in a community all your life, you don’t always appreciate its treasures.

You know your county has history, but you are too busy with your own life to really think about the impact of that heritage, or why you should worry about preserving it.

Waynesborough Historical Village is one of those places that sometimes people forget about.

The historical site, which honors the first Wayne County seat, is a pleasant place that really allows visitors to look back to what life must have been like in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

There is a blacksmith shop, a school, a church and even a general store. And although the buildings themselves are not located in the same places they were a little less than 200 years ago, they are treasure troves of information about how this county was formed and what life was like for those who were there from the start.

But taking care of all that history and continuing to upgrade and improve the educational offerings at the site are not inexpensive. To keep Waynesborough going, the community needs to pitch in with the costs and support the programs offered there.

Waynesborough is a chance for a family to drive a few miles and step back a few hundred years. It is a place where children can see that there really was life before Nintendo and X-box. And, most importantly, Waynesborough is a place for everyone who can claim “Wayne County native” on his or her birth certificate. It is an important milestone in your history.

Supporting the village is easy. Write a check for as much as you can afford, even if it is only a few dollars; every little bit helps when you are refurbishing buildings and maintaining grounds. You can also come out to the site for reunions, family events or just for a nice weekend outing. Walk around the site and talk to the volunteers and learn a little bit more about where you came from.

Protecting history is everybody’s job. Waynesborough Historical Village is a good place to start fulfilling that responsibility.

Published in Editorials on May 26, 2005 11:52 AM