Northampton Historic Preservation Society
Northampton Historic Preservation Society
Enriching lives through the preservation of historical sites and cultural heritage in Northampton County, Virginia.
The Northampton Historic Preservation Society (NHPS) has
commissioned local artist Albert K. "Buck" Doughty to sculpt a metal
rendition of "Pear Valley," a colonial-era yeoman's cottage near
Machipongo. "This sculpture exceeds my expectations," Mike Ash,
NHPS's president, said. "Buck is known for his metal artistry, but I've
never seen one quite like this. We are very pleased to offer this opportunity
for someone to own it."
Buck was
nicknamed "Man of Steel" in a 2019 Chesapeake Bay Magazine article
written by Bill Sterling. Well known for his exquisite metal sculptures of
wildlife, sea life, and marshland vegetation, Buck embraces a challenge. He
visited Pear Valley before beginning this project and, with a craftsman's eye
for detail, decided that the final form had to include the exposed attic joists
which are a unique feature of this 1740 cottage. "It is an incredible
house," Buck said. His appreciation of Pear Valley, a National Registered
Landmark, shows in this unique sculpture.
Tickets
($10.00 each) for a spring drawing are on sale on this website (tickets will be mailed to you) and at Book Bin, Rayfield's
Pharmacies, Lemon Tree Gallery. Check this website for news of
when and where the drawing will be held. (You don't have to be present to win.)
Proceeds go toward the preservation of the Court Green's 1907 Jail in
Eastville. The sculpture's dimensions are 13x13x10 inches and 33 pounds. It can
be seen at Lemon Tree Gallery in Cape Charles. Don't miss this opportunity to
own a one-of-a-kind, Buck Doughty sculpture of a national, yet local, historic
treasure!
Tickets for the drawing may be purchased here. Any credit card or PayPal account can be used. If you wish to add more that 10 tickets to your cart, add the first 10 then use the "continue shopping" arrow on the upper right corner of the PayPal page to return to this webpage and continue to add more tickets. *****If you wish for a different name and contact number than is given with
payment to be placed on your ticket(s), please send the desired contact information to
nhps100@gmail.com at the time of your purchase.*****
Learn More About Pear Valley
Pear Valley represents a rare survival of what was once a common building type in rural Vir
ginia. This yeoman planter's cottage has been dated by dendrochronology to 1740. In 1994, with the generous support of the Summerfield Baldwin Foundation, APVA Preservation Virginia commissioned an Historic Structures Report to assess the known history and the existing condition of the structure. The Report also laid out immediate conservation needs and a long-term preservation plan for the structure.
Over the next ten years, APVA-Preservation Virginia addressed most of them including the entire roof. It was replaced with oak shingles as called for in the Historic Structures report. The shingles were split from white oak from Germany. Preservation Virginia deeded the property to Northampton Historic Preservation Society in 2014 (see story below).
Pear Valley was placed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1969 and became a National Historic
Landmark in 2013.The National Register of Historic Places is the
official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation. A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site or structure that is officially recognized
by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance.
Northampton County has 27 properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places and two designated as National Historic Landmarks. There are a total of 120
National Historic Landmarks in Virginia. There are over 2,500 properties and districts recognized in the U.S. as National Historic Landmarks. Find more information here from the Pear Valley National Historic Landmark Nomination: National Landmark.
Click on the this link to read an article about Pear Valley's placement on the National Historic Register. TimesDispatch.comLink
Fall 2013 Lecture on the Lawn At Pear Valley --Preservation Virginia's Louis Malon
Fall 2013 Lecture on the Lawn At Pear Valley --Preservation Virginia's Louis Malon
Pear Valley Deeded to NHPS
Louis Malon, representing Preservation Virginia, has turned the keys to Pear Valley over to Nan Bennett, President of the Northampton Historic Preservation Society, and the NHPS Board of Directors. The deed to Pear Valley officially passed to the NHPS on November 13, 2014. This places a jewel of Northampton and Virginia preservation efforts into the hands of the newly independent Northampton County historic preservation nonprofit organization. NHPS, formerly the Northampton Branch of Preservation Virginia, has managed Pear Valley since the PVA acquired it in 1986. The Northampton preservation group began its mission in 1913 by saving the 1731 Courthouse on the Eastville Court Green.
In March 2014, Pear Valley was designated a National Historic Landmark by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and National 
Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. Pear Valley is one of 123 National Historic Landmarks in Virginia and 2,540 nationwide. It was included in the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1969. This yeoman planter's cottage survives as an example of what was a common building type in rural Virginia in the 1740's.
2014 NHPS Board at Pear Valley
Pear Valley - A&N Electric Cooperative Living!!!!!!
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Northampton Historic Preservation Society
P.O. Box 501
Eastville, VA 23347
email: nhps100@gmail.com
Northampton Historic Preservation Society
