Freeman House Awaits Decision On National Historic Designation

is one step closer to becoming a landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.

On Monday, the Vienna Town Council authorized the submission of the house's nomination to state and national review boards, who will assess the structure's role in commerce and military for Union and Confederate soldiers during the civil war and beyond.

The nomination was prepared by W. Scott Smith and the Lynchburg, Va.-based historic preservation firm History Tech. The town and Historic Vienna Inc. which is the legacy project for Vienna's commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial from 2011-2015.

The Freeman House will be seeking designation based on two criteria: that the property "is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the board" and is also "associated with the lives of persons significant in our past." 

If it's approved by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources at its Sept. 15 meeting, the store will go on the Virginia Landmarks list that day, Smith said.  It will take 30 to 45 days for it to appear on the National Park Service Register.

From 1859 to 1929, the building was many things for many different causes and people, according to the group's nomination. The store and residence was originally built for Abram Lydecker, "an immigrant from New Jersey," a year after the railroad reached Vienna, an area then known only as Ayr Hill, according to the nomination.

The nomination details the rest of the structure's history, including its time as a post office, general store and infirmary, among others.

It was an infirmary near the beginning of the civil war, according to Historic Vienna Inc. modeled after an 1861 original, which showed soldiers climbing of the top-story window and overflowing onto the porch, perhaps to get fresh air or wait for beds inside the packed-to-capacity, makeshift hospital.

The house was also the polling place for 1861's secession vote. 

"I'm confident that the [reviewers] are going to look at this favorably," Smith said

The town has owned and had interest in the property  for a long time, Smith said,  so "we didn’t walk into here expecting to find new or different material," he said. "We tied back to primary sources as much as possible."

One thing they didn't expect: A pencil drawing of Vienna from 1861, sketched by a  famous journalist and found recently in the Library of Congress.

"We didn't change information, but [in many cases] reconnected it to sources," Smith said.

Director of Parks and Recreation Cathy Salgado said if the house is accepted by the register, the town will prepare for a dedication late this fall.