Photo of the Week
Stonewall Jackson House
The Stonewall Jackson House at 8 East Washington Street in Lexington, just one block west of the Lexington Visitor Center, offers a glimpse into the home life of the famous Confederate General, Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. An orientation video, exhibits, and guided tours offered on the hour and the half-hour emphasize Jackson’s life as a private citizen, professor at the Virginia Military Institute, family man, church member, and community leader during his decade in Lexington. In the spring of 2011, in recognition of Virginia’s Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, tours will emphasize the “Turning Points” in T. J. Jackson’s life and the local community leading up to the outbreak of war. In April, 1861 Jackson led the corps of cadets to Richmond and he never came back to Lexington alive.The Jackson House is furnished with many of Jackson’s own possessions, and reflects the life of a middle-class family of modest means and simple tastes. Jackson, who came to Lexington in 1851 to teach natural and experimental philosophy and artillery tactics at the Virginia Military Institute, very much wanted his own home. He wrote a friend that “I shall never be content until I am the head of an establishment in which my friends can feel at home in Lexington.”
Jackson luxuriated in the only home he ever owned, and despite his stern public dignity, at home he could be quite playful. Mary Anna said, “He would often hide himself behind a door at the sound of the approaching footstep of his wife, and spring out to greet her with a startling caress.”
Jackson took great pleasure in tending the garden behind his home. In the fall of 1860, he wrote to Mary Anna about growing a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, including lima beans, carrots, onions, cabbage, turnips, beets, potatoes, and “some inferior muskmelons.” According to Mary Anna’s sister Laura, who visited with the Jacksons, “I shall never forget the magnificent giant celery he grew, which he exhibited with pride.”
Visitors can stroll through the restored garden with fruit trees, heirloom vegetables, and flowers, or browse in the museum shop, which specializes in books, prints, and gifts inspired by 19th-century styles.
Admission fees and sales in the museum shop help support the educational programs and operations of the museum. Admission to the Jackson House is $8.00 for adults and $6.00 for youth under 18. Children under six are admitted free of charge. Group rates are available with advance reservations. Free off-street parking is available at the nearby Visitor Center or in the public parking garage.
Hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, March through December. The last tour begins at 4:30. The house is closed January and February, and on Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas day.
For information call (540) 463-2552 or visit http://www.stonewalljackson.org. Tour alternatives are available for visitors with special needs.
