Many little schools dotted the landscape of Fulks Run during the late 1800s and early 1900’s.  The bookLocal Lore of the Shenandoah (Lilliendahl/Cullers) list the following:
The Chimney Rock School was a one-room school built in 1885 at the entrance to Brock’s Gap. The original land for the school was deeded to the Plains District School Board by Sarah Riddle on October 21, 1885. The school probably closed about 1906.
The Extract (Church Mountain) School was one of the shortest lived schools in Rockingham County. The Excelsior Oak Extract Company was a major employer in the Fulks Run area fro the late 1800s to the mid-1920s. The company built this school for the children of its employees. Called the “ooze factory” by local residents, this business, owned by General Roller, extracted a variety of products from the oak trees in the area. Both the plant and the school was located a short distance north of Fulks Run at the base of Church Mountain.
The Fulks Run School was located near Fulks Run on Dry River. The date of the construction of this one-room school is unknown. in 1914, this school was replaced by a two-room school located further south. from 1914 through 1922, the Linville and Plains District Board hired the teachers. The school closed at the end of the 1951-52 school session.
The Genoa School was built in 1919 to repose two older schools in the neighborhood– the Oak Grove School and the Shoemaker School. The 1919 recorded deed states that the land for the Genoa School was purchased from Rev. and Mrs. George Fulk and the Shoemaker family. Records indicate that the Fulks were paid $171.87 for 137.5 “poles” of land. The Shoemakers were paid $50.00 for 16.5 “poles” of land.
Originally known as the Fawley School, the Mt. Pleasant School was deeded to the Plains District School Board by Adam H. Fulk on September 24, 1880. This school served the community until about 1900 when a new school was built on land acquired from William May.

The first mention of the Broadway Pottery was in a document dated 1890, however local historians don’t know much about the pottery before the early 1900’s when a young man named Charles (C.C.) Wood began working there.
Wood enjoyed the pottery business — creating, firing and finishing fine earthenware, but eventually the salary he was able to draw from working there was not enough to support his growing family. He accepted a job at a large pottery in Keyser, West Virginia. While the Wood family was in Keyser, the Broadway Pottery closed.
In 1925, C.C. and his family returned to Broadway, and together with his wife, Lena, and fellow potter, Fred Byford, they formed a corporation and bought the Broadway Pottery. They changed its name to Shenandoah Pottery Company.
About ten years ago, we were able to talk with Harold Wood, C.C.’s son, about what it was like growing up around the kilns and clay. Many of Harold’s earliest memories were centered around the family’s business. He remembered playing around the big kilns and watching the pottery being created. The the main floor of the building held supplies such as silica rock, sand, kaolin clay, fire clay and other minerals. The pottery did not use local clay, but ordered the raw materials elsewhere.
The main floor also held tons of coal needed to run the huge kilns. The kiln temperature had to be exact in order for the pieces to come out without cracks and blemishes. Pieces had to be in the oven for three days in order for the glaze to set properly. After the three day firing period, workers had to wait several days for the large ovens to cool enough to remove the pieces.
All during the firing process, C.C. or one of his employees had to keep the fires burning at an even temperature day and night. They did this by shoveling coal into huge, metal doors located around the base of the kiln.
The Shenandoah Pottery manufactured toilets, sinks, earthenware, porcelain, china, terra cotta, bricks, tiles, pipes and ceramic ware. It also produced glassware, glass ornaments, cut glass and structural glass. The Pottery shipped the finished products by railroad to markets in the northern states.
Unfortunately, the Shenandoah Pottery didn’t survive the economic woes of The Great Depression. Although the pottery has been closed over eight decades, some of the pieces it produced are still collected today.
Information from Local Lore of The Shenandoah (Lilliendahl and Cullers)

The first Post Office in the town of Broadway was established on September 4, 1854. It was officially called “The Broadway Depot,” but it was housed in Beards Store (the former A. W. Whitmore and Sons Grocery Store). John Q. Winfield served as the first postmaster. According to an article in The Daily News Record, annual receipts for the first several years ran under $25.
Women have traditionally played an important role in Broadway’s economic and industrial advancement. Broadway’s first postmistress was Mrs. Lillian Basore in 1869. Mrs. Mary E. Pugh served in 1885, and again in 1893. Miss Sallie W. Pugh began a 10 month term in November, 1917.
In October, 1880, the name was officially changed from Broadway Depot to Broadway Post Office. For unrecorded reasons, the post office was closed from March 8, 1882 until June 15, 1882. It was reestablished after June 15 with John Beard as postmaster.
The Broadway Post Office changed locations several times over the years. Finally, on November 17, 1962, it found a permanent home: a newly constructed building on the corner of Miller and Central Streets.

During the 1930’s, an enterprising young woman named Cora Mason opened a bakery on Main Street. Folks in Broadway loved her fresh bread and rolls so much that she started a local bread delivery service. A brand new 1939 Chevy panel truck took the baked goods as far north as Woodstock and south to Bridgewater.
Some time later, Reuben Dove bought the bakery and turned it into a candy and frozen custard store. Buying penny candy and feasting on cool frozen treats are memories many Broadway folk will carry with them the rest of their lives.
Kids growing up in the early 1950’s talk of taking glass soda bottles to Dove’s store for a cash refund. The money was usually “recycled” right back into the store though, since most of the young entrepreneurs used their profit to buy candy and ice cream.
I have heard countless tales of the idyllic joys of growing up in Broadway in the ‘50’s. Children roamed all over town playing pick up baseball games, swimming in the Linville Creek or just dreaming the day away. Parents never had to worry about the whereabouts of their youngsters.
Perhaps these memories grow fonder with the telling, but there seems to be a lot of truth in this pleasant reminiscing. The world has changed drastically in the past 60 years, and that change has inevitably affected even small towns such as Broadway. But the memories linger, and who knows, maybe on a particularly lazy summer day when the traffic slows and the sun hangs low in the sky, one can hear faint echoes of laughter as those long-ago children discover the latest flavor of frozen custard at Dove’s candy store!

One could not live in the Broadway area long without getting  to know Jr.  and Betty Fitzwater. They were true pillars of the community, and dedicated their lives to helping their neighbors.  Several years before they passed away, I had a chance to spend a Sunday afternoon with the Fitzwaters. I probably gleaned enough information from that visit to write an entire book on their lives, but that’s another project for another day!
Although they were involved in many serious pursuits (such as saving lives and running the town), they also had a fun — and some might say mischievous — side.  In fact, Jr. admitted  always being “up to something!”  One of the events they enjoyed organizing the most was the annual Broadway Firemen’s Parade.
Folks in Broadway never quite know what to expect when they attended the Firemen’s Parade. There was, of course, the traditional bandwagon pulled by a team of horses.  This process was not as simple as it sounds.  They would have to put the wagon wheels in the creek for a week so they would soak up water and swell up  big enough to use. On one occasion, the bandwagon wheels swelled too big to cross the bridge into Broadway. Fortunately, there was time to allow the wheels to dry out and deflate a bit before the day of the parade.
One particular parade in the late 1940’s literally left spectators with their mouths agape. The Grand Marshall of the parade was none other than the famous King of the Bull Whip, Lash Larue!
Sometimes Mother Nature cooperated with the parade, and sometimes she didn’t. Once Jr. had arranged for skydivers to jump from a plane and surprise the spectators. There were surprises that day, but not exactly the ones on the agenda. The wind blew the stuntmen past Broadway, west to Cootes Store. Jr. and Betty had to follow the off-course divers and drive them, unceremoniously, back to town.
Broadway residents still enjoy two parades each year: the Homecoming Parade in October and the Christmas Parade in December. The bands still play (although not from a bandwagon), the floats still dazzle and the fire engines roar, but we would all be pleasantly surprised if, by chance, a rope twirling cowboy or an amazing stuntman would happen to pass by.

(special thanks to Tony Biller for research information)
Shortly after the Civil War, a land transaction took place near the railroad tracks in the newly formed town of Broadway. On October 13, 1873, Mr. William Minnick gave Mr. John Quincy Winfield his asking price for the land –$25.00. Shortly after the purchase, Minnick began to construct a large, two story building.
Minnick crafted the building with smooth, flat rocks that lay by the riverbed of the Linville Creek, which flowed nearby. His two-story house had a classic German design with twelve rooms, a basement and an attic.
He called his grand construction the Minnick hotel. Later on, he added several buildings outside the hotel, including a slaughterhouse, a wagon shop, and a blacksmith shop – Minnick was well known for his skills as a smithy.
Minnick also owned the building beside the hotel – a saloon. Both the hotel and the saloon were situated in a prime location for business: by the railroad track. Apparently quite a few rough customers frequented his establishments. Legend has it that Minnick kept a black bear tied to a white oak tree between the buildings. This “security system” assured complete order and control among his patrons!
But despite the great location and the grand hotel, Minnick was not able to pay his bills. In the spring of 1874, he declared bankruptcy. His hotel was sold at a public auction, and bought by David Rolston. Twenty days later, it was sold again to Sarah Steigel for the sum of $1,355.
Steigel converted the hotel into a boarding house and allowed the Minnicks to stay on as hired help. Mr. Minnick was the blacksmith and Mrs. Minnick cooked the meals. Within the year, Steigle went into partnership with George Hoover, and the hotel name was changed to Hoover Hotel.
The Hoover Hotel was quite an establishment. In addition to the usual amenities, the hotel boasted a barbershop and a lady’s hat shop. The barber was a man named “Pegleg” Callahan who was apparently handy with a razor but not with bookkeeping. Later occupants of the hotel found many of Callahan’s records scratched on the walls of the shop.
Hoover died in the late 1800’s, and his son took over the hotel. He changed the name to Arlington Hotel. Apparently, “Arlington” was a combination hotel and boarding house. It was open for almost a decade when the property was again sold to Melvin Sandy. When Sandy bought the place in 1908, so many people were living in the hotel that local residents called it “The Beehive.”
The property was sold several more times before it was converted into the Marion Sandy residence. The former Arlington Hotel still stands by the railroad track in Broadway.

Although the mishap probably did not go down in the annals of Southern Railway History as one of the great train disasters of the century, the derailment at Daphna station caused quite a stir in the little town of Broadway.
Early on the morning of July 8, 1932, J.W. Chenault, husband of the Daphna postmistress, was waiting by the train tracks to get the mail pouch for the residents of the little community. He had this to say in an interview with The Daily News Record on July 9, the morning after the wreck: “I got ready to wave at Frank Breeden, the mail clerk, when he passed the station. As quick as a flash, the engine took the switch, began tearing the track to pieces and was wrecked. At first it looked like it was coming right towards me. I yelled and ran into the house and couldn’t talk. Mrs. Chenault rushed at me and wanted to know what was the matter. I pulled her outside and showed her the wrecked train.”
Engine 1214 had left Union Station in Harrisonburg earlier that morning. It had planned to stop in Strasburg, Front Royal and Washington D.C. in addition to Daphna. Plans came to an abrupt halt when a switch leading to the Daphna siding failed to work, and the train crashed on to its right side, tearing up the tracks as it slid.
Fortunately, there was only one passenger aboard, and no one was seriously injured. Engineer R.L. Goode and fireman M.C. Coons were burned, but were able to escape without life-threatening injury. Mr. Chenault was able to take the injured crew members to the hospital in his car.
News spreads quickly in small towns, Broadway was no exception. Soon, hundreds of people were lined up at the tracks and on the surrounding hillside. About 2500 spectators gathered to watch the cleanup. Members of the Broadway Presbyterian Church sold sandwiches to bystanders. Southern Railway sent a wrecker crew from Alexandria to raise the downed train and ease it on its way to the repair shop.
Passenger service from Harrisonburg to Alexandria was stopped in 1943 because of World War II, and was resumed briefly in 1946. However it drew too few passengers and was discontinued permanently in 1949.
Information for this post gathered from Regards to Broadway: The Story of an American Town (Cullers and Lilliendahl)

The town of Broadway has always been blessed with kind, caring and knowledgable medical professionals. Here is a list of some of the memorable medics of the past:
Dr. Frederick A. Stoutamire
Dr. Frederick A. Stoutamire practiced medicine in Broadway from 1913 to 1928. He, his wife Elsie and two sons, Albert and Fred Jr. lived in a large, frame house on Main Street (later occupied by Dr. Robert L. Schuler and his family).
After leaving Broadway, Dr. Stoutamire moved to Richmond and set up practice as an anesthesiologist. He died July 23, 1955.
Dr. Robert L. Schuler
Dr. Robert Schuler and his family came to Broadway after Dr. Stoutamire moved to Richmond. He and his wife, the former Mary Jane Sutherland, were in the Broadway area for eighteen years. The couple had three daughters and one son.
Dr. L.J. Marshall
Another Broadway physician was Dr. L.J. Marshall. Dr. Marshall was a bachelor and lived above D.O. Hulvey’s Store and Meat Market in the early to mid 1930’s.
Dr. Marshall was an avid hunter, and lost his life in a car accident while leading a hunting expedition. Dr. Marshall took a group of Broadway residents to Eastern Virginia to hunt for deer. On the way, he collided with another vehicle on Spotswood Trail, just over the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Green County. His car went over an embankment. He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Dr. William Fahrney
Dr. William Fahrney was an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist who practiced medicine in Broadway in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. He was born in Timberville, and the son of longtime Timberville postmaster, Charles Fahrney and Mary McInturff Fahrney. He was married to the former Pauline Aldhizer.
Dr. Charles Watson
Dr. Watson came to town toting a couple of crates of books and sporting a two-seater coup, complete with a rumble seat. Fresh out of medical school, Dr. Charles Edward Watson and his wife, Eva were ready to set up practice in the little town of Broadway.
He made house calls, not only in Broadway, but also down the country roads of Brocks Gap. He kept his prices low so that every family could afford his services. Folks soon got used to his familiar, “One dollah, please.”
Dr. Watson believed in the healing properties of natural herbs and often prescribed them for a variety of maladies. His envelopes of “little grey pills” became a well known prescription. I personally remember taking the tiny, licorice-flavored pills as late as the mid 1960’s. I’m still not exactly sure what illnesses they cured!
Dr. Charles Watson was a well-loved small town physician. He was a comforting sight to the ill and their families. His quiet, efficient manner had a calming effect, even in the midst of a life-threatening emergency. He remained a friend and faithful physician until his death in 1970.


Information from “Regards to Broadway: The Story of an American Town (Cullers and Lilliendahl, 2005)