130 Years of History

1890 to 1912: The Brandon Hotel

The Brandon Hotel opened on Thanksgiving Day, 1890.  It was a rambling resort hotel built in the shingled mode of the Queen Anne style.  Able to accommodate 200 guests, the Brandon Hotel was the largest and grandest of the so-called Railroad Hotels in the Shenandoah Valley.  This original structure was two stories, featured many fireplaces and used natural gas for lighting.  Just a few years later, photos show gas-lighting fixtures that had been converted to electricity. In advertisements, it boasted central heat. There was indoor plumbing, and the sewage went straight to the river! It was quite a building for its time and placement in Basic City, Virginia.

Due to the many boom and bust cycles in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Basic City never became the success it was designed to become. Early Basic City/Waynesboro sported many industries including a pencil factory, furniture manufacturers, an automotive plant, a vinegar plant, a stove factory, and supporting industries for the railroad – which boasted a major intersection of north/south and east/west lines. As a business hotel, the Brandon was an economic success for only a few years and quickly began marketing the healing qualities of the local springs, the peaceful setting, and the cooler summers in order to attract the tourist market. By the early 1900s, it was listed as a boarding house.

1913 to 1919: The Brandon Institute

In 1913, Elmer Hoenshel converted the Brandon Hotel into the Brandon Institute, a small coeducational music conservatory.  Not much is known of the operations during this time.  Some surviving photos show a sparsely furnished lobby.  Mr. Hoenshel loved to travel and was a prolific author of travelogues and philosophical monographs.  Some of his works can be seen in the historic displays in the lobby.  The Hoenshel family home, named Elra Oaks, was built at 659 N. Winchester Avenue – just a few blocks from the Brandon Institute.  Elra Oaks has also been restored and is currently in use as a private family home.

1920 to 1975: Fairfax Hall

Unlike some of the earlier periods of the building’s history, its time as Fairfax Hall school is well documented.  The family of Professor John Noble Maxwell donated the administrative papers of the school to the Library of Virginia (https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva%2Fvi03447.xml)  Professor Maxwell operated Fairfax Hall as an exclusive finishing school for young ladies until 1936, when ownership was transferred to W.B. Gates. Before coming to Waynesboro, Mr. Gates had been president of Blackstone College, a private religious college for girls.

A gymnasium, designed by the famous T. J. Collins firm of Staunton, was built in the 1920s and still survives today.  Built over a small, spring fed stream, the building included music rooms, a basketball court, and a small stage.  It even has a swimming pool on the lower level!  Photo(s) here. 

The Science Building, a brick structure, was built in the late 40s.  The upper story contained dormitory style rooms with a shared bath while the first floor held classrooms.  Photo(s) here.  Today, it is under separate ownership and serves as a boarding house. 

In its heyday during the 1950s and 60s, the school owned more than 60 acre that contained sports fields, tennis courts, a stable, a riding ring, a reflecting pool, faculty houses and other dependent buildings.  The highlights of Fairfax Hall’s years as a school are well documented in the near-complete collection of Fairfax Hall yearbooks that can viewed digitally. Originals of these yearbooks are on display in the lobby.

Sometime during these school years, a third story was added to the original Brandon Hotel structure to increase the number of dormitory rooms available for student housing.  Members of the Class of 1950 recall that there was a significant drop in floor level on the second floor and that the floor was “wavy.” They were told it was that way from previous classes having had too many water fights!  In hindsight, we now know that the supporting structure was not sufficient to handle the weight of the addition and that several supporting beams were failing.

Fairfax Hall was closed in 1975 due to social changes in the country.

1975 to 1995: Department of Corrections

After Fairfax Hall school closed its doors in 1975, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Corrections leased the building as an academy for staff development.  It operated in this capacity until 1995.

1996 to 2000: Vacancy and Renovation

In 1996, the property was sold at auction.   One section was sold to a developer, who constructed D street and subdivided the land to construct small houses.  The School, Gymnasium, Science building, and riding rink area moved to private ownership, with hopes to develop it.  A third party bought the main lawn, in hopes of keeping it free from development.  South River Development Corporation was able to acquire the first the original hotel/school building and later the front lawn. 

Beginning in 1998, South River Development Corporation began extensive renovations to convert the dormitories and classrooms into 54 apartments for low-income seniors while they developed the kitchen and dining room into an event facility.  The first tenants moved in during February of 2001.