By Christine Mears
My father and I traveled to Downtown Culpeper to explore the area. The first boutique my dad and I entered was called “Harriet’s General”, a very hipster-like store that sells items such as bohemian jewelry, candles, soaps, lotions, cacti, Frye and Lucchese boots, fashionable clothing, posters, and fun stationary and greeting cards. My dad, who is not one for shopping, really enjoyed the vintage posters and similar items they were selling. The store associate was really friendly, and talked to us for a bit about the store, but did not push us to buy anything which is something I really appreciated as a customer. One interesting thing she told us is that everything in the store is made in America, which is pretty rare to now a-days because so many products are imported. I actually felt like I could afford some of the items, which was nice for a college student. If I had brought some spending money, I would have purchased quite a few things. It took quite a bit of will power to avoid spending money in this boutique. I was especially interested in the denim jackets they had, as well as the all natural candles, soaps, and lotions they were selling. Some day when I am able to go to Culpeper again, I will return to this boutique (hopefully with some spending money this time).
The second store we visited was called “Green Roost”, which is a trade shop that focuses on ecofriendly products. We chose to go there because of her funny window display. They were socks with funny quotes and sayings like, “Adult in training” and “Ringmaster of the s***show” that were for sale for a little under $20. The chalkboard in the window display read, “the divorce rate among my socks is astonishing. #keepthemtogether”. The socks that most caught our attention were a pair of dark blue socks that said “Let her win, she’s probably right anyways” with a picture of a washing machine label that said “Machine wash cold, tumble dry warm, or whatever”. My dad and I giggled as we saw these socks, as it reminded us of my mom, who is the type of mom who has seven different categories of piles when doing loads for laundry. The rest of my family all sort our loads of laundry in two categories, but do not argue with her, as she is very strict with her approach. When we went inside to look around, there were also soaps, bath bombs, essential oils, home décor, and everyday living essentials. This was a boutique that had great gift options for friends and family that were both cute and affordable.
These two boutiques were the highlight of our walk down East Davis Street in downtown Culpeper. Afterward, I decided to check out the restaurants around town. There were not many different cuisines to choose from. It was mostly all-American menus, baked goods, or sandwiches. I gave up after going into my third restaurant looking for a bite to eat, nothing had the immediate appeal as I was hoping for. Although it was in my price range, I was not in the mood for a plain old sandwich and chips, when I could have easily brought that from home. We decided to head home, as most shops were closing for the evening, and there was not too much left that we could have done.
I live equal distance between Downtown Fredericksburg and Downtown Culpeper. My reason for spending an afternoon in Culpeper was to learn how it compared to Fredericksburg. It is sort of a smaller version of the town. Fredericksburg has a cute boutique on every corner, a variety of restaurants, numerous small annual traditions, and a clean cut look, downtown Fredericksburg looks like a cute little town straight out of “Gilmore Girls.” Culpeper is a smaller than downtown Fredericksburg, does not have as many stores or restaurants, and is in the process of renovations. Both are historic towns that are known for their homey and fun appeal, and yet is never really mentioned in a conversation when asking, “Where are some fun places to go in the area?”
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Fredericksburg and Culpeper are small towns located about thirty miles apart in coastal Virginia. Both towns have a long history. In the 18thcentury Fredericksburg was an important port, including during the slave trade. Available water power from the Rappahannock River gave rise to milling of grain, cotton, and some manufacturing. During this time, residents in the area built Plank Road (now Route 3) to connect to the interior via Germanna, Culpeper. Fredericksburg was an important site during the Civil War because it is located on the railroad line that connects Richmond and Washington D.C., and therefore had strategic importance. After the war ended, the town began to shrink due to manufactures moving to other areas, but regrew in the mid 20thcentury due to the baby boom and urbanization. More modern history, less old old history. Culpeper is named after Thomas Culpeper, who was the Colonial Governor of Virginia from 1677 to 1683. The first town was created in 1752. It was initially named Fairfax, after Lord Fairfax, but this changed to avoid confusion with Fairfax Station and Fairfax Court House, two towns located farther north. During the American Revolution, the Culpeper Military was active in the area. Because of Plank Road and Route 15 plus its location on the railroad, Culpeper was a strategic crossroad during the Civil War with both armies moving back and forth to control the transport routes. The town shrank considerably after the Civil War, possibly because the county aggressively enforced Jim Crow laws. Culpeper County was the last county in Virginia to become integrated within schools. For the 2010 census, the population of Culpeper was about 16,379 people. It is fairly busy town today, as a lot of people who want to live in a small town, but work in Washington D.C. reside there, as it is a decent distance to commute to for work. I believe that Culpeper is keeping from fully developing, as they do not want to become like downtown Fredericksburg or other popular towns, that have begun to overpopulate and build expensive condominiums and apartment buildings.
Traffic in Downtown Culpeper is surprisingly hectic, especially when driving down Main Street. Finding parking is difficult; as it is all parallel parking that varies between one hour and three hours parking with very few parking lots (I got lucky with parking as it was a Tuesday and not a weekend day). One thing that Downtown Fredericksburg and Culpeper have in common is the “amazing” parking options. For the first time, Fredericksburg parking actually is better than I thought. Culpeper only has limited two-hour or three-hour parking spots, and the rest are either thirty minutes or an hour. I was able to park in a three-hour parking lot, on a Tuesday. Imagine what the weekend must be like. Although Fredericksburg lacks in it’s available parking spots, almost all of their spots are two-hour parking or more; not to mention the garage that is on the end of Sophia Street that is three-hour parking for free, and then one dollar per additional hour. Downtown Culpeper is even less enjoyable to walk; as it is rather loud from all the zooming cars, since Culpeper has no alternative highway to take, but rather has the main road go right through downtown.
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One interesting thing that I found on culpeperdowntown.com is that they are doing a placement of wall murals throughout downtown to enhance the physical appearance, and help increase tourism. A lot of downtown areas are doing this now to help show off the art, history, and culture of their area.
Downtown Culpeper has the potential to be a beautiful historic town that is just as popular as downtown Fredericksburg. After spending a bit of time in the town, I believe that the town is not visited or mentioned as much as Fredericksburg because Fredericksburg is trying fairly hard to be that up-scaled town. I also believe it is not mentioned as much because there are just more store and restaurant options in Downtown Fredericksburg. I still would recommend to any one that they take a day trip to downtown Culpeper to see the cute little town, and see what it has to offer, as its history is fairly interesting and is shown with in the architecture, art, and culture of the town.