Tags
Allegheny Mountains, Allegheny Mountains, Country Roads. Blue Ridge Mountains, Dayton VA, Heritage Basket Studio, Pleasant View Old Order Mennonite Church
One day last week I got up early and was in Dayton, Virginia at 6 am, taking pictures of Bowman’s Mill at Silver Lake. I was a beautiful day, lower temperatures in the 70’s with low humidity, what started out to be a couple hours of photography, ended up being nearly 11 hours!
From Silver Lake I drove back West of Dayton to Pleasant View Old Order Mennonite Church, the area in all directions is just plain beautiful, as you can get an idea of the expanse of the valley from various point west of Dayton. The Allegheny Mountains to the west, the Blue Ridge Mountains to the East.
Above: Picture Left- Looking S. West from Pleasant View Church to the Allegheny Mountains
Picture Right- Front of Pleasant View Church looking east towards the Blue Ridge Mountains
Along the backroads of Dayton, some gravel and unpaved, other paved, some roads will interconnect with others, and you will end up back where you started if you are not sure where you are going. That does not bother me though, while traveling these back roads, especially when you are doing photography, you see everything differently coming from the opposite direction anyway.
This is the problem with todays super highways built for speed of getting from one place to another quickly, you miss the rural beauty that is tucked away in between these super highways. I refer to my trips like these as “Off the Beaten Path” It is just not in Dayton that these exisit, but all over Virginia. Just get off interstate, take a drive in the country.
With that being said, though Dayton, VA and Western Rockingham County offers something that other counties do not, Old Order Mennonites, horse travel is the method of transportation here., I am sure there some in Western Augusta county as well, not quite sure how far spread Old Orders are these days, but it is surprising.
Standing in the front of Pleasant View Church, looking eastward, you see the Blue Ridge Mountains across the valley, walk to side and back of the church and cemetery and you see the Allegheny Mountains to the west, which is one place that gives you are real sense of the valley east to west.
I will have to add here that the pictures of the horse and buggies in motion are not as clear as I would like, this is due to my being used to shooting flowers, buildings and places (all thing that are not moving) I will have to try to get better at setting the camera to “freeze” the motion. all in time.
Heritage Basket Studio 
The horse carriage is so lovely. It reminds me of Jane Austin novels. Thank you for sharing these pictures.
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I enjoyed your blog post and pictures. Both of my dad’s parents are buried at Pleasant View. I have an aunt who still attends there.
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So glad you enjoyed the blog and post Sue, Through my posts, here and on FB, I have made new friends, reaquainted myself with old ones, that were Old Order and moved away to form new lives. Found how many are connected through family trees and roots to Dayton and Pleasant View. I have many more posts to make, I took pictures at Pleasant View, Oak Grove and Riverdale churches. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment and “Like” the posts you did. It is greatly appreciated ! Have a wonderful week Sue! 🙂
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What a wonderful start to what I hope will be a long series about this fascinating way of life. Eleven hours very well spent. 😊
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This was interesting post, and I love the photos. The countryside looks so peaceful. Around here, even if you take the back roads instead of a super highway, people still want to drive fast!–e.g 75 mph.
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Fortunately around here, people taking the back roads in Old Order Mennonite country, most are aware that they can run up on a buggy at any time, or a tractor. and it seems people do take it slower. Thanks for taking the time to comment. it is greatly appreciated. 🙂
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Wonderful, Mitch !! Do The Old Order women always wear black caps ? In Ohio and IN I see white ones. Does that designate married ladies ? So very interesting ! Thanks for the pics, I love seeing our Land !
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Hi Jan, no they were white head coverings and black bonnets that are worn over the coverings. The old orders always have white or black satin taffeta ribbons (called strings) on the front corners of their coverings. Young women wear white, often when they have their first child or so they will change to black, I asked a friend of mine why (she was Old Order) she said well, do you know how long white strings stay white when you have a baby with messy fingers pulling on them all day?? Black does not show all this like white does! 🙂 So glad you like the pictures Jan, there will be more as the weeks go by, Thanks for taking the time to comment, it is greatly appreciated and I love seeing your comments! 🙂
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