Connecting History and Community: A Senior Capstone Journey Through the Waterford Market
- Loudoun Museum
- Jul 23
- 12 min read
INTRODUCTION
My name is Mawulawoe Melomey; I'm a graduating senior at Rock Ridge High School. For my capstone project, I drew inspiration from what I care about the most. For my last assignment associated with my secondary education, I wanted to do something centered around the arts. I don't consider myself to be specifically a fiber artist; I am just an artist. I like to create things in general, whether that be fiber arts, fine arts or beyond. I've always felt rather disconnected from my community, [so using my capstone project to relate]…what I like to the community that surrounds me felt like an intriguing challenge. During my [capstone] at Loudoun Museum, I did a lot of research, editing, drafting, and I even conducted an interview, which I don't think I ever would have done if left to my own devices. I not only got to learn, but I also prepared and executed a special event to showcase my research. I would like to thank the Loudoun Museum for providing space for me to delve into the topic. [Below are highlights from the interview] with Linda Landreth, the proprietor of the Waterford Market, a general goods store turned into a studio for woolen products.
Listen to the full interview on Loudoun Museum’s YouTube channel.
INTERVIEW
Mawulawoe Melomey (MM): First, I wanted to … ask how old is this building?
Linda Landreth (LL): 1883…And it actually started life as a dry goods store, which is where ladies came to get fabric and millinery goods and ribbons and bows. Then in the 1930s, it was converted to a general merchandise store, i.e., a grocery store… They sold…all manner of things in addition to groceries, but that's when it was converted. Then probably 10-12 years ago, maybe a little bit more than that, the community changed substantially... I came out here 45 years ago, there were probably 15 or more little stores, every community, every crossroads had a little country store. The last time I counted…there were only four or five of us left. The ones that have survived have had to become a specialty shop … wine and cheese or … antiques… collectibles. I've tried to maintain just a basic line of groceries for people …that need to throw together a pasta, salad, or something, and then I've kind of changed it back to a fiber studio for myself and for my friends who produce wool things.
MM: I did [read] an article written in 1995 by The Washington Post. You did mention that the store used to be a store for, did you say, textiles for women to shop for?
LL: Yeah, it was called the dry good store…and in fact…the man who grew up in this store and the woman who was postmaster for many, many years were husband and wife. … His family that converted the dry good store to a general merchandise store. So he got rid of the … the glass oak cases, and when she needed some extra workspace, he took a section of counter that was in the basement and put it down at the post office. So when you go into the post office in the work area, there's a long oak counter with deep drawers and brass poles. That was where the bolts of fabric were stored. …And the light fixture in the lobby of the post office came out of this store. So there's still a little bit of it in the foundation that has some of the oak and plate glass cases that came out of this store. When this modern stuff, like that freezer, was brought in, used in 1940, the blue-ribbon bread, those shelves and those things were brought in...the thirties and the forties.
MM: I wanted to ask if you knew any information about the previous business, did you know what was popular, what types of ribbons people would buy?
LL: Not really…when it was a dry good store, machine goods were available…There was actually wool, wool was commonplace in Waterford. There were wool mills. There was a fulling mill as you came into the village now on just one of the foundations there. There were a couple of wool processing mills going out of the village on Milltown Road. All of those powered by the creek behind us. But by the time…this store was built, machine goods were available. So they would buy fabric…the prints of those periods…were calicoes and floral prints and usually sort of basic colors. I would guess this was a Quaker community, so probably nothing very flamboyant…But young girls always want ribbons, you know. Ribbons and bows.
MM: In store, what is popular now?
LL: Dryer balls…In the food line, I carry…cold drinks and snacks for the guys who work in the area…I sell a lot of Dorito chips. I sell a lot of lamb sausage, which I produce from sheep. Probably the most popular food items. But in the woolen…products, my dryer balls.
MM: In the same article from The Washington Post, it did mention that you did hire women before. What type of women did you hire?
LL: When my partner died 42 years ago, I was still commuting into Washington…I had the good fortune of having a couple of neighbors in the community who were retired. And they took turns keeping the store. I was still commuting into Washington in order to pay the mortgage. And so a retired man and a young mother took turns running the store. Then I got a phone call from a young woman who had worked full time for the county, had taken time off from maternity leave, didn't want to go back to work full time and leave her baby. And her sister-in-law said, “Why don't you go talk to Linda? Maybe she could use some help." She started to work for me when her daughter was just a baby and continued to work for me until her daughter started middle school, went to grade school at Waterford. Patty Hutchison continued to work for me all those years... And when I retired, I started to run the store full time.
MM: ...How long have you been spinning wool for? How and when did you learn?
LL: I can tell you, 2000 was when I started spinning. A neighbor had a spinning wheel that she kind of had moved on [from]… For some reason, spinning didn't appeal to her the way she thought it would. And so she offered to sell me her wheel, and that was my first spinning wheel. I had two, I started with two sheep, a friend of mine in Maryland had a flock of sheep, and our biggest problem with sheep are domestic dogs running at large. And her area was starting to suburbanize, and some neighbors’ dogs got into her flock and did a lot of damage... And she got rid of her sheep, except she had two favorites, a mother and daughter, that she asked me would I consider giving them a home. So I started with two sheep, two white Corriedales, and now I have 38 sheep. And I've bred over the years for color because I like hand spinning natural colors.
MM: What drives you to continue to do it?
LL: To continue to do it? Oh, gosh. I've had this conversation so many times with people. When I find out they have family wheels, they don't really know where they are, somebody's attic or whatever, and I scold them about how you need... When a tree is cut, people think it's dead. No, wood is a living thing, and it needs to be nourished, or it dries out. And wheels are put together in sections and they'll dry out and contract. Wood contracts and expands, and you need to oil it or handle it…that oil from the wool and your hands feeds it... Now when my family homesteaded in Nebraska, machine goods were available. That was the late 1890s. And so there was no family wheel that made its way west with my family. So I didn't grow up with this art. But what I found is that there's such a connection with past generations of women. Even on the new wheel, this wheel is probably, I don't know, maybe 20 years old, I inherited it from a friend. But when you spin, there's something about the sound and the rhythm that's very relaxing... But even the deeper thing is there's just such a connection to past generations of women thinking about how it was a necessity to produce clothes, their families, to outfit their homes, and how old an art and how essential an art it is and has been. And that's, I think, why I continue. Part of it is just, it's so relaxing. It's just a connection that I can't quite explain, but it also is a way to pass that on and hope that people I help start spinning will be as infected as I am and continue the art.
MM: How do you think the value of fine arts has changed here in Waterford?
LL: When I came to Waterford, and I've been here 45 years, 45 years, there were a disproportionate number of artisans and craftsmen. The Waterford Quilters were organized here. The Waterford Weavers were organized here. There were the Waterford Players, the Waterford Chorus, the Waterford Book Club. This was a really thriving community… I don't know if you know the authors Geraldine Brooks and Tony Horwitz lived here for a time. He probably wrote Confederates in the Attic when they lived here. Larry McMurtry wrote Dances with Wolves. He lived here. Jake and Suzanne Page. Jake wrote for The Washington Post. Suzanne was the photographer who wrote a wonderful book on the Navajo people and a similarly wonderful book about the Hopi people... So there were a lot of artists and crafts people who lived here when I came out... I mean, there were potters and… this was an artistic community. It was a product of the 60s. There were people my age when I came out here. I'm 82, I was 40. As those people moved away and it was priced out of reach for beginning artists, you have to be successful and have a following to make a living as an artist. … Loudoun County isn't really within reach of beginning artists. And those of us who've been around, well, I mean, I'm one of the longtime residents of Waterford now. There's a handful of us that came about the same time. They're the same age. But all the artists and craftspeople are gone... We have a traditional craft fair, village fair in October. I would like to see the buildings that the foundation owns used as artists studios, as like the Second Street School is a living history for the first black school in the county. A living history, that's what I wish all of Waterford could be... It takes an extraordinary amount of money to do that kind of thing... and there's our economy, I think it's going to tank. And that's when you see less money spent on crafted items... people are more inclined and particularly the younger generation is more inclined to spend money on experiences, rather than things. And so rather than investing in a beautiful piece of furniture, reproduction furniture, they'll go to a winery and spend the evening or travel... But it's a different level of appreciation. And your generation, my hopes lie with your generation … don't disappoint me, are more environmentally tuned in. They're more racially accepting, they're more gender fluid, and just open minded. I mean, at least that's what I see... And that's a burden I put on your generation. Because somewhere my generation got off… course the way we raised kids to be more tuned into themselves. And that's, I'm afraid that's what got us to where we are now. And it's your generation's going to have to dig yourself out of the hole. And it ain’t got much to do with fiber art. Philosophy of life.
MM: The next question actually has to do with the way you answered the first question. How has the increasing prevalence of synthetic material changed any factors of your craft?
LL: Oh, well, I just think it's changed our whole consumption. Yeah, I try when I sell wool products, and I'm not… completely opposed to synthetics. I don't dye my wool. And so, the color in my hats comes from commercially dyed products. So much of our yarn now comes from Türkiye. I try to get, I try to use a U.S. yarn product for the color, but they're synthetics…It's almost impossible to avoid synthetics anymore. But I have wool in all of my products, and it's a primary ingredient in all of my products because I'm promoting sheep and wool...I try to instruct people how to wash wool, how to care for wool, so that it's not such a frightening prospect.
MM: As a business owner in a historical district, do you ever face any stereotypes, both current and historical, and how have they affected your perception of customers for your business?
LL: Another one of the many reasons why I keep this store open and as unchanged as it is, is when people come through that door and they stop and they look around, they draw a deep breath and they start to reminisce about visits to their grandparents. There was a store, I remember there was a store like this. It smells old, it looks old, and it draws out memories. And that's not changed. In all the years I've been here, that's not changed...it's one of the stronger reasons that I'm still here... when we took it over, we still cut meat and got milk and bread deliveries, had family tabs, and ran home deliveries. It was a really vibrant grocery store. Those days are long gone. But … it's still reminiscent of a store that used to be, I keep the old equipment even though it takes up space and I could probably use that space to display other people's merchandise... But I just don't want to do that because I want this place to … at least remind people of what it would have been like. Because we're losing that so rapidly... we're losing the look of an 18th century Quaker village, and I want there to be a reminder.
MM: More going into the topic, as I explained before, I wanted to really delve into the interactions of women in fiber arts and in that subject. What does women's work, that phrase, what does that mean to you?
LL: You're talking to a 1960s feminist, my dear. I think it's women's work to keep the future generations on course... Women are the creators, the peacemakers, the consensus builders, the teachers. You know, I really think it's up to women to keep civilization on course, to pass on, not just the old crafts, but just to pass on how you're supposed to live life… There was a popular song way before you wouldn't even know. What's it all about, Alfie, was the theme song. What's the meaning of life? It's to pass on what you know, to help the next generation make their way through… the hard times.
MM: How much of a role does conversation and communication play around here?
LL: Oh, it's absolutely essential. Absolutely essential... Everybody loves the story. And so to see the sheep, I mean, this has got to be the most photographed one. And to see the sheep, and then to see me spinning the wool from those sheep or see me knitting or crocheting the wool that I've spun from those sheep, to be able to tell you the names of a lot of my sheep… We're living in such a fast-paced culture that we don't take time to slow down and connect... And so when you go someplace where somebody actually smiles and says, ”Hello, what's your name? Where are you from?” ...Because I've never traveled abroad. I never will at this stage in my life. But I get to explore through other people's experiences... I don't care if people come in here and buy anything, if they've got a story to tell, you know?
MM: What changes do you hope to see in weaving the future? Crafts?
LL: Well, for one thing, I'd like to rearrange the equipment in this store so that I could set up a loom and see that change in weaving... Very recently, just in the last couple of years, they [Waterford Foundation] started traditional craft schools. And so they teach weaving, they teach spinning, they teach dyeing, floor cloth painting... Most of them are just a few hours, but it's enough to introduce you and hopefully draw some people in and generate some interest in traditional crafts. And I've already told you; I would love to see Waterford turned into a traditional craft village that's committed to preserving traditional crafts... I would love to see blacksmiths and weavers and, I mean, there were a lot of weavers, and this was a lot of wool manufacturing in Waterford. So that's my hope for the future. I just hope Waterford does not become so suburbanized that it loses its identity.
CONCLUSION
As fiber arts is defined by the utmost consideration and [patience], it struggles to exist in a world that prioritizes the opposite. Landreth’s experience in Waterford reveals that there exists a greater emphasis of appreciation beyond the created item. Waterford offered a space for genuine creation, a space for people to develop their craft and create on their own terms. The village housed a scene that was led by artists, individuals who were passionate about their craft. The artistic environment then allowed for growth beyond the [local economy; it led to cultural growth]. The arts provide a perspective that is beyond just efficiency or optimization... that we are meant to indulge in the exploration of everything; to explore the limits of fabric just as we explore the limits of space.