The Antiques and Oddities Building in Petersburg, built in 1854, was once a weighing station. Mules and wagons entered through the huge door framed by massive granite blocks from the nearby Dinwiddie quarries. Legend has it that Robert E. Lee weighed himself in the building.
These days the entrance, at 1 East Old Street, welcomes visitors to Patricia Dillard’s antique shop. “I’ve collected antiques for 20 years. I guess you would say it was a hobby of mine,” says Dillard. “I had so many antiques that I had to rent places to store them all. A dream of mine was to have an antique shop of my own someday.”
Dreamers like Dillard help preserve the architecture and history of our great cities. Like her, visionaries are taking note of the elegant old lady on the Appomattox River: Petersburg.

Preserved Beauty
The city is making heads turn not only because of her historical roots and preserved architecture, but also because she is one of the few remaining cities on the East Coast not overdeveloped and overrun with high-priced condos and artificial facades. Certainly, the stage is set for her revitalization.
Some say Petersburg is already in the midst of a renaissance—especially in the downtown district called Old Towne.
Eclectic restaurants line the streets; boutiques, antique malls and spas entice window shoppers; art galleries complement the 18th- and 19th-century architecture; and the mellow sounds of sax and acoustic guitar grace the night air at local establishments. Sycamore Rouge, a French-style cabaret theater with outside café tables, completes the European ambience of this artistic enclave.

Boom, Bust and Boom
Established in 1748 and once one of the busiest ports in the United States, Petersburg has experienced the devastation of fire, war and even a tornado.
During the Siege of Petersburg in 1864-1865, more than 600 homes and buildings were destroyed, and many surviving structures still bear the scars of battle.
After Reconstruction, Petersburg thrived as an important port, especially as an exporter of tobacco. But when the big tobacco company Brown and Williamson moved its plant out of Petersburg after WWII, the city slipped into economic depression.
The city fared better in the ’60s and ’70s, when other businesses moved in, especially the Walnut Mall. But even that didn’t last. The mall closed down by 1991 and a new one was built in Colonial Heights instead. In 1998 a tornado devastated parts of the city, especially Old Towne.
Today, a new generation of entrepreneurs strives to bring the grand old lady back to the thriving city she once was. A retired management analyst with grown children, Dillard could have moved to sunny Carolinian shores or South Florida. Instead, she chose to settle in Petersburg.
Dillard smiles when she recalls meeting Fred, the owner of the Oddities building at an antique auction. “We became good friends right away. He stored his fine antiques in this building, and when I visited it for the first time, I fell in love with it.”
Dillard, who shopped in Old Towne as a teenager, told Fred he was doing his building an injustice and the town an injustice by not opening it up to the public.
The rest is history. Dillard moved her antiques into Fred’s warehouse, sold her condo and opened her shop. “I fell in love with Old Towne, and now I get to live above my shop as a caretaker of the building. I feel like I’m on a permanent vacation. Everyone’s so spontaneous down here. We go out to dinner or local events together all the time. I’m having the best time of my life.”

Mutual Support
Nearby shop owner and Petersburg resident Teresa Munn mirrors Dillard’s enthusiasm. “I like the way our community works together,” reflects Munn. “I love the people and the support we all get from one another. You can enjoy history and get a good meal at the same time.”
Munn and her husband moved from Poquoson to Petersburg a year ago. “We relocated here because we thought it would be good for our business. Fort Lee is expanding and military wives love our pottery.”
Munn, herself a military wife, started her business, Signature Style Polish Pottery, while her husband was stationed in Germany. It started out as an Internet business, then changed when her husband retired from a successful career in the military.
“We relocated close to Newport News and opened up a store there. But after a few years, we found Petersburg and opened up another store there,” says Munn. “We loved Petersburg so much, we decided to make Old Towne our permanent residence. There’s so much positive energy here,” says Munn.

The Art League’s Role
Jim Warehime, president of the Petersburg Area Art League, agrees with Munn. Originally from Tallmadge, Ohio, Warehime served with the Navy’s special forces and moved to Hopewell from Norfolk in 1975. Thirty years later, he moved to Grove Avenue in Old Towne.
“I’ve always loved art, and Petersburg is a very visual city. Just look at the woodworking on some of the old buildings. Petersburg itself is a work of art.”
Warehime became president of the art league because he made every meeting the first year he joined. “The second year they elected me president,” he laughs.
His duties include running the meetings, raising funds for the art league building, which is “8,000 square feet of partially occupied space,” educating area school children about art, and bringing more artists to the city.
“We’ve had 50 artists move their shops here from Shockoe Bottom [in Richmond] over the past few years. They see the area as a Soho or Greenwich Village,” says Warehime. “This is the best time for Petersburg and the arts. We have a very bright future, especially with all the rebuilding and outside interest.”
Artist Carole Ann Meese owns the Friend House Gallery across the street from the Petersburg Area Art League. A retired school psychologist, Meese shares her building with potter Kathryn Hedgepeth. The gallery, built in 1816 by Nathaniel Friend, mayor of the city and tobacco merchant, has retained most of its original structure and woodwork.
Meese, whose son owns Wabi-Sabi, an eclectic restaurant with a jazz bar on the lower level, finds that “Petersburg is developing into a flourishing art community.”
While Meese lives in Chesterfield, fellow artist and photographer Joey Dunovant resides in the upstairs apartments of his Sol Cooper Gallery, and artists Bobby and Hope Lynch are moving from Carytown to Old Towne this summer.

Manhattan Transplant
Not all of the new residents of Petersburg hail from Virginia. Bonnie Kirby, owner of the Pink Scottie, an upscale women’s clothing store, moved south from Manhattan with her husband and 12-year-old twins.
“When we first moved to Virginia, my husband and I tried the suburbs, but we missed the diversity of city life,” says Kirby. “We started looking around and found Petersburg. This city gives us a sense of history, a sense of place. You can’t find such character elsewhere.”
Retired from a profession in advertising, Kirby decided to fulfill her dream as a boutique owner. “I wanted to have complete creative freedom in fashion. And that’s what I have now. This shop is my dream.”
Beverly Rivers and Jeff Abugel relocated to Petersburg from Iowa for the same reasons: the charm and the character. Abugel, a published writer originally from New York, searched the web for historic properties and found Petersburg.
For four years, Rivers and Abugel went back and forth between Des Moines and Petersburg. Rivers, while working for Better Homes and Gardens, decided to partially retire and reside permanently in Petersburg with Abugel. Together they own River’s Edge, an antique and gift shop at 20 West Old Street. Rivers says she has noticed a change over the last year: “More and more people are coming here to dine and shop. And they keep coming back. People from the surrounding areas are beginning to realize what a great place this is.”

A Shared Vision
According to Pat Dillard, the natives and the newcomers get along well. “That’s what gives our city its spark—the diversity.”
Petersburg native Melinda Wilson, owner of the Retreat, a beauty and day spa, agrees. “It’s the visionaries that are going to make this city happen. People are coming from all over not just to invest and renovate, but to live. We all have the same vision.”
Born in Fort Lee, Wilson attended high school in Petersburg. When her parents went back to their hometown in Texas, she stayed and worked as a stylist until opening her own salon in Colonial Heights, where she stayed for 18 years.
One afternoon Melinda and her husband Jim took a drive through Old Towne and immediately fell in love with the area. They bought the building across the street from Pat Dillard’s antique shop in 1998; soon after, Melinda opened up the spa.
Eventually, they restored their adjoining building and Maria’s, an upscale Italian restaurant, soon opened. The restaurant, named for the owner’s mother, has a modern flair, with etched glass tiles of buildings on Old Street and curved, upholstered seating.
“At first, I wasn’t sure about starting another business venture,” says Melinda, “but my husband’s always had the vision. While some people saw an old city with no potential, he saw how beautiful Petersburg could be. And he was right.”

A Passion for Petersburg
Jim Wilson, a CFO for First Federal Savings Bank of Virginia, is president of Downtown Petersburg Inc., a non-profit organization. He has made Petersburg his passion. “He thinks the future here is very good,” says Melinda.
Jim has dedicated years of service as the chairperson for the annual Nostalgiafest on Old Street in October. Dillard admires his devotion to the revitalization of the downtown and believes he has lead by example to inspire her and other newcomers to be involved in the process.
And that’s what’s great about Old Towne—the creative energy and passion of its residents. The young and old, married and single, natives and out-of-towners all share a love of Petersburg and its artistic heritage.

Diane Lang resides in Chesterfield with her husband Donald. A former language arts teacher, Lang writes fiction, non-fiction and screenplays. She is co-author of the novel Micah’s Child. www.langbuchanan.com