[NewsLynne]

Got some great ones. First, this ex-Safeway in Culpeper. I don't know the build date.

And the side of Orange's old Safeway...It was in this building until the 60's, when it moved to a small Marina down the street. That store is now a furniture store, still has its arched ceiling but the facade has been covered by an ugly green awning. It anchored one end of a small shopping center and Drugfair anchored the other.

[TheStranger]

Nice shots! Welcome to the board, by the way. :)

with the old Sanitary, I'm wondering: is that the front, or the back of the store? If that's the front, that must be a difficult spot to park at.

It'd be awesome if you could get an interior view of the furniture store at some point, just to see the great marina ceiling...wonder when the false front was added.

[the cheese]

I lived in Culpeper for several years. There is also another former Safeway located at the South Gate center its a Golds Gym now. It closed and relocated into a former Jamesway in 1997. There are a least two other former Marinas in the area. One was in Warenton it closed in 2004 and moved to a new store. It opened I believe in 1966. Its now a Staples and a Pet Smart. In the Pet store it still has the open ceiling. The other Marina is located in Fredericksbug and has been divided into 4 stores the ceiling is stil visible in each store. It closed in the mid 80s. There is a former pylon store in Fredericksburg as well it has been converted to a office building. This store closed in the early 80s and ws similar in design the the store in Lodi. Safeway left the Fredericksburg area in 1999 closing its last two stores then. The Four Mile fork store built in 76 became a Gym still has a lot of the 80s inteior painted over there. The other store at Chatam was built in the early 80s is now a furniture store but almost all of the interior is in tact including the deli and meat area. I will try to snap some photos of these stores the next time i am in the area.

[NewsLynne]

Cheese, I'd really like to see those stores.

In answer the question about the Sanitary, that's the side of the building. Here's the front.

I would love to take some shots inside the old Marina - I'll have to sneak a camera in. I will say it's an extremely overpriced furniture store to be inside an old grocery store.

Orange also has two dead A&P's. This is the one from the 50's.


The other was built in about 1970 and it survived the Superfresh conversion successfully until about 12 years ago. Farmer Jack came in, died and turned into Great Valu. The building is just standing empty in depressing "shopping center" south of town on Rt.15.

[Dave]

You know, there may not be another Sanitary sign left anywhere. I assume that this one survived becuase it faced the railroad tracks. That's an interesting picture because it appears that those are store fronts on each side of Sanitary and that the Sanitary building may have been mdified. But there's hardly enough space for even a narrow sidewalk between the buidlings and the tracks. I'll hazard a guess that the closest track may well have been added at a later date than the buidlings, but that's just a guess.

The University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg has seen fit to put a HTML copy of the 1938 Fredeicksburg City Directory on its website, at http://departments.umw.edu/hipr/www/fre ... ectory.htm

It reveals a Pender's at 900 Caroline Street, two Sanitaries at 921 Caroline and 400 William Street, and three A&Ps at 820 Caroline, 919 Caroline, and 407 William.

[NewsLynne]

The narrow side walk that's beside the Sanitary sign used to lead back to the African-American business section of town. There was another grocery store back there called The Sunny South Store. Before they started doing some renovations there was a pool hall, tables intact. Most of businesses back there closed in the mid 70's due to violence.

I've been staring at that ghost sign my entire life and I still find something new each time I look at it. I haven't been able to find any photos of the store in operation, but the historical society has a little sales flyer from the 30's.

The A&P was one of the WEO stores. I don't remember the Safeway in its full Marina glory, but I do recall the round checkout counters. It was the kind of store with mayflies buzzing around the grapes. The awning that's covering the arch is not in good shape. Looking at old newspaper photos, the store looked like a landlocked spaceship when it was built. Orange isn't known for its diverse architecture.

Sad that there used to be such diversity in grocery stores...now the entire county had three Food Lions, which are all terrible.

[the cheese]

I grew up in the Fredericksburg area and pretty familar with Caroline and William Street. Although to young to remember those stores there my grandfather shopped at them and was pretty upset in 99 when Safeway left the market area. There was also a A&P on Jeff Davis Hwy a few blocks down from the Marina Safeway but it burned down in 79. It was just like the one in Orange. The last time I was in Luray VA there is a Gable Safeway there looked like it was closed for years but still had fixtures in there. There is one just like that in Stafford that I remember going to as a kid. Its now an eye center. I will be in that area tomorrow with luck and a clear day I should have some photos then.

[NewsLynne]

I'll have to check out the location in Luray.

I didn't know about the one burning down in Fredericksburg, but with typical Charlottesville short-sightedness, I very rarely go to the 'burg unless it involves Carl's.

Woodstock, VA (in the Valley) has a great old Marina that's now a Ben Franklin. Their newer location was shuttered in the early 90's and it's just a dead spot now. I'll have to get some shots in that shopping center because there are two arches - one at the BF and the other a little further down, housing what is now a flea market.

[the cheese]

The store in Woodstock probably closed around the same time the one in Orange did. You can still see where the big circle S was at the wings of the marina if you look carefully. One end of that store in Orange still had the old Safeway business hours listed as well as the typical 70s or 60s logo. The shopping center in Warrenton has a old A&P in there that the exterior has changed a little bit but the interior in pretty much untouched. It even has the old aisle signage there probably dating in the early sixties. Its now a True Value hardware store. I think Safeway left your market area in Charlottesviel in the mid 80s. There may still be a few old stores around there. There is a shaker style Safeway in Bolwing Green VA that survivied when they sold off the stores in Richmond in 93. The BG store hung in thee until the Fredericksburg area was closed. I think a Rite Aid occupies it now or at least half of it. In a few weeks Carls opens up they always close for the winter. I always look forward to once a year getting a malt from there.

[NewsLynne]

[TheStranger]

Here's one that I wonder if any of you Central Virginians know about:

http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=797

[Dave]

...The narrow side walk that's beside the Sanitary sign used to lead back to the African-American business section of town. There was another grocery store back there called The Sunny South Store...

Sunny South Stores were based in Richmond; apparently they were affiliated with Allied Grocery Exchange and W.H. Harris Grocery Co. (wholesalers - the W.H. was William H.). They were located at 15th and Dock in 1933. I don't know if Sunny South was a cooperative, franchise, or chain.

[NewsLynne]

I'd lean toward it being a cooperative. This was the only location I've ever heard of.

Still looking for a build on the pictured Culpeper Safeway. There was an older location from the early 50's. I don't know if it was modified or rebuilt.