By Lisa Lucas Gardner, J.D. On June 10 at 8:27 PM
Okay, as the downtown starts coming together I have noticed that our town is taking on an "Olde Towne" image which takes us back to the old days of CHRISTIANSBURGH, Virginia. Great news! We can capitalize on this image. I've seen it done before in other small towns that have fallen back on the "Olde Towne" image. There's something about the nostalgia of it. My idea is that since we are taking on an old image, with an old style decor, why not attract people who like old things like classic & antique cars, and, while we are at it lets take on something else old...ANTIQUES.
If you are a tourist to our town and come to the intersection of Main & Franklin, what do you see? The charming old post office with Marvin inside, the ugly courthouse with the most beautiful sculptured eagle perched high on a brick pedestal on the lawn, all the war memorials, the Route 11 stone marker, the Lewis-McHenry Duel historic marker, and a huge building with the sign "ANTIQUES ON MAIN" on it. "Hey?", maybe you might think to yourself, "This town must like antiques as much as I do" and you might decide to stick around and spend a little money buying something while you are here.
I think that WE, as a community, need to sell our town to tourists more for a place to shop for antiques. There are antique shops in the heart of "Olde Towne," on Roanoke Street at Main Street, and down in Cambria by the train depot. Right around the corner from the "Olde Towne" district we have the Montgomery Museum on Pepper Street two blocks off First Street.
Between the old car crusins, which the husbands & kids enjoy, the antiques, which the wives enjoy, and the "Olde Towne" image & Montgomery Museum that history buffs enjoy, our Christiansburgh Old Towne really has it going on. Christiansburgh is for classic & antique cars, antique shops, and a musuem about the history of Montgomery County. No other place in Southwest Virginia can boast about these unique things.