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Community Corner

Every Picture Tells a Story

Longtime residents share a passion for digging into the neighborhood's history and bringing the past to life

What these women know about Virginia-Highland could fill more than one book.

But you have to start somewhere.

So at the moment, amateur historians Karri Hobson-Pape and Lola Carlisle are putting finishing touches on their first volume – “Images of America: Virginia-Highland,” due to their publisher by the end of March and eager readers by this fall.

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Luckily, they’re not even trying to cover everything for this one, which they’ve been working on for a year and a half with research partner Judy Potter.

As part of Arcadia Press’ popular pictorial series, their book is designed to be heavier on photographs than text.

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What makes the books so popular with readers, who love to see what their towns looked like way back when, can be a mixed blessing for authors – especially if they’re trying to represent people and events from the pre-photo era.

It’s been, Carlisle said, “an interesting challenge.” Fortunately, as founder and creative director of Tailfin Marketing Communications on Virginia Avenue, pairing the right words and images is what Carlisle does for a living.

Hobson-Pape – who is a marketing consultant – and Carlisle first got on Arcadia’s radar through their work on the Virginia-Highland Civic Association’s Preservation Committee, and researching historic designation for the neighborhood. After digging into stories about who built and once lived in their own houses, they set about gathering details about the whole area.

In the process, Carlisle said, “We’ve collected about 1,500 images and historic documents, spoken to about 100 people and conducted an oral history of original residents and descendants of area pioneers.”

As they work up toward their March deadline, the team is in high crank mode. Still, if you’re lucky enough to drop by their headquarters on a sunny afternoon – and you catch them on a rare break – you might hear a few tidbits about how Virginia-Highland came to be.

Gathered around a big table in the bright offices of Tailfin Marketing Communications – the great old storefront that once housed Stone Soup and Savage Pizza – the women narrow down which images will make it into the book and share a few of their favorites, which include land deeds from the 1800s, vintage architecture shots and portraits of some of the area’s earliest settlers.

If you’ve ever wondered why Virginia-Highland’s streets have evolved in such idiosyncratic ways, with some winding along for long stretches, while others disappear altogether after only a few blocks; or what places still bear the names of early pioneers, or why some houses around here – like the grand Mediterranean mansion on tiny Rupley Drive, for instance – dwarf their neighbors, you’ll want to pull up a chair and take notes.

The team has gathered so much material, they know their work will not be finished even when the book is.

In some ways, it may be just beginning.

Does that mean Vols. II and III will follow in the near future?

Carlisle laughs.

Maybe – or perhaps they’ll find even more interesting ways to “gather history and keep it in a place where people can access and contribute to it.”

A few neighborhood favorites:

Karri Hobson-Pape: “Enjoying a special blend on a clear morning at San Francisco Coffee House and the unplanned conversations that are had. And playing in the sand (with no socks) with the kids at the volleyball courts in John Howell Park.”

Judy Potter: “Murphy's – my friends enjoy walking there for dinner.  I also enjoy John Howell Park and the Cunard playground...visiting children enjoy walking over.”

Lola Carlisle:  “Reading on the side porch in the springtime, watching the neighbors go by and only stepping out to enjoy the patio at George’s.” Also Osteria, “which has great food, atmosphere and the owner is a great contributor to the neighborhood.”

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