By Jane DeGeorge
Eagle Reporter
Published: April 14, 2008

In the early 1900s, the buzz of a dentist’s drill sounded more like a quiet hum. A century-old pedal-powered drill is among the tools once used by Dr. Lee Taliaferro, who treated Madison County residents in the early 20th century.

In addition to the drill, Taliaferro’s polishing discs and vials of tablet triturates (a precursor to the medicinal pills used today) are currently on display at the Arcade museum in downtown Madison. The museum’s new exhibits feature artifacts from the personal collections of some Madison County residents.

Maxwell Lacy has loaned some items that were previously sold at the “old Lacy store” in Oak Park. The display features old soda bottles, baking powder, a can of coffee grinds and Hadacol, a once popular “cure-all” vitamin supplement.

“You know, people don’t think of saving things like this but it’s a little piece of history,” said Madison County Historical Society President Jane Volchansky while looking at the display.

“I was thinking the other day I should keep receipts from the grocery store, just to compare,” she said.

Another new display within the museum includes various receipts and papers from a variety of former Madison County businesses, including Carpenter Motor Company, Hood-Clore Funeral Home and Madison Frozen Foods. The miscellaneous items, which also include a World War II-era ration booklet, are on loan from residents Steve Hoffman, Ruth Penn and Steve Grayson.

Brothers John and Linwood Imlay, who are both extensive collectors, have lent the Main Street spot a collection of Civil War memorabilia, including bullets, buttons and legal tender, including a June 3, 1862 twenty-five cent Madison County note.

The museum’s first floor also features a permanent display by Everette Weakley about the former Rapidan Railroad, which previously weaved throughout the county.

Upstairs features the museum’s permanent collection of Native American artifacts and a display of photographs of Madison County residents who were displaced by the creation of Shenandoah National Park.

The black-and-white photos feature scenes of cabins, schoolhouses and stores in the Corbin Hollow, Nicholson Hollow and Nethers communities. The photographs were taken in October 1935 by Arthur Rothstein, who was one of the photographers hired by the Farm Security Administration to capture images of life during the Great Depression.

Some of the photographs’ subjects feature solemn facial expressions that resemble the famous photograph “Migrant Mother,” taken by Dorthea Lange, another Farm Security Administration photographer from the time.

“They wanted people to think these people needed to be ‘saved,’” said Beppy White of the historical society, who organized the photos’ current display.
The featured photos were originally researched and compiled from the Library of Congress by Charles L. Perdue Jr. and Nancy Martin-Perdue of Madison County. The collection was first displayed to community residents in 1993, according to White, who recently came across the photos and decided to revive the display.

Some of the new exhibits are temporary and will be on display for approximately three months, according to Volchansky.

The Arcade – at 124 N Main St. in Madison – is regularly open 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. For information, call (540) 948-2236.