Del,

Thanks for putting up the page about Schuyler!  It's great!  My first visit to Schuyler was in 1994 so I never got to see the original S&H store.  It's nice to see a color picture of it.

However I must defend those dogs at the Rockfish Post Office!  You've besmirched their reputation and I've come to think of them as personal friends! :-)  I've visited Schuyler in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2005, Jan. of 2006, and maybe one or two other times when traveling through Virginia.  I often travel in that part of the state – those are the dates I can definitely remember stopping. 

I first encountered the dogs back in 1995.  They barked a lot and that put me on guard at first.  But they turned out to be quite friendly.  In fact one of them, a big black dog, was SO friendly that this was the problem!  It kept throwing it's front paws on me in it's quest to be petted and it was hard to walk around and look at the Post Office because it wanted constant attention!  There was another dog which wasn't quite as friendly but still did not show any genuine hostility.  All bark and no bite! You said they were snarling?  Maybe you caught them on a day when they were in a bad mood? :-)

On a subsequent trip I was surprised to find the black dog still there.  I gave it something to eat and, of course, it was thrilled with that.  The last time I was there, a couple of years ago, the black dog was still around, though moving much more slowly than the first time I visited.  She's obviously getting up in years.  There was another, younger dog who was also helping to "guard" the station.  They've obviously figured out that tourists frequently stop by and can be counted on for frequent pettings, food and attention so they just hang out there all day long.

The dogs make an interesting contribution to the experience of Schuyler.  It's strange to think of a dog sitting in the same place, year after year (not tied up or anything) a building or a landmark and expecting to see it on any particular day of any year that I, perchance, happen to drive through.

Thanks again for the great website!

Ken

Hi Del,

I loved your original story about the Rockfish Post Office in Virginia.  I guess I'm kind of biased because I've owned it since 2001.  The big dog was "Bear" and I think he belonged to a neighbor, but stayed in the cool dirt below the Post Office.  He slept most of the day except when someone woke him up.  He even got mad at me a few times for startling him.  I learned to warn him before working around the site.  He was known to me as the "Mayor of Rockfish" by the original owners.  He died some time in 2002 and was replaced by a female that was much smaller and better looking.  Her name is Princess and she is a chow hound.  Feed her, and she might jump into your vehicle on the way out.  She barks a lot, but only will bite trying to get the food out of your hand.

You need to revisit as we have painted the PO white with green trim, replaced the rough hewn porch with more hard wood, and added solar energy, weather station, and web cam overlooking the train tracks and trestle. ( http://www.wunderground.com/webcams/nobyter/2/show.html) This summer I plan on painting or replacing the metal roof and re-pointing the chimney.  I also need to repaint the shutters and reattach them.  I'm glad that you and your readers like the place as I realize that it really belongs to us all. 

Here's a story.  Probably back in 2003 I decided to go up to the Post Office to do a little maintenance.   I opened the door and saw the ladybugs had arrived.  The floor was completely covered.  I started sweeping the place out and about the time I finished, there was a line of people at the door.  I asked what they needed and they asked if I was open and what was I selling.  I told them all I had was ladybugs, but they really weren't that tasty.   I found out that this was one of the "reunion" weekends and that all of these were on their way to visit the museum.  They saw the door open and stopped.  There was around 7 cars on that small plot of land!  Guess you know what I'm going to do when I retire!

Thanks again,

Kevin Rose