Longtime Culpeper residents recall Main Street, segregated spaces and a 1953 town supper

A recorded panel of longtime Culpeper residents gathered to tell stories of Main Street and Davis Street, local businesses and how public life in Culpeper has changed since the mid-20th century. Panelists included Boyd Carpenter, David Barton, Charles Jamieson and Donnie Johnston; a moderator guided introductions and the conversation.

The conversation opened with Boyd Carpenter saying, "My family has been in America since 1626," and describing his family's longtime presence in Culpeper and his small business focused on race cars and performance parts. David Barton traced his family to an early Jamanna settlement and noted he had served on the town council; Charles Jamieson described family ties that go back to the Revolutionary era and to the Culpeper Amendment.

Panelists walked listeners down memory lane: they recalled Newberry's as a downtown anchor, discussed Saturday-morning and Friday-night rituals when people dressed up to come into town, and described local theaters and drive-ins. "They had The Better Movies," one panelist said about historic programming; another recalled the Pitts family theaters and the Pitts drive-in. Speakers also described the Fairfax Theater building's later conversion into restaurants and small businesses.

Several participants spoke about how public spaces were segregated in earlier decades. One panelist recounted the Trailways bus station as having "a white visiting city area and a black city area," describing separate waiting areas at the bus stop and naming Alfred Parker as a longtime cook there. Those memories of separate entrances and seating came up repeatedly as panelists compared personal experiences.

The group revisited a major civic event from 1953, repeatedly described as a "longest supper table" on Davis Street on 11/13/1953. Participants said the town population then was about 4,500 and that the event drew thousands of people; one said the governor attended and dignitaries were present in Richmond and Washington.

Panelists also recalled local businesses and services that are gone or transformed: Central Hardware and Clark Hardware, local barbershops and garages, and Sonny Porter's Garage. One speaker said of Sonny Porter: "He was a welder ... Could fix anything except a broken heart," and later the panel recorded a recollection that Sonny Porter was murdered, with one participant describing an alleged motive tied to a loan and a racetrack bet. That account was offered as a personal recollection; the recording did not include a formal confirmation of the claim.

Organizers closed by thanking the panel and encouraging viewers to tune in when the session airs; they said they plan to record further episodes covering more local stories.

The recording is chiefly a collection of first-person memories and does not record formal actions, votes or official policy changes. Next steps discussed were informal: more sessions to collect additional oral histories.