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Discover Smith Mountain Lake
SUMMER 2016
46
with his youngest son, Wallace. They
used to pay local boys for furs, and hang
them to cure in the upper floor of the
store building.
“I can still remember how bad it smelled
up there, with all the hides hanging up
there”, James Dinwiddie
remembers. “My grandfather used to
take me up there to the store that his
brother had, and it was a real general
store, with cracker barrels, and a
potbellied stove. It was a real busy
place”.
Wallace Booker, as much the
entrepreneur as his father, became
interested in the possibility of growing
cash crops other than tobacco. To that
end, he established a tomato cannery
on the site of what is now part of Lake
Watch Plantation. It was later sold and
used as a storage building by Meador
Store.
Mr. Dinwiddie also speaks of a cousin,
Winston Dinwiddie, who made quite a
reputation for himself as an outstanding
electrician. Winston is now a resident
of the Elks Home in Bedford, and all
that remains of his family’s mercantile
heritage is a rundown building that
was once the Dinwiddie & Son store.
It now wears a sign that simply says,
“Moneta Produce”, but it stands empty
and unused.
I Moneta, left supreme
‘Sole priestess of this desolation.’
Gone now are the passenger trains,
factories, tanneries, milk plants,
and yes, even the car dealership.
The town that boomed during the
golden age of agriculture, survived
the Great Depression, and maintained
its rural character through the age of
the automobile, is little more than a
memory for some, and hardly exists for
most others. So what happened? In a
word, “progress”.
For many years, some community
leaders believed that a railroad signal
crossing in Downtown Moneta (the
original one) posed something of a
traffic hazard, and in 1965, an overpass
was recommended and considered by
VDOT, but never built. This was not
a good time for the once-prosperous
rural village, which was beginning
to feel the effects of suburban sprawl
and affordable cars, which drew large
numbers of people away from agrarian
lifestyles.
At the same time, something was
happening that John Thaxton and his
contemporaries could never have
imagined… Smith Mountain Lake.
As Moneta struggled to cling to its
homespun identity, the lake was
formed, and people began to gravitate
toward the lake in the warmer months.
This temporarily gave new life to the
old village, because those traveling
from the north and east would have
to pass through Moneta on Rt 122 on
their way to the lake. Soon the shops
along Moneta’s downtown strip began
adding T-shirts and souvenirs to their
inventories.
Unfortunately, the success of the
automobile age eventually forced many
of the shops and industries in Moneta
to close down, and the lake area’s
economy began to depend more and
more heavily on tourism.
In 1990, Touchstone Pictures was
filmingWhat About Bob, and the film’s
ostensible locale, Lake Winnipesaukee
in New Hampshire, became unsuitable
as the leaves were turning color… so
the entire production moved south,
to Smith Mountain Lake. The scenes
involving the lake’s town area were
filmed right in downtown Moneta,
which underwent a facelift for the
occasion.
It was not long afterward that
discussions began on building a bypass
of the downtown area, which would
redirect 122 around it.This came about
because of the traffic snarls that began
to develop when tourist traffic began to
pile up at the signal crossing whenever
a train passed through town. To make
matters worse, since 122 was the only
road into and out of town, there was
also a health and safety concern among
many, since emergency vehicles also
had no alternate route around the
crossing, and the proposed overpass
had never materialized.
So it was that the plan to bypass
downtown Moneta began to take
shape, drawing mixed reactions from
the locals. Many believed that it was a
necessary step, but at the same time,
they wistfully predicted the village’s
eventual demise. The Post Office and
Firehouse were relocated along the
bypass, as were several local businesses.
One part of the bypass plan that
some still question was the decision
to barricade the old 122 at the signal
crossing, effectively bisecting the
town’s main street. The result was that the bypass became
the only through route, and this accelerated the decline of
downtown Moneta.
Soon all but a stubborn few had either closed up shop, or
moved. Capp’s relocated across the bridge to theWestlake
area, which soon became the new focus of commerce
along Rt 122. Some years later, Sweet’s Heating and Air
Conditioning moved from the site of the original store
erected by John Thaxton to their new location along the
bypass.
With the new bypass diverting all traffic, and most of the
businesses gone, all that remain now are small remnants of
a happier past along Moneta’s former main thoroughfare.
What was once Capp’s Building Supply now houses Lake
Christian Ministries, thanks to Dave Cappellari’s generosity.
Sarah’s Place Antiques and Collectibles now occupies what
was once an old general store. Nearby, the former home of
the late Dr. Sam Rucker has been converted into a gift shop,
the Rucker House Mercantile.
Of course, the lake eventually developed into what it is
today, and new retail and housing developments dot the
landscape all along 122, as well as the lake’s other main
arteries. Even as recently as 1990, few who lived here could
imagine that the town with the name that was synonymous
with money would boast real estate values expressed in
hundreds of thousands, or even millions.
With so many newcomers not even aware of the village’s
storied past, it continues to slip into oblivion. Most people
living at the lake nowadays will recognize the appellation
“Downtown Moneta”, but only in reference to a latter-day
commercial enterprise along 122. As part of his nostalgic
vision, developer GeorgeAznavorian’s goal was to revitalize
the ‘small town’ appeal of Old Moneta. Ironically, though
saddened by the demise of the original town, he realized
the necessity of locating his dream village right along the
very bypass that sealed the town’s fate.
Some, including Aznavorian himself, have suggested
linking the old to the new, and trying to preserve some
of what’s left of the old village. At one time, a footbridge
had been proposed to span the railroad tracks, and thus re-
connect both sides of the now-divided main street. Others
offered the rather simple suggestion merely to remove
the barricades and restore the old signal crossing. For Old
Moneta, that may be something akin to closing the barn
door after the horse has run away. Providing, of course, that
the old barn hasn’t been torn down yet.
I had no words to answer, for my tongue,
Useless, could find about its roofed home
No syllable of a fit majesty
To make rejoinder toMoneta’s mourn.
PERFECT
ASSURING EVERY DAY IS
10 YEAR BOW TO STERNWARRANTY
VA# D00174
13660 BTW Highway, Moneta VA 24121
540.721.5017
