History
La Riviere, the Castle by the River
The city of Radford has seven properties on the National Register of Historic Places, the nation’s list of cultural resources deemed worthy of preservation. Two of them are the East and West end historic business districts. Then there are familiar places like Glencoe, Arnheim, the Harvey House, and Halwyck, all of them already restored or undergoing restoration. Hidden between the vast industrial complex of the Lynchburg Foundry (nowadays Intermet) and an electrical power substation, however, stands La Riviere, the most intriguing of Radford’s mansions on the national register.
La Riviere today
La Riviere is in many ways one of Radford’s, and the New River Valley’s, most interesting hidden treasures. It is spectacularly located along the New River, which provides it with its French name. The unique architecture – featuring a castle-like tower – separates the house from other structures of the era. Inside, through luck and preservation-minded occupants, the rooms and furnishings have remained virtually unchanged since the current La Riviere was built in 1892.
The house is also the home of the famous “Lady in the Mirror”, an extremely rare “photograph” of an old lady and her cat permanently engraved in the silver nitrate backing of a mirror by a flash of lightning.
La Riviere has not been open to the public in decades. On May 3rd, 2008, however, the Radford Heritage Foundation, together with owners A.C. and Lucie Wilson, will open up this historic marvel for one night only before it undergoes restoration. If you are interested in attending the reception, please contact us at Glencoe Museum (540-731-5031 or info@glencoemuseum.org).
Should you make your way to our reception on May 3rd, you will enter the third structure erected on the site on the original 966 acre tract of land owned by the Ingles family. An original log dwelling was probably built around 1815, after the death of Colonel John Ingles, son of William and Mary Draper Ingles. In his will, Colonel John Ingles divided his land in three pieces: Ingleside (upriver Radford side) went to Dr. John Ingles; Thomas Ingles was given his third, including the ferry on Pulaski side; William received the lower tract near the present city of Radford, on which La Riviere stands today. However, William never married, so he sold the land to Thomas and went west.
Thomas Ingles – a large portrait of him is still hanging in La Riviere’s main hall – turned the original cabin into a proper house. His twin sons Andrew and Captain William “Billy” Ingles inherited the land. Andrew continued the operation of the ferry and owned the land on the Pulaski side, whereas Captain Billy settled down in the “first” La Riviere. The energetic railroad engineer soon married, and with the considerable income from his work assignments in a booming Radford economy, he went about to build a new stately mansion on the New River.
