Our Clarke
A Federal brick house at Main and Buckmarsh, dated about 1820 by the 1987 survey, with a family account of building in three phases. A tavern from 1830 and a doctor's office and small hospital from 1887, by a 2017 local history; then the Clarke Courier shows the building at work — a children's clinic in 1931, a dress shop in 1934, and the Hawthorne Library lending books in 1935, 1939 and 1947, in the same building as the Tappans' apartments. Offices and apartments after a 2006 sale.
Hawthorne Building footprint labeled on Sanborn Fire Insurance sheet, Berryville, March 1921. Marked MEDICAL SCHOOL and CLINIC in this survey.
What this image does and does not showThis shows only the fire-insurance surveyor's 1921 record of building footprint, construction, and recorded use. It is not a photograph, does not prove present-day identity, and does not establish whether today's building matches the 1921 footprint.
Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Berryville, Clark County, Virginia, March 1921, sheet 2. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Sanborn Maps Collection. Rights Changes: A detail cut from the Library of Congress scan of the whole sheet, which is 6,450 by 7,650 pixels: the rectangle from x 2,080 to 4,105 and y 780 to 1,975, kept at those 2,025 by 1,195 pixels, not scaled, and re-encoded as JPEG. Nothing retouched, recolored or added.
Source: Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Berryville, Clark County, Virginia, Mar. 1921, sheet 2 of 5 (Library of Congress item) Open the full image
100 West Main Street: the Treadwell Smith House. Tavern, doctor's office, clinic, library, wartime bus shelter, apartment building.
The 1987 Berryville Historic District nomination catalogues 100 West Main Street as the Treadwell Smith House and Hawthorne Hall — a Federal brick house from around 1820, residential in origin, with a two-story rear wing and a twentieth-century portico, and the only original building left at the Main and Buckmarsh intersection1. A 2017 Clarke Monthly building history places the construction in three phases: a rear portion on Buckmarsh Street "presumed" from around 1795, the West Main front built in 1816 "according to Mrs. York", and a last addition by Archibald Cummins about 19202. Which of the three dates is right depends on which room you are standing in.
The building has changed hands and use often enough to be a compact history of Berryville's Main Street. Treadwell Smith bought it at public auction in 1830 and ran an ordinary — food and lodging for travelers — until his death in 1872, when his son Charles inherited it1. Dr. Alfred Tucker rented it in 1887 for his medical office and a small hospital and died in 19152. Archibald Cummins bought it from the Smith heirs in 1919, added to it about a year later, hired the county's first public health nurse and opened a clinic there — the building was known for a while as the Cummins Clinic Building3.
In 1929 or 1930 Cummins put his own books in the building and hired a librarian: the Hawthorne Library, the county's only public library until the books went to the new high school in 19541. The Clarke Courier followed the library across the decade: five years old with 2,000 books by November 1935, over thirteen thousand loans since January 1930, free reading and borrowing, morning and afternoon opening hours2. In February 1939 the paper reported a benefit bazaar in "the Hawthorne House in the rooms of the Library and Tappan apartments", credited Cummins with the gift, and put lending at about twenty thousand items3. The same paper in March 1947 was still printing the library's hours as weekdays three to five and Saturday evenings seven to eight4.
The building did other jobs at the same time. The Clarke Courier of June 1931 announced a clinic for tonsils and adenoids in children upstairs, examinations from nine1. In 1934 a display advertisement gave the Hawthorne Building as headquarters for a shop called The Little Shop, offering suits, dresses and polo coats2. During World War II the building served as an informal bus station where waiting soldiers sheltered; Dr. Frank Tappan kept his medical offices on the first floor and lived in an upper-floor apartment, and Cummins willed the building to him on his death in 19333. Dr. Robert York joined Tappan's practice in 1953 and retired in 1994; the Yorks sold to Melinda Kramer in 2006, and after an extensive renovation the building held four offices and seven apartments in November 20174.
Thirteen claims across two hundred years. What it holds today isn't in the sources this page rests on — the 2017 building history is the latest window. Whether the last configuration held is a research target one visit and one photograph would answer.
The 1987 Berryville Historic District nomination inventories 100 W. Main Street as the Treadwell Smith House (historic name) and Hawthorne Hall (present name), a Federal brick house of ca. 1820, residential in origin and a doctor's office in 1987, with a two-storey rear wing and a twentieth-century portico, "the only original building left" at the Main and Buckmarsh intersection.
The surviving building's survey date, original and 1987 uses, from the nomination.
"Ca. 1820" is an architectural attribution; no deed or datestone was inspected. The nomination gives no occupant chronology.
Evidence role: supports. The inventory entry.
Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks (nomination preparers not individually named in the pages read) · 1987 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 48, W. Main Street inventory, 100
Relevant passageTreadwell Smith House-historic name. Hawthorne Hall-present name. Doctor's Office-present use. Residential-original use. Federal. ca. 1820. ... 2-story rear brick wing; altered and portico added in 20th century; only original building left at the intersection of Main and Buckmarsh Streets
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-berryville. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: supports. The architectural analysis naming it beside the Sarah Stribling House.
Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks (nomination preparers not individually named in the pages read) · 1987 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 5, architectural analysis
Relevant passageThree of the most imposing examples are the ca. 1820 Treadwell Smith House (Hawthorne Hall) located at the intersection of West Main and North Buckmarsh streets, the adjoining ca. 1810 Sarah Stribling House (Battletown Inn)
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-berryville. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
A 2017 Clarke Monthly building history says the building was put up in three phases: a rear portion on Buckmarsh Street "presumed" to date from around 1795, the West Main front built in 1816 "according to Mrs. York", and a last addition by Archibald Cummins about 1920.
The family's dating of the building's parts, as the article reports it, kept separate from the survey's.
Local and family dating, uncited. The 1987 survey attributes the house to ca. 1820 and does not phase it; this site publishes the survey date as the building's date and the 1795/1816 dates as a reported account.
Evidence role: supports. The three-phase account.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Opening paragraphs, on the three phases
Relevant passagethis section is presumed to have been built around 1795. According to Mrs. York, the portion of the building that faces West Main Street was built in 1816.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: supports. The Cummins addition "a year or so" after 1919.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraphs on Archibald Cummins
Relevant passageIn 1919, Archibald Cummins purchased the building from Charles Smith's heirs. A year or so later, Cummins built the last addition ... he hired Clarke County's first public health nurse and opened a clinic in what then became known as the Cummins Clinic Building.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: complicates. The survey's single ca. 1820 attribution.
Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks (nomination preparers not individually named in the pages read) · 1987 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 48, W. Main Street inventory, 100
Relevant passageTreadwell Smith House-historic name. Hawthorne Hall-present name. Doctor's Office-present use. Residential-original use. Federal. ca. 1820. ... 2-story rear brick wing; altered and portico added in 20th century; only original building left at the intersection of Main and Buckmarsh Streets
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-berryville. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says Treadwell Smith bought the building at public auction in 1830 and ran an "ordinary", a tavern offering food and lodging, and that after his death in 1872 his son Charles inherited it.
The tavern phase and the first ownership the article names.
No deed inspected; the article does not say how long the ordinary operated.
Evidence role: supports. The Treadwell Smith paragraph.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraph on Treadwell Smith
Relevant passageTreadwell Smith purchased the building at public auction in 1830 and operated an "ordinary," or tavern, offering food and lodging to travelers. After Treadwell died in 1872, his son Charles inherited the building.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says that in 1887 Dr. Alfred Tucker rented the building for his medical office and a small hospital, and that he died in 1915.
The building's first medical use, as a tenancy.
Renting is not owning; the article does not say when the tenancy ended.
Evidence role: supports. The Dr. Tucker paragraph.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraph on Dr. Tucker
Relevant passageIn 1887, Dr. Alfred Tucker rented the building and established his medical office and a small hospital there. ... Dr. Tucker died in 1915.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says Archibald Cummins bought the building from Charles Smith's heirs in 1919, added to it about a year later, hired the county's first public health nurse and opened a clinic there, the building then being known as the Cummins Clinic Building.
The purchase, the last addition and the clinic phase.
The clinic's operating dates are not stated. The nurse's name is not given.
Evidence role: supports. The Cummins paragraphs.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraphs on Archibald Cummins
Relevant passageIn 1919, Archibald Cummins purchased the building from Charles Smith's heirs. A year or so later, Cummins built the last addition ... he hired Clarke County's first public health nurse and opened a clinic in what then became known as the Cummins Clinic Building.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says Cummins established the Hawthorne Library in the building in 1929 with his own books, and that it remained the county's only public library until the books were transferred to the new high school in 1954.
A public library inside a downtown building for a quarter-century.
The library shared the building with medical and residential uses; the article does not give its rooms or hours. Its 1929 date is not settled: the Clarke Courier's own 1935 feature is headlined "Established In 1930" and counts circulation from January 1930, while its 1939 notice says Cummins first opened the library in December 1929. This site publishes both and chooses neither.
Evidence role: supports. The library paragraph.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraph on the library
Relevant passageestablished the "Hawthorne Library" in 1929 ... The Hawthorne Library remained Clarke County's only public library until the new high school, now Johnson-Williams Middle School, opened in 1954 and the books were transferred there.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: complicates. The 1935 headline dates the library to 1930.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1935-11-21 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, headline and opening paragraphs (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageAmazing Record Proves Usefulness of Hawthorne Library Established In 1930 ... The 2,000 books on the shelves cared for through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Tappan have been loaned out more than 6 times for each book.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: supports. The 1939 notice agrees with the 2017 account on 1929, and adds the month.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1939-02-16 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, closing paragraph of the same notice (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passagethe Hawthorne Library in Berryville that was given to Clarke County by Mr. Archibald Cummins and first opened by him in Decem[b]er 1929. Since that time the institution has loaned to the public free of charge approximately 20,000 books and magazines.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The Clarke Courier of 21 November 1935 described the Hawthorne Library at five years old, with 2,000 books kept "through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Tappan", more than thirteen thousand loans since January 1930, morning and afternoon opening hours, and free reading and borrowing; its headline called the library "Established In 1930".
The library in operation in 1935, its size, its hours and who paid for it, from the paper of the week.
The paper's own dating of the library differs from its dating in 1939: this headline and the circulation count start in 1930, the 1939 notice says December 1929. Both are published here and neither is chosen.
Evidence role: supports. The headline and opening paragraphs.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1935-11-21 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, headline and opening paragraphs (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageAmazing Record Proves Usefulness of Hawthorne Library Established In 1930 ... The 2,000 books on the shelves cared for through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Tappan have been loaned out more than 6 times for each book.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: supports. The hours paragraph.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1935-11-21 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, library hours paragraph (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageThe Hawthorne Library hours are from 9 until 11 in the morning and from 3:30 until 5:30 in the afternoon. All books and magazines may be read in the library or borrowed free of charge.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: complicates. The same paper in 1939 dates the opening to December 1929.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1939-02-16 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, closing paragraph of the same notice (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passagethe Hawthorne Library in Berryville that was given to Clarke County by Mr. Archibald Cummins and first opened by him in Decem[b]er 1929. Since that time the institution has loaned to the public free of charge approximately 20,000 books and magazines.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
A notice in the Clarke Courier of 16 February 1939 placed a benefit bazaar "in the Hawthorne House in the rooms of the Library and Tappan apartments", and said the library had been given to Clarke County by Archibald Cummins and "first opened by him in December 1929", having since lent about twenty thousand books and magazines free of charge.
That the library and the Tappans' apartments were rooms in the same building in 1939: the overlapping uses, in one sentence, from a contemporary source.
A prospective notice about a bazaar; the opening date it gives is the paper's own retrospective statement, and it differs from the 1935 headline. The apartments are not described further.
Evidence role: supports. The bazaar sentence naming both the library rooms and the Tappan apartments.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1939-02-16 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, "Bazaar Planned For Hawthorne Library" (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageit is all going to happen at a Bazaar in the Haw[t]horne House in the rooms of the Library and Tappan apartments for the benefit of the Hawthorne Library to secure the services of a Librarian.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: supports. The paragraph on Cummins and December 1929.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1939-02-16 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, closing paragraph of the same notice (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passagethe Hawthorne Library in Berryville that was given to Clarke County by Mr. Archibald Cummins and first opened by him in Decem[b]er 1929. Since that time the institution has loaned to the public free of charge approximately 20,000 books and magazines.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: complicates. The 1935 headline dating the library to 1930.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1935-11-21 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, headline and opening paragraphs (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageAmazing Record Proves Usefulness of Hawthorne Library Established In 1930 ... The 2,000 books on the shelves cared for through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Tappan have been loaned out more than 6 times for each book.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
A notice in the Clarke Courier of 27 March 1947 gave the Hawthorne Library's hours as weekdays from three to five and Saturday evenings from seven to eight, with books free to read or borrow.
The library still open, and still free, twelve years after the 1935 account and seven before the books moved.
Two dated observations do not prove the years between them. The notice says nothing about the building's other uses.
Evidence role: supports. The notice, in the OCR of page 6.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1947-03-27 (publication)
Locator: Page 6, library notice (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageThe Hawthorne Library is open each week day from 3 to 5 p. m., and on Saturday evenings from 7 to 8. Books may be read or borrowed free of charge.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The Clarke Courier of 11 June 1931 announced a clinic for the removal of tonsils and adenoids in children at the Hawthorne Building on Friday and Saturday, 12 and 13 June, with examinations beginning at nine.
Medical and public-health work in the building on two named days in 1931, from the paper of the week rather than a later recollection.
An announcement printed the day before. It does not report that the clinic took place, name a room, or establish a standing clinic; the practitioners it names are not otherwise identified here.
Evidence role: supports. The notice, in the Library of Congress OCR of page 1.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1931-06-11 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, "TONSIL AND ADENOID CLINIC JUNE 12 AND 13" (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageA clinic for the removal of de[i]seased tonsils and adenoids of children will be held at the Hawthorne Building, Berryville, on Friday and Saturday, June 12 and 13.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
A display advertisement in the Clarke Courier of 12 April 1934 gave the Hawthorne Building, Berryville, as the headquarters of The Little Shop, offering suits, dresses and polo coats.
A retail business trading from the building in 1934, a use no later account of the building mentions.
An advertisement attests what was advertised on one day. It establishes no lease, opening or closing, and the shop is not profiled here.
Evidence role: supports. The advertisement, in the OCR of page 4.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1934-04-12 (publication)
Locator: Page 4, display advertisement (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageSuits, Dresses, Polo Coats ... HEADQUARTERS The Little Shop HAWTHORNE BUILDING Berryville
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says Dr. Frank Tappan kept his medical offices on the first floor and lived in an upper-floor apartment, that Cummins willed him the building on his death in 1933, and that during World War II the building served as an informal bus station where waiting soldiers sheltered.
The Tappan years and a wartime use, on the family's account.
The bus-station use is remembered by the Tappans' daughter and is "informal"; no schedule or carrier is named.
Evidence role: supports. The Tappan and wartime paragraphs.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraphs on Dr. Tappan and the war
Relevant passageFrank and his wife Alice moved into one of the upper-floor apartments of the Hawthorne Building, with Frank's medical offices on the first floor. When Archibald died in 1933, he willed the building to Tappan. ... During World War II, the Hawthorne Building served as an informal bus station.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says Dr. Robert York joined Dr. Tappan's practice in the building in 1953 and retired in 1994, that the Yorks sold the building to Melinda Kramer in 2006, and that after an extensive renovation it held four offices and seven apartments in November 2017.
The last medical practice, the 2006 sale and the building's configuration as of 2017.
"Today" is November 2017; the building was then for sale. Nothing here describes it after that.
Evidence role: supports. The closing paragraphs.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Closing paragraphs
Relevant passageIn 1953, Dr. Robert "Bob" York joined Dr. Tappan's practice in the Hawthorne Building. ... Dr. York retired from practicing medicine in 1994 and, in 2006, the Yorks sold the Hawthorne Building to Melinda Kramer. ... Today, the Hawthorne Building contains four offices and seven apartments.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The 1987 Berryville Historic District nomination inventories 100 W. Main Street as the Treadwell Smith House (historic name) and Hawthorne Hall (present name), a Federal brick house of ca. 1820, residential in origin and a doctor's office in 1987, with a two-storey rear wing and a twentieth-century portico, "the only original building left" at the Main and Buckmarsh intersection.
The 1987 Berryville Historic District nomination inventories 100 W. Main Street as the Treadwell Smith House (historic name) and Hawthorne Hall (present name), a Federal brick house of ca. 1820, residential in origin and a doctor's office in 1987, with a two-storey rear wing and a twentieth-century portico, "the only original building left" at the Main and Buckmarsh intersection.
The surviving building's survey date, original and 1987 uses, from the nomination.
"Ca. 1820" is an architectural attribution; no deed or datestone was inspected. The nomination gives no occupant chronology.
Evidence role: supports. The inventory entry.
Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks (nomination preparers not individually named in the pages read) · 1987 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 48, W. Main Street inventory, 100
Relevant passageTreadwell Smith House-historic name. Hawthorne Hall-present name. Doctor's Office-present use. Residential-original use. Federal. ca. 1820. ... 2-story rear brick wing; altered and portico added in 20th century; only original building left at the intersection of Main and Buckmarsh Streets
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-berryville. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: supports. The architectural analysis naming it beside the Sarah Stribling House.
Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks (nomination preparers not individually named in the pages read) · 1987 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 5, architectural analysis
Relevant passageThree of the most imposing examples are the ca. 1820 Treadwell Smith House (Hawthorne Hall) located at the intersection of West Main and North Buckmarsh streets, the adjoining ca. 1810 Sarah Stribling House (Battletown Inn)
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-berryville. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
A 2017 Clarke Monthly building history says the building was put up in three phases: a rear portion on Buckmarsh Street "presumed" to date from around 1795, the West Main front built in 1816 "according to Mrs. York", and a last addition by Archibald Cummins about 1920.
A 2017 Clarke Monthly building history says the building was put up in three phases: a rear portion on Buckmarsh Street "presumed" to date from around 1795, the West Main front built in 1816 "according to Mrs. York", and a last addition by Archibald Cummins about 1920.
The family's dating of the building's parts, as the article reports it, kept separate from the survey's.
Local and family dating, uncited. The 1987 survey attributes the house to ca. 1820 and does not phase it; this site publishes the survey date as the building's date and the 1795/1816 dates as a reported account.
Evidence role: supports. The three-phase account.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Opening paragraphs, on the three phases
Relevant passagethis section is presumed to have been built around 1795. According to Mrs. York, the portion of the building that faces West Main Street was built in 1816.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: supports. The Cummins addition "a year or so" after 1919.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraphs on Archibald Cummins
Relevant passageIn 1919, Archibald Cummins purchased the building from Charles Smith's heirs. A year or so later, Cummins built the last addition ... he hired Clarke County's first public health nurse and opened a clinic in what then became known as the Cummins Clinic Building.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: complicates. The survey's single ca. 1820 attribution.
Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks (nomination preparers not individually named in the pages read) · 1987 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 48, W. Main Street inventory, 100
Relevant passageTreadwell Smith House-historic name. Hawthorne Hall-present name. Doctor's Office-present use. Residential-original use. Federal. ca. 1820. ... 2-story rear brick wing; altered and portico added in 20th century; only original building left at the intersection of Main and Buckmarsh Streets
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-berryville. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says Treadwell Smith bought the building at public auction in 1830 and ran an "ordinary", a tavern offering food and lodging, and that after his death in 1872 his son Charles inherited it.
The article says Treadwell Smith bought the building at public auction in 1830 and ran an "ordinary", a tavern offering food and lodging, and that after his death in 1872 his son Charles inherited it.
The tavern phase and the first ownership the article names.
No deed inspected; the article does not say how long the ordinary operated.
Evidence role: supports. The Treadwell Smith paragraph.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraph on Treadwell Smith
Relevant passageTreadwell Smith purchased the building at public auction in 1830 and operated an "ordinary," or tavern, offering food and lodging to travelers. After Treadwell died in 1872, his son Charles inherited the building.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says that in 1887 Dr. Alfred Tucker rented the building for his medical office and a small hospital, and that he died in 1915.
The article says that in 1887 Dr. Alfred Tucker rented the building for his medical office and a small hospital, and that he died in 1915.
The building's first medical use, as a tenancy.
Renting is not owning; the article does not say when the tenancy ended.
Evidence role: supports. The Dr. Tucker paragraph.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraph on Dr. Tucker
Relevant passageIn 1887, Dr. Alfred Tucker rented the building and established his medical office and a small hospital there. ... Dr. Tucker died in 1915.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says Archibald Cummins bought the building from Charles Smith's heirs in 1919, added to it about a year later, hired the county's first public health nurse and opened a clinic there, the building then being known as the Cummins Clinic Building.
The article says Archibald Cummins bought the building from Charles Smith's heirs in 1919, added to it about a year later, hired the county's first public health nurse and opened a clinic there, the building then being known as the Cummins Clinic Building.
The purchase, the last addition and the clinic phase.
The clinic's operating dates are not stated. The nurse's name is not given.
Evidence role: supports. The Cummins paragraphs.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraphs on Archibald Cummins
Relevant passageIn 1919, Archibald Cummins purchased the building from Charles Smith's heirs. A year or so later, Cummins built the last addition ... he hired Clarke County's first public health nurse and opened a clinic in what then became known as the Cummins Clinic Building.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says Cummins established the Hawthorne Library in the building in 1929 with his own books, and that it remained the county's only public library until the books were transferred to the new high school in 1954.
The article says Cummins established the Hawthorne Library in the building in 1929 with his own books, and that it remained the county's only public library until the books were transferred to the new high school in 1954.
A public library inside a downtown building for a quarter-century.
The library shared the building with medical and residential uses; the article does not give its rooms or hours. Its 1929 date is not settled: the Clarke Courier's own 1935 feature is headlined "Established In 1930" and counts circulation from January 1930, while its 1939 notice says Cummins first opened the library in December 1929. This site publishes both and chooses neither.
Evidence role: supports. The library paragraph.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraph on the library
Relevant passageestablished the "Hawthorne Library" in 1929 ... The Hawthorne Library remained Clarke County's only public library until the new high school, now Johnson-Williams Middle School, opened in 1954 and the books were transferred there.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: complicates. The 1935 headline dates the library to 1930.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1935-11-21 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, headline and opening paragraphs (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageAmazing Record Proves Usefulness of Hawthorne Library Established In 1930 ... The 2,000 books on the shelves cared for through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Tappan have been loaned out more than 6 times for each book.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: supports. The 1939 notice agrees with the 2017 account on 1929, and adds the month.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1939-02-16 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, closing paragraph of the same notice (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passagethe Hawthorne Library in Berryville that was given to Clarke County by Mr. Archibald Cummins and first opened by him in Decem[b]er 1929. Since that time the institution has loaned to the public free of charge approximately 20,000 books and magazines.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says Dr. Frank Tappan kept his medical offices on the first floor and lived in an upper-floor apartment, that Cummins willed him the building on his death in 1933, and that during World War II the building served as an informal bus station where waiting soldiers sheltered.
The article says Dr. Frank Tappan kept his medical offices on the first floor and lived in an upper-floor apartment, that Cummins willed him the building on his death in 1933, and that during World War II the building served as an informal bus station where waiting soldiers sheltered.
The Tappan years and a wartime use, on the family's account.
The bus-station use is remembered by the Tappans' daughter and is "informal"; no schedule or carrier is named.
Evidence role: supports. The Tappan and wartime paragraphs.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Paragraphs on Dr. Tappan and the war
Relevant passageFrank and his wife Alice moved into one of the upper-floor apartments of the Hawthorne Building, with Frank's medical offices on the first floor. When Archibald died in 1933, he willed the building to Tappan. ... During World War II, the Hawthorne Building served as an informal bus station.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The article says Dr. Robert York joined Dr. Tappan's practice in the building in 1953 and retired in 1994, that the Yorks sold the building to Melinda Kramer in 2006, and that after an extensive renovation it held four offices and seven apartments in November 2017.
The article says Dr. Robert York joined Dr. Tappan's practice in the building in 1953 and retired in 1994, that the Yorks sold the building to Melinda Kramer in 2006, and that after an extensive renovation it held four offices and seven apartments in November 2017.
The last medical practice, the 2006 sale and the building's configuration as of 2017.
"Today" is November 2017; the building was then for sale. Nothing here describes it after that.
Evidence role: supports. The closing paragraphs.
Betsy Arnette, Clarke Monthly · 2017-11-16 (publication)
Locator: Closing paragraphs
Relevant passageIn 1953, Dr. Robert "Bob" York joined Dr. Tappan's practice in the Hawthorne Building. ... Dr. York retired from practicing medicine in 1994 and, in 2006, the Yorks sold the Hawthorne Building to Melinda Kramer. ... Today, the Hawthorne Building contains four offices and seven apartments.
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-monthly-downtown. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The Clarke Courier of 11 June 1931 announced a clinic for the removal of tonsils and adenoids in children at the Hawthorne Building on Friday and Saturday, 12 and 13 June, with examinations beginning at nine.
The Clarke Courier of 11 June 1931 announced a clinic for the removal of tonsils and adenoids in children at the Hawthorne Building on Friday and Saturday, 12 and 13 June, with examinations beginning at nine.
Medical and public-health work in the building on two named days in 1931, from the paper of the week rather than a later recollection.
An announcement printed the day before. It does not report that the clinic took place, name a room, or establish a standing clinic; the practitioners it names are not otherwise identified here.
Evidence role: supports. The notice, in the Library of Congress OCR of page 1.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1931-06-11 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, "TONSIL AND ADENOID CLINIC JUNE 12 AND 13" (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageA clinic for the removal of de[i]seased tonsils and adenoids of children will be held at the Hawthorne Building, Berryville, on Friday and Saturday, June 12 and 13.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
A display advertisement in the Clarke Courier of 12 April 1934 gave the Hawthorne Building, Berryville, as the headquarters of The Little Shop, offering suits, dresses and polo coats.
A display advertisement in the Clarke Courier of 12 April 1934 gave the Hawthorne Building, Berryville, as the headquarters of The Little Shop, offering suits, dresses and polo coats.
A retail business trading from the building in 1934, a use no later account of the building mentions.
An advertisement attests what was advertised on one day. It establishes no lease, opening or closing, and the shop is not profiled here.
Evidence role: supports. The advertisement, in the OCR of page 4.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1934-04-12 (publication)
Locator: Page 4, display advertisement (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageSuits, Dresses, Polo Coats ... HEADQUARTERS The Little Shop HAWTHORNE BUILDING Berryville
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The Clarke Courier of 21 November 1935 described the Hawthorne Library at five years old, with 2,000 books kept "through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Tappan", more than thirteen thousand loans since January 1930, morning and afternoon opening hours, and free reading and borrowing; its headline called the library "Established In 1930".
The Clarke Courier of 21 November 1935 described the Hawthorne Library at five years old, with 2,000 books kept "through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Tappan", more than thirteen thousand loans since January 1930, morning and afternoon opening hours, and free reading and borrowing; its headline called the library "Established In 1930".
The library in operation in 1935, its size, its hours and who paid for it, from the paper of the week.
The paper's own dating of the library differs from its dating in 1939: this headline and the circulation count start in 1930, the 1939 notice says December 1929. Both are published here and neither is chosen.
Evidence role: supports. The headline and opening paragraphs.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1935-11-21 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, headline and opening paragraphs (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageAmazing Record Proves Usefulness of Hawthorne Library Established In 1930 ... The 2,000 books on the shelves cared for through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Tappan have been loaned out more than 6 times for each book.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: supports. The hours paragraph.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1935-11-21 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, library hours paragraph (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageThe Hawthorne Library hours are from 9 until 11 in the morning and from 3:30 until 5:30 in the afternoon. All books and magazines may be read in the library or borrowed free of charge.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: complicates. The same paper in 1939 dates the opening to December 1929.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1939-02-16 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, closing paragraph of the same notice (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passagethe Hawthorne Library in Berryville that was given to Clarke County by Mr. Archibald Cummins and first opened by him in Decem[b]er 1929. Since that time the institution has loaned to the public free of charge approximately 20,000 books and magazines.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
A notice in the Clarke Courier of 16 February 1939 placed a benefit bazaar "in the Hawthorne House in the rooms of the Library and Tappan apartments", and said the library had been given to Clarke County by Archibald Cummins and "first opened by him in December 1929", having since lent about twenty thousand books and magazines free of charge.
A notice in the Clarke Courier of 16 February 1939 placed a benefit bazaar "in the Hawthorne House in the rooms of the Library and Tappan apartments", and said the library had been given to Clarke County by Archibald Cummins and "first opened by him in December 1929", having since lent about twenty thousand books and magazines free of charge.
That the library and the Tappans' apartments were rooms in the same building in 1939: the overlapping uses, in one sentence, from a contemporary source.
A prospective notice about a bazaar; the opening date it gives is the paper's own retrospective statement, and it differs from the 1935 headline. The apartments are not described further.
Evidence role: supports. The bazaar sentence naming both the library rooms and the Tappan apartments.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1939-02-16 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, "Bazaar Planned For Hawthorne Library" (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageit is all going to happen at a Bazaar in the Haw[t]horne House in the rooms of the Library and Tappan apartments for the benefit of the Hawthorne Library to secure the services of a Librarian.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: supports. The paragraph on Cummins and December 1929.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1939-02-16 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, closing paragraph of the same notice (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passagethe Hawthorne Library in Berryville that was given to Clarke County by Mr. Archibald Cummins and first opened by him in Decem[b]er 1929. Since that time the institution has loaned to the public free of charge approximately 20,000 books and magazines.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: complicates. The 1935 headline dating the library to 1930.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1935-11-21 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, headline and opening paragraphs (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageAmazing Record Proves Usefulness of Hawthorne Library Established In 1930 ... The 2,000 books on the shelves cared for through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Tappan have been loaned out more than 6 times for each book.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
A notice in the Clarke Courier of 27 March 1947 gave the Hawthorne Library's hours as weekdays from three to five and Saturday evenings from seven to eight, with books free to read or borrow.
A notice in the Clarke Courier of 27 March 1947 gave the Hawthorne Library's hours as weekdays from three to five and Saturday evenings from seven to eight, with books free to read or borrow.
The library still open, and still free, twelve years after the 1935 account and seven before the books moved.
Two dated observations do not prove the years between them. The notice says nothing about the building's other uses.
Evidence role: supports. The notice, in the OCR of page 6.
Clarke Courier (Berryville) · 1947-03-27 (publication)
Locator: Page 6, library notice (OCR, line breaks joined)
Relevant passageThe Hawthorne Library is open each week day from 3 to 5 p. m., and on Saturday evenings from 7 to 8. Books may be read or borrowed free of charge.
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier-loc. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
See a related record at the Clarke County Historical Association
Also indexed as: Hawthorne Building; Treadwell Smith House; Cummins Clinic Building.
Know something about this place or record? Help fill a gap. It stays private until it is reviewed.
A tavern, a doctor's office, a children's clinic, a dress shop and the county's only public library, in one brick house at Main and Buckmarsh.
What the evidence says Building documented by the 1987 survey; uses reported by a 2017 account and, for 1931 to 1947, by the contemporary newspaper.