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2010 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 181
Commending the Town of Boyce on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 29, 2010
Agreed to by the Senate, February 4, 2010

 

WHEREAS, the Town of Boyce and its citizens are celebrating their historic 100th anniversary in 2010; and

WHEREAS, the Town of Boyce was founded in 1880 at the crossing of the Millwood-Winchester Turnpike that became Route 723 and the newly built Shenandoah Valley Railroad, now the Norfolk Southern Railroad; and

WHEREAS, originally a part of Orange County, the Town of Boyce became part of the newly created Frederick County in 1738; and

WHEREAS, in 1836 the General Assembly established Clarke County, which was named after George Rogers Clark, a Revolutionary War hero and the brother of William Clark the famous explorer; the Town of Boyce was incorporated in 1910 as the second town in Clarke County; and

WHEREAS, depicted as “dense woods” in early descriptions, Boyce’s growth was influenced by interesting individuals, such as Joseph Tuley, a wealthy entrepreneur who made a fortune by tanning leather in factories in nearby Millwood during the early 1800s; and

WHEREAS, Joseph Tuley’s antebellum mansion located just south of Boyce was named "The Tuleyries,” a pun on the name of the French royal palace, The Tuileries; General Sheridan's troops quartered at The Tuleyries during the Civil War; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia State Arboretum and Blandy Experimental Farm near Boyce were built on what was once Joseph Tuley’s grand estate; and

WHEREAS, after the Civil War, a prominent St. Louis attorney and Union officer, Colonel Upton Lawrence Boyce, married a niece of Joseph Tuley and the couple made The Tuleyries their home; and

WHEREAS, the Shenandoah Valley Railroad Company obtained a charter to build a railroad from Hagerstown, Maryland, to Roanoke, running through downtown Boyce and providing transport for the county’s livestock and goods; and

WHEREAS, Colonel Boyce was instrumental in finding the money needed to finish laying the steel train rails when the financial panic of 1873 hit the country; and

WHEREAS, residents named their community Boyceville to honor Colonel Boyce for his many contributions; and when the railroad finally came to town, 232 acres from five family farms were platted to plan and build what is now Boyce; and

WHEREAS, in 1880 R. Powell Page and Addison H. Garvin opened a store and warehouse and John W. Sprint and Sons opened a second store; by the time the Town of Boyce incorporated on November 28, 1910, it had a school, bank, hotel, two livery stables, planing mill, two lumber yards, two grain elevators, and nine stores, including a hardware store, barbershop, butcher shop, harness shop, and department store; and

WHEREAS, the Town of Boyce first held elections on December 20, 1910, and William Gaunt was elected mayor; George Garvin, M. O. Simpson, and John T. Sprint were elected as council members; and George Harrison was elected recorder; and

WHEREAS, appearing on the National Register of Historic Places, the Town of Boyce remains an attractive and friendly community of residences and shops, churches, a school, eateries, and town offices amidst productive agricultural farmland that provides residents with a good quality of life; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend and congratulate the Town of Boyce on the occasion of its 100th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to representatives of the Town of Boyce as an expression of the General Assembly’s recognition of the town’s rich history and best wishes for a bright and prosperous future for its citizens.