Keswick, Virginia
| Keswick | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
|
Keswick Post Office | |
  Keswick Location within the Commonwealth of Virginia | |
| Coordinates: 38°1′30″N 78°21′20″W / 38.02500°N 78.35556°WCoordinates: 38°1′30″N 78°21′20″W / 38.02500°N 78.35556°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Albemarle |
| Elevation | 449 ft (137 m) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| GNIS feature ID | 1495786[1] |
Keswick is an unincorporated community in Albemarle County, Virginia, United States,[1] about six miles east of Charlottesville.
Keswick has few businesses, and lacks a central business district. It is predominantly residential, with a mixture of large farms, estates, middle-income, and low-income housing. Since many of the parcels of land in Keswick are large, it is relatively undeveloped and still retains its natural beauty, which is enhanced by a prominent view of the Southwest Mountains. The drive through Keswick "has often been cited as one of the most scenic in America," writes the New York Times.[2] Many of the estates were plantations in the 18th century.[2] No major development took place in Keswick until the 1990s, and the development since then has been subject to strict scrutiny by Albemarle County officials.[2]
The town includes Keswick Hall, a club and estate which includes a golf course. The town is also home to Keswick Vineyards, a family owned and operated vineyard and winery. Oakland School, a special boarding and day school for children with learning disabilities, is in Keswick, as is the Little Keswick School, a boarding school for students with behavioral disabilities. A CSX freight rail line runs through the town. The Shackelford family, long prominent in Albemarle and Orange counties and in the Monticello Association,[3] has a family cemetery in Keswick.[4]
The postal delivery area by the name of Keswick is substantially larger than Keswick itself, extending to the north nearly to Gordonsville and to the west to Stony Point, encompassing towns too small to have a post office, including Cash Corner, Cismont, Lindsay, Stony Point, Boyd Tavern, Cobham, Whitlock, and Rosena.
East Belmont, Limestone, and Southwest Mountains Rural Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[5]
In film
The Keswick train Station (no longer in operation) and farm of Belmont (not to be confused with East Belmont) are featured in the 1956 film Giant. The portions of the movie set in Maryland were filmed at these places in Keswick.
References
- 1 2 "Keswick". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
- 1 2 3 Wells, Stephen (2008-10-24). "Pastoral Landscapes and Upscale Retreats". New York Times (The New York Times Company). Retrieved 2009-03-08.
- ↑ Moore, John Hammond. Albemarle: Jefferson's County. University Press of Virginia. ISBN 0-8139-0645-8.
In 1939 the Randolphs, Taylors, Keans, Shackelfords, and other descendants [of Thomas Jefferson] formed the Monticello Graveyard Association which began holding annual meetings and continues to administer the graveyard today under the name of the Monticello Association.
- ↑ Cemeteries in Albemarle County, avenue.org
- ↑ Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
