Fried Chicken Capital: A Self-Guided Walking Tour of Gordonsville
- 1–2 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- Guided in English
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
Gordonsville, Virginia has been a crossroads of American life for more than two centuries. On this self-guided walking tour, you'll trace how every shift in transportation – from stagecoach to steam engine to automobile – left its mark on this small town. You'll also discover how the women excluded from its formal economy turned that exclusion into one of the most remarkable entrepreneurial stories in American history. The tour starts at the Gordonsville Visitor Center on Main Street, where you'll walk north past sixty years of railroad-era architecture – merchant homes with elaborate porches, four historic churches built within thirty years of each other, and a street whose survival owes everything to the town's gradual decline. Along the way, you'll visit the site of Gordon's Tavern, where a historical marker lists Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Lafayette among those who stopped here.
Inclusions
What's included
- Directions to the starting point so that when you're in the right place, the tour will start
- Lifetime access to this tour in English before your booking date and after it
- Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
- Flexibility to explore at your own pace with a self-guided GPS tour
- The VoiceMap App for Android and iOS
What's not
- Smartphone and headphones
- Personal expenses for admission fees not included during the tour
- Food and drink
- Transportation
- An in-person guide
Itinerary
You'll pass by the Gordonsville Visitor Center as your guide introduces the town and its outsized role in American transportation history. No entry is included — this is your starting point on the street.
You'll pass by the cream-coloured former Gordonsville Volunteer Fire Department, with its stepped parapet and arched truck bays, alongside the neighbouring Old Oaken Bucket Hotel, a Colonial Revival building whose covered drive was built for cars rather than foot traffic. Both are viewed from the street only; entry is not included on this tour.
You'll pass by the marble marker near the traffic circle commemorating Nathaniel Gordon's 1787 tavern, once visited by Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Lafayette. The tavern itself no longer stands, but the marker is freely viewable from the street.
You'll pass by the C.B. Linney House at 506 North Main Street, an 1878 home known for its two full tiers of cast-iron porches. This is a private residence viewed from the street only, with no public access.
You'll pass by the ornately fronted 1873 Methodist Church and the 1855 Presbyterian Church, where Stonewall Jackson worshipped in the summer of 1862. Both are viewed from the exterior only, with entry not included on this tour.
You'll pass by the Gordonsville Library, built in 1884 by Irish railroad workers as St. Mark's Catholic Church, and your guide will point out the bronze dedication plaque by the entrance. The library is free to enter if you'd like to step inside, though this isn't included as part of the guided route.
You'll pass by Gordon-Barbour Elementary School as your guide describes the Gordonsville Female Institute that once stood on this site, a 19th-century girls' school teaching subjects from astronomy to calisthenics. As an active school, this is viewed from the street only, with no public access.
You'll pass by Christ Episcopal Church, an 1875 Gothic Revival building with pointed arches, stone buttresses, and original 19th-century stained glass, funded by Richmond industrialist Richard B. Haxall. The courtyard is publicly accessible, but entry to the church interior is not included on this tour.
You'll pass by the Gordonsville Ice House, built around 1906 as a civic auditorium and now serving fried chicken and local beer. Entry to eat or drink here is not included on this tour.
You'll pass by Barbeque Exchange on Main Street as your guide describes the boutiques, wineries, and eateries that keep Gordonsville's commercial block alive today. Entry is not included on this tour.
You'll pass by the restored freight depot, once the site of the Gordonsville Train Depot platform where formerly enslaved African American women built a renowned fried chicken business serving passengers on passing trains. The depot exterior is freely viewable; there's no ticketed entry here.
You'll pass by the Exchange Hotel, which served as a Confederate receiving hospital during the Civil War and later as a Freedmen's Bureau school and courthouse. Entry to the museum inside is not included on this tour and requires a separate ticket.
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- This tour starts at Gordonsville Visitor Center, 200 S. Main Street in Gordonsville, Virginia. Before arrival, please install the mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket. Detailed starting point instructions are available after downloading.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- VoiceMap Audio Tours
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The total tour time includes walking the route and passing by the attractions
How it compares in USA, outside the cities
- Its from-price is 88% below the median of the 2274 experiences we list in USA, outside the cities.
- Its length is typical for the group.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
Special offers in USA, outside the cities
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
