These four objects represent some of the recreational activities that are enjoyed by locals and visitors to our town. Rowing, canoeing, kayaking and fly fishing occur almost daily along this stretch of the Rappahannock.

The Rappahannock river was important for indigenous peoples for many thousands of years. The name of the river is derived from the from an Algonquian word, lappihanne meaning "river of quick, rising water" or "where the tide ebbs and flows," the name used by the local Rappahonnock Tribe.

It was explored by Captain John Smith in 1608. Due to the Piedmont Fall Line, this area is the furthest navigable spot in the river, and became an ideal locations for the city of Fredericksburg to be formed.

This Coca Cola crate comes from the now closed Northern Neck bottling plant located in nearby Montross, Virginia. The 12 ounce bottles in the wooden crate are known as “hoop skirt“ bottles due to their shape. When those 12 ounce bottles were made, each bottler used a mark of their town or city on the bottom. In the event that the bottle was returned for deposit to a neighboring bottler, they could be returned to the rightful owner for refilling.

The two sections of telephone poles are topped with 1930’s era glass insulators that were used to help carry telegraph and later telephone lines. These glass insulators are from the lines located along the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad right of way. This picture shows similar ones in place in rows on the poles along that railroad line when they were in operation.

The Fredericksburg Creamery Company (FCC) was located approximately 3 blocks southwest of Maggie’s at 514 Wolfe Street.

The company received milk from the local farmers in Spotsylvania, Stafford and King George Counties and turned it into various dairy products including ice cream, cream and milk.

The milk was poured into glass bottles, the bottles were topped with milk caps and the placed 12 at a time into the wooden milk cases. The employees would fill their trucks with cases of milk for door to door delivery to the households and businesses in Fredericksburg and the surrounding counties. As the FCC drivers delivered the full bottles, they would collect the empty ones left out by the customer from the previous week and return them to the Creamery where they were washed and refilled for subsequent deliveries.

The Fredericksburg Metal Egg Crate Company was formed in the early 1917 and was located approximately 4 blocks south of Maggie’s at 601 Jackson Street. The company was capitalizing on the US Postal Service’s recently created (1913) domestic parcel post that allowed for shipping of items.

The farmer would place the eggs in specially designed cushioning sleeves which were sandwiched between a top and bottom layer of cardboard.

This layer or layers of sleeves were placed in the metal egg crate and mailed to the recipient(usually a small grocery store or family without chickens that lived in town.

The eggs were removed and the customer would reinstall the sleeves, place payment for the next shipment of eggs, address the box, and mail it back to the farmer.

There was an instruction sheet that was included to help the users with packing and mailing instructions.

This piece of glass has an etching of a 4-6-2 steam locomotive which was a style used by the Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The glass and wood panel was used as a divider between booths in the 1990’s popular deli/eatery Spanky’s located approximately 1 block north of Maggie’s at 917 Caroline Street. It was salvaged during the demolition and has made its way here. Below is a picture of a 4-6-2 used on the RFP line.