Poor House Road

In the past two years I have spent at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, I have come to find that this quiet little college town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains is home to many curiosities. Route 11, which used to be the main road, prior to the construction of Interstate 81, features kitschy attractions such as the Pink Cadillac Diner and Foam Henge, yes, a life sized replica of Stone Henge made entirely from foam. Yet with these tourist traps comes a historic and sometimes macbre side of Lexington,namely, the Poor House Road Tunnel. Now featured on ghost hunting websites such as Haunted America and Vamp Investigations, the tunnel is one of my favorite places to shoot film, preferably in the day time. Carved out of the side of a hill, the Tunnel led to Lexington's Poor House that once existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was also the host to train tracks when trains ran between Lexington and Staunton. Local lore claims that if you visit the tunnel at night you can hear the sound of a train or childrens' voices beckoning you to hurry up and catch the approaching train. There have also been stories that lynchings occurred from the top of the tunnel, though there is little evidence to support this.  Today, the Tunnel has an otherworldly feel. The very narrow, somewhat paved road yields to old cobblestones when approaching. Old trees bend their branches around the tunnel's entrance like gatekeepers into another era. The river that runs along the side of the tunnel gives off a feel of wilderness isolation. The narrowness of the tunnel, in conjunction with the river creates the perfect setting for whistling wind and other generally eerie noises one would not want to encounter alone or at night. Maybe it is the ghost stories, or perhaps it is simply my own skittishness but I never feel quite at ease, or alone, when I visit. This out of element, slightly on edge feeling takes me out of my comfort zone. While this might not sound like a pleasant experience, I have found that letting my imagination run wild has helped me with creativity in my photos, and also letting go a little. The eeriness sometimes brings on a feeling of [almost] relaxing escape from the red brick, white columns, and infinite seersucker found on W&L's campus. Though these are all things I too love, it is nice to know there is a place not too far away where I feel out of my element and in another world altogether.