Buckingham Houses: Park Place
Park Place (1982), Photo by Hal Coleman
During his lifetime, Wilson D. Coleman (1918—2013) wrote down some of his memories of growing up in Buckingham County, especially focusing on his youth spent at the Coleman farm, Park Place. Wilson was born there and lived on the farm until 1941 when he left for service in World War II.
No doubt, these details of life at Park Place during the first half of the twentieth century might apply to other farms in Buckingham. Wilson Coleman recalled:
The original buildings on the farm were constructed from lumber grown on the farm. The dwelling was sided with boards sawed from heart pine. It was built in 1850 and not blessed with paint until 1930. . . .
The kitchen house was long gone by my time. I don’t know what became of it. All I can remember about it was the existence of some large stones that had been its foundation. It must have been victim of a fire disaster but I don’t remember anyone talking about it.
The farm boasted just three “outbuildings” in the early days, the barn, the ice house, and the tobacco house. The barn was a log structure about twenty feet by twelve. . . .
The tobacco house was the largest building on the place. It was about thirty-five feet square and stood at least three stories high. . . .
The ice house was gone before my time. It had been located about forty feet from the east end of the dwelling. . . .
slate river ramblings . . . . 
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