Everything OddWay knows about. Narrow it down by what you're after, or where you're going.
Real events too strange to have made the textbook.
Stafford, VA
The present Aquia Church was completed in 1757 after its nearly finished predecessor burned, and the building later survived use by Union soldiers as a stable, hospital and campsite during the Civil War. It remains an active Episcopal church with remarkably preserved colonial woodwork, and historical tours should be arranged with the church office rather than treated as unrestricted sightseeing.
Port Royal, VA
John Wilkes Booth was cornered at Richard Garrett's farm and fatally shot on April 26, 1865, twelve days after assassinating Abraham Lincoln. The farm buildings are gone and the actual site lies in a posted highway median with no public access, so OddWay should route travelers only to the roadside "Assassin's End" historical marker and pull-off.
Surry, VA
Built in 1665, this extraordinary brick house acquired its misleading name after followers of Nathaniel Bacon seized and fortified it during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. The historic house is open for scheduled tours during its operating season, while the grounds generally have broader daytime access.
Hampton, VA
After Blackbeard was killed off North Carolina in 1718, his severed head was brought back to Virginia and displayed at the mouth of the Hampton River as a warning to other pirates. A modern historical marker at Blackbeard's Point identifies the tradition and gives travelers a physical stop tied to one of the grimmest episodes in Virginia's pirate history.
Afton, VA
Engineer Claudius Crozet's 4,273-foot railroad tunnel opened in 1858 after nearly nine years of difficult construction through the Blue Ridge Mountains. The abandoned bore reopened as a pedestrian and bicycle trail in 2020, but it is completely dark inside and the walk to and through it requires a flashlight and appropriate trail access.
Blackstone, VA
Virginia tradition says camp cook Jimmy Matthews created an early Brunswick stew during an 1828 hunting trip in Brunswick County, originally using squirrel, butter, onions, bread and seasoning. A Virginia historical marker erected in 1997 preserves the claim, though competing origin stories exist elsewhere, making this a suitably odd food-history roadside stop.
Richmond, VA
The Church Hill railroad tunnel catastrophically collapsed on October 2, 1925 while crews were attempting to reopen it, entombing a locomotive and an uncertain number of workers underground. The tunnel was sealed and remains unsafe and inaccessible; only view the surviving portal area from legal public ground and never attempt to enter.
Arlington, VA
During the Watergate investigation in 1972 and 1973, reporter Bob Woodward secretly met FBI official Mark Felt, later confirmed as "Deep Throat," in an underground garage in Rosslyn. A historical marker installed outside the complex in 2008 identifies the site; the garage remains an active parking facility, so OddWay visitors should use the exterior marker rather than wander through private parking levels.
Norfolk, VA
Doumar's still uses the original-style four-iron waffle machine associated with founder Abe Doumar, who helped popularize the rolled waffle ice-cream cone at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The century-old drive-in remains in business, and visitors can often watch cones being made on the historic machine while ordering from the restaurant.
Virginia Beach, VA
Psychic Edgar Cayce and his supporters founded the Association for Research and Enlightenment in 1931 to preserve and study material from his thousands of claimed psychic readings. The Virginia Beach headquarters now includes a large metaphysical library, bookstore, meditation garden, historic hospital building and public programs on Cayce's work.
Mechanicsville, VA
Polegreen Church was destroyed by Confederate artillery in 1864 during the Civil War. In 2012, a stark white framework was erected on the footprint of the vanished meetinghouse, creating a skeletal "Ghost Church" that visitors can walk around during daylight hours.
Rural Retreat, VA
Dr. Charles T. Pepper is buried in Mountain View Cemetery, and a long-running local story connects him to the naming of the Dr Pepper soft drink through pharmacist Wade Morrison. The exact origin of the beverage's name remains disputed, but the grave gives travelers a physical stop for one of Virginia's most persistent soda-history stories.
Alexandria, VA
John Hollensbury built this exceptionally narrow house in 1830 to fill an alley beside his home, reportedly after growing tired of people and wagons using the passage. The roughly seven-foot-wide residence still stands at 523 Queen Street, but it is a private home and should be viewed only from the public sidewalk.
Covington, VA
Built in 1857, this wooden bridge arches noticeably higher at its center than at either end, giving it the humpback profile that makes it unique. It is Virginia's oldest surviving covered bridge and now stands in a public wayside park where travelers can walk through it rather than drive across it.
Kiptopeke, VA
Nine concrete cargo ships built during World War II were deliberately sunk off Kiptopeke in 1948 to form a protective breakwater for the former ferry terminal. Their decaying hulls still rise from Chesapeake Bay and can be viewed from Kiptopeke State Park, with kayaks offering a closer look when conditions permit.
Elkton, VA
A stone pyramid placed at Swift Run Gap in 1921 commemorates Governor Alexander Spotswood's 1716 expedition across the Blue Ridge, later romanticized as the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe. The roadside monument preserves that colonial legend, although claims that the party "discovered" the region ignore Indigenous occupation and earlier European travel through the area.
Elliston, VA
Built in 1878, this metal truss bridge carried traffic until 1971 before being preserved at the northbound Ironto Safety Rest Area on Interstate 81. It has been restored as a pedestrian bridge, turning a highway rest stop into an unexpectedly good piece of surviving nineteenth-century transportation history.
Max Meadows, VA
This roughly 75-foot stone tower was built in the early 1800s to manufacture lead shot by dropping molten lead from the top so it formed into spheres while falling. The grounds are accessible as part of Virginia's state park system, while entry into the tower itself is restricted to scheduled openings and programs.
Locust Grove, VA
After Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by Confederate troops at Chancellorsville in 1863, surgeons amputated his left arm and a chaplain buried it in the Lacy family cemetery at Ellwood Manor. Jackson himself died days later and was buried in Lexington, leaving this small marked arm grave as one of Virginia's strangest Civil War burial sites; access follows National Park Service and Ellwood hours.
Petersburg, VA
Oswald Young built this house in 1934 using pieces of thousands of discarded government headstones that had once marked Union graves at nearby Poplar Grove National Cemetery. The strange stone residence still survives on Youngs Road, but it is private property and should be viewed only from the public roadway.
