A History of Bracey, Virginia

The area now called Bracey began to form as a community in 1762 when a ferry across the Roanoke River (now Lake Gaston) began operation and the territory around the northern landing became a commercial center. The landing at Blanton's Ferry in 1792 became officially the town of Saint Tammany when the General Assembly made it the first incorporated town in Mecklenburg County.

The trade area of St. Tammany (the patron saint of American Liberty) covered a large region on both the north and south sides of the Roanoke River, at least as far east as the Brunswick County line and at least as far west as Flat Creek. When the petition for incorporation was granted, the town of St. Tammany was laid out in 100 half-acre lots on land belonging to James Blanton, which was on a bluff overlooking the ferry landing. The road that ran north from the landing, to Petersburg, became known as St. Tammany Road. (The town of St. Tammany was located just west of the Cliffs on the Roanoke subdivision.)

In its day, St. Tammany was an important site for commerce and the tobacco trade. Thirty-nine people bought lots in the town during its first year. In the town's tobacco warehouse, the tobacco—some of it transported there by the bateaux on the river from as far away as 100 miles—was stored in hogsheads until it could be carried by wagon up the St. Tammany Road to Petersburg to be sold. This two-story, stone-and-frame building built into the bluff also housed a store and the post office (established in 1798); the structure still stood circa 1930. Another store (perhaps Samuel Lambert & Company, with partners Grief Harwell and Richard Fox), a blacksmith shop, a tan yard, a tavern run by Samuel Lambert, and several houses comprised the remainder of the original town. At various times, ordinaries (inns/taverns) were operated in the town by William Taylor, James Blanton, William Alexander, William Blanton, and William Hendrick, who also ran the ferry at one time.

The ownership of the ferry and other property changed hands several times, the Boyd family being owners in the 1840s and Nathaniel M. Thornton in 1859. After Thornton’s death in 1885, Altamont Hart ("Mont") Bracey purchased the St. Tammany property, including the ferry, and had the businesses and post office relocated from the riverside, up St. Tammany Road, near its crossroads with the River Road (now Hwy. 903). At the new location, Mont Bracey operated a large store that housed a drugstore and the St. Tammany post office. Also at the new St. Tammany was a blacksmith shop operated by Captain Green Blanton (who lived at the crossroads), a cotton gin, and a wheelwright’s shop.

In 1900, the Richmond, Petersburg, and Carolina Railroad Company completed a railroad from Richmond, Virginia, to Ridgeway, North Carolina, where it joined the old Raleigh and Gaston Railroad. The company then changed its name to the Seaboard Air Line Railway and became part of a chain of railroads on the east coast. With the building of the railroad and its new station, the center of business shifted eastward to where the railroad intersected River Road. However, despite the wishes of the local citizens (including Mont Bracey) that the station carry the name "St. Tammany," railroad officials wanted a shorter name for telegraphing purposes. They chose the name "Bracey," for Mont Bracey, since he was instrumental in bringing the railroad to the area. The “Bracey” post office was established on July 24, 1900. At that time, trains exclusively delivered mail; this practice continued until the 1970s when train service was eliminated on the Seaboard Railroad.

Bracey, never incorporated, was laid off east of the tracks on the side of a gently sloping hill. In Bracey’s heyday, customers came from as far west as Red Lawn, drawn by the five stores, two boarding houses (Ridout and Bracey), two cotton gins, a blacksmith shop, a barbershop, an ice cream stand, a garage, the busy passenger and freight depot, and, of course, the post office. Bracey also had churches, schools, the stationmaster’s house, and other houses.

Store operators through the years included W.H. Morris, Melly Walker, and Willie Jackson (W.J.) Harper. Waller Bracey (a son of Mont) built the brick Bracey & Co. store on the south side of what is now Bracey Drive. Bracey’s store sold dry goods, groceries, hardware, and even coffins; he also had a soda fountain and, in the early years, the post office. In 1901, John H. Ridout established a store and a barbershop. Then in about 1915, Alvis O. Bracey (son of Mont) built a store across from Bracey & Co. This white, frame structure, which is still standing, served as the post office from 1943 until it was relocated to the new brick building adjacent to Hwy. 903. Across from Ridout’s store was that of Ed Lambert, with living quarters upstairs (still standing). In 1939, the store of J. Miles Cole joined the other Bracey stores, this one at the top of the hill. Mr. Cole’s store was rescued and relocated across Nellie Jones Road in 1995 by Waller Randolph Hite, great-grandson of Waller Taylor Bracey. The store is now home to “Bracey Mercantile” and the “Barber’s Chair” barbershop.

Bracey also enjoyed other amenities. When W T. Harper’s first gin burned, he built another one at the top of the hill (standing until 1994, now the location of the Buggs Island Telephone Cooperative). Also, Ridout’s gin was on the south side of the road. In A.O. Bracey’s garage, Thomas Wortham sold ice cream and fish brought on the train from Norfolk. “Uncle” Nonnie Algood operated Ed Lambert’s blacksmith ship.

The ferry at old St. Tammany continued operating until 1916, and by the 1920s the tourist traffic that came through Bracey crossed the Roanoke on Smiths Ferry, further to the east. These primarily Florida-bound tourists often camped overnight behind one of the Bracey schools, as well as staying in the two boarding houses.

There have been public schools, for white children, in the vicinity of Bracey since 1882. Two of the earlier white schools were the Harwell School and the Frog Pond School, which was at the junction of routes Marengo Road and Nellie Jones Road. The Bracey school building for white children was constructed in 1911 and is located on Nellie Jones Road. In 1926, the high school students were taken to La Crosse High School by bus, and several years later, the Bracey School was closed and the elementary students went to La Crosse. Black children in the area, if their parents could afford the tuition, had available a Presbyterian-sponsored school called Great Creek School, located in the yard of the Presbyterian Great Creek Church. This school was replaced by a black public school, the Mary B. Marks School, named for a teacher at the Great Creek School. This two-room building was just to the west of the Great Creek Church and is still standing, now Hard Times restaurant. Another black, church-associated school at Bracey was St. Mark's, available only to the children of members of the Episcopal Church. The building still stands adjacent to the St. Marks church property.

Along Hwy. 903 (the River Road) are Bracey’s three operating churches: Roanoke Zion R.Z.U.A., St. Mark’s Episcopal, and Kingswood United Methodist. There was a Baptist Church years ago at the intersection of Nellie Jones Road and Bracey Lane, but it was destroyed by a tornado around 1923 and was never rebuilt. The Bracey Community Center was then built on the site in 1959.

In 1963, the dam across the Roanoke at Gaston, North Carolina, was completed and Lake Gaston formed. Traditionally, the river enriched the area by providing east-west transport of tobacco and other goods, powering much-needed water mills, and depositing rich soil on the fertile low grounds. Today, the river has become a beautiful lake, enjoyable not just for summer recreation but also for pleasant year-round living and enjoyment. The 1965 opening of Interstate-85, its route paralleling the ancient route followed by St. Tammany Road, further redefined and molded the Bracey community. The highway and the waters of the Roanoke now enrich the community in other ways, bringing in new communities, new people, new friends, and new church members.