366,000 Square Miles: A Self-Guided Orange, VA Walking Tour

Your walk begins and ends at the 1909 Southern Railway Depot, one of the first buildings to rise after the fire of 1908, where history panels tell the story of the town's train wrecks and wartime rail traffic. At the end of the tour you're invited to step inside to see the building's original segregated floor plan, if the volunteer-run visitors center is open. Entry is free.(pass by)

You'll pass by the 1859 Italian Villa-style courthouse, the reason the town exists, and hear how it became the nerve centre of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the winter of 1863–64. On the grounds you'll see the Confederate monument, a Revolutionary War marker and a boulder honouring Zachary Taylor, and you'll climb to the portico to read the county's war honour rolls. The grounds and portico are free to visit.(pass by)

Passing the 1935 New Deal-era Post Office, you'll hear the story of Arnold Friedman, the postal clerk turned painter whose 1937 mural Upland Pastures hangs in the lobby. If the Post Office is open, you're welcome to step inside to see it for free; if not, an image is provided in the app.(pass by)

You'll catch a glimpse of the former Orange Volunteer Fire Company, a Colonial Revival firehouse now home to the Firehouse Theatre and Orange School of Performing Arts, along with the vivid 2021 mural Hatch Me a Dream in the adjacent alley. Entry to the theatre and performances are not included in this tour.(pass by)

You'll walk through Taylor Park, named for the great-grandparents of two US presidents, James Madison and Zachary Taylor, and hear how Orange County once stretched all the way to the Mississippi River. The park also features a trompe-l'oeil mural of a vanished bank. Entry to the park is free.(pass by)

You'll stop in the courtyard of this 1833 Jeffersonian church, designed by one of Jefferson's master builders from the University of Virginia, where Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis worshipped in the winter of 1863–64. At the entrance, you'll see bricks salvaged from the parish's original 1740 church. Entry to the church interior is not included in this tour.(pass by)

You'll pass by the James Madison Museum, housed in a former 1920s car dealership, with exhibits on Madison, the Constitution, Black history, Native American history and local agriculture. Please note that entry to the museum requires separate paid admission and is not included in this tour.(pass by)

You'll walk through this small park where brick pedestals display the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, alongside a boulder carrying the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act and a time capsule to be opened in 2087. Entry is free.(pass by)

You'll pass by Emanuel Baptist Church, left below street level when Madison Highway was rerouted, and hear how the congregation built its own dignified staircase down to its front door. Entry to the church is not included in this tour.(pass by)

You'll walk through this park, dedicated on Juneteenth 2022, where interpretive panels and a poem by Lulabelle Robinson remember the Mill Street community that thrived here during segregation. Entry is free.(pass by)