About 30 miles from us is the little town of Dendron, Virginia. My main memories of Dendron include attending middle school there. My sister lived near the school at that time, and occasionally, she would pick me up and take me to her house for lunch. What a treat that was.
For all the years that I can recall, Dendron has been a quiet little town, with just one small convenience store, a few churches and a post office. (It also has an active historical society.)
But from the late 1800’s until the mid 1920’s, Dendron was a booming town due to a large lumber mill and railroad. There were numerous businesses including a movie theater, a Ford dealership, a millinery, bakery and two bottling plants.
(By the mid 1920’s, the supply of lumber had been exhausted, the mills closed and, therefore, so did the businesses. A fire in 1931 destroyed much of what remained of the commercial area, as well as a church.)
And here’s why I’m sharing all this history about Dendron: last week, my friend, Bev, and I spent some time “shelling”, and I found this bottle shard.
Knowing that my friend, Donna, is an avid antique bottle collector (who also lives not far from Dendron), I texted her with a picture to ask what she might know about it.
She not only knew that it dated from around 1905, but she has an intact bottle just like it.
Her bottle shows “Surry Bottling Company- Dendron, VA”. I’ll need to do more research to learn what the letters “L & M” in the center meant.
Knowing the origin and date (thanks to Donna) of this beach glass made it a fun find. Just imagine that little bottle shard tumbling around in the river and sand for over a hundred years…
~These Days Of Mine~
these days of mine 
How cool is it to have found that little bit of history and to be able to track down some of the history behind it. I love that!
Fun! Good eyes spotting that one Dianna!
Pam
Cool find! Nice that you can have something beautiful from what was trash!
What a great find!
What serendipity!! It’s hard to believe now how large Dendron was not that long ago. Once the lumber business failed, the one and only railroad in the county left and there’s never been another one. Since the town got its name from lumber, I wonder if it had a different name before the lumber business?
Yes, June, I should have included that in my “mini-history”. Prior to the lumber business, the town was known as Mussel Fork Village. There’s an old homeplace nearby, known as Mussel Fork Plantation.
So great to see something about my hometown! I also learned something I didn’t know – very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
You’d never know that the sleepy little town had such a bustling past. Love it!
If that isn’t the coolest discovery yet, Dianna! I just love how your friend was able to shed even more light on your discovery.
Great find… how lucky to have a piece that had Dendron on it!
Well, how cool is that? A little piece of interesting history right there in your hand. Neat!
Wonderful unique treasure you found there. It’s like a gift filled with sweet memories and history. 🙂
What an awesome find! And I’m sure you had a great day outdoors walking along the river with a friend. Doesn’t get much better than that!
cool bit of history!
An awesome find – & story to go with it !
I’ve always thought the name “Dendron” was cool – ‘dendro’ is a reference to something tree-related, and it was a lumber town ! : )
What a cool tidbit, Marshall.
Great story! I bet you would have loved to have been an archaeologist.
Marshall is correct. dendrology = the scientific study of trees
If was so much fun learning history of where we went to school. What a great find of a piece of bottle that was made there. I have some good memories of when we went to school in Dendron. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! That is so very cool!
Oh, Dianna! I am so glad you posted about your find!! What are the odds that the sweet little shard of the Dendron bottle would end up in your eager hands!! Marshall was right–Dendron is the greek word for trees. History is a beautiful thing and I think it was meant to be a part of your wonderful day by the shore~! Thanks again for sharing your find. I told you I ran into a guy that said those Dendron bottles were in all colors–just imagine! So keep your eyes open!
What a great find! Interesting to learn the history behind it.