Tiny Foster Falls, Virginia, regains some of its old luster with a new inn.
Photo Above: Restoration of The Inn at Foster Falls is the result of years of research on its original construction to assure true-to-history reconstruction.
Photo Courtesy of Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The address of a new inn in Virginia’s New River Valley—Orphanage Drive—hints at the long and sometimes dark history of an old building recently returned to use. The Inn at Foster Falls opened in April after decades of historic research and restoration work.
An imposing two-story brick building with expansive gingerbread trim, the new inn started out in 1887 as a “hotel, commissary and post office” near the New River when Foster Falls was the site of an iron smelting furnace, according to a spokeswoman for the company operating the inn. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation owns the building.
In 1914 the smelter closed and the Abingdon Presbytery purchased the hotel, which became an industrial training school for girls and later an orphanage. After extensive fire damage in 1962 the orphanage closed and the building sat empty for more than 30 years.
Enter the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, which bought the property in 1995. Years of painstaking research followed, then reconstruction to restore the building. Today Foster Falls sits at Milepost 24 of the New River Trail State Park, a 59-mile rails-to-trails recreation paradise linking Pulaski, Galax and Fries, Virginia. The past is still present there, with the original railway depot, along with equestrian facilities, boat launches, bicycle and canoe rentals and picnic shelters.
The Inn at Foster Falls has 10 luxuriously appointed guest rooms plus event space. Rocking chairs are ready for guests on the wraparound porch.
The Inn at Foster Falls, 176 Orphanage Dr., Max Meadows, Virginia. stayinnfosterfalls.com.
The story above first appeared in our July / August 2023 issue.
