Lahore

Lahore is a city in Pakistan whose name means “City of Lava.” And it’s a small town, a very small town, in Orange County, Virginia. But, as you’ll see, it has a very interesting history.

As of my last visit in 2022, that EXXON sign has been disappeared.

I often pick a place on the map that I’ve never been to, and go there. Lahore was such a place. After about a good three hour drive I arrived at an intersection that had three buildings - a school, what I assumed was the general merchandise store and post office, and an elaborate beautiful old home. And a lone EXXON sign across the street in an empty field.

While I was setting up the RB a young feller pulled up to unload a small tractor.

"Is this all there is to Lehore?" I asked him.

"Yup. This is like downtown here."

Yup.

One of the shots I was setting up for the RB67

The RB67 is a medium format film camera that I use for a lot of the black and white work.

According to a 2011 Mashable article by Zara Khan, “There is a town named Lahore in the Orange County, Virginia, United States. Abul Hasan Naghmi, a Pakistani broadcaster who founded a society of Urdu Literature in America, published several books, and also was associated with the program “Radio Pakistan.” ‘Aao Bacho Suno Kahani’ was one of his most successful and well-known broadcast programs. And Abul Hasan Naghmi was the first to let people in his native Pakistan, especially Lahore, know about the American Lahore in 2007. Surprisingly, the Lahore Town has existed since 1850s and, according to some resources, was named by a couple who resided in Lahore, India before the 1947 partition that created a separate nation, Pakistan.

According to another 2007 article by Sandhya Somashekhar, “The village was named in the 1800s by the owner of a general store, after reading and studying a book about India.”

In 2022 I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Abul Hasan Naghmi’s son, Noor Naghmi. He’s a well known film and TV actor from Pakistan and India, with films in the US as well. Some of his films include Only (2019), Angels Within (2017) and Betrayed (2011). And it turns out we’ve both worked for New York Life!

It was a fascinating experience, much of which I cannot share at this time as I was on a “work for hire” assignment. But what I think I can share is that Noor is originally from Lahore, Pakistan and has been fascinated with finding Lahore, Virginia since his teenage years, where he lived in northern Virginia. It wasn’t until Google Earth that he found that the Lahore he sought was only about 40 minutes away. He is interested in purchasing the property, preserving it’s history, and establishing it as a cross cultural center, bridging America and Pakistan.

Noor Naghmi at a luncheon in 2022, sharing his vision for preserving the history of Lahore and creating a cross cultural museum.

That pump house, which as of January, 2023 has been demolished, in its better days.

Photograph courtesy of Jennifer Waldron Conley, who wrote me, “The original was taken/belonged to my dear friend Jean Kraft Graves. She was THE local historian of Lahore, as a lifelong resident.”

Virginia Waldron Scales lives in Orange County and writes so wonderfully about this place on her Facebook page “The Waldron Place.” About the school she writes, “The schoolhouse is certainly a beautiful building retaining much of it's original charm. Orange County natives will remember two of the wonderful ladies who taught at the school, Mrs. Evelyn Woolfolk and Mrs. Julia Burrus, both extraordinary women who are remembered with much love in our community. Both women lived well into their nineties and I was so blessed to have known them both. The schoolhouse was built sometime before 1910 and was in use for many years into the 50s for local parties and as a voter registration location. Recently someone told me that the building was used for hay storage when my dad helped farm the land. The schoolhouse has a central hall and one room on each side. The left side had a stage for performances and the right side of the building had a partition to create two rooms.

I often think about the children who must've passed our home or property, walking to school in the mornings. Before Lahore School opened, children in the area were taught at home or at the school at Pine Top, which was demolished in the 60s, or at the schoolhouse located on the Baker property. One of these locations is the scene for a traumatic event that took place in 1863, according to Jack Frazer's book. General Stoneman's Civil War raid was passing through the area and the children watched through the schoolhouse windows, which were being propped open by sticks. One girl, Miss Kendall, accidentally bumped a stick from the window and it fell on her neck, resulting in her death.”

This is the kind of history and wonderful detail you can only get from local people.

Again quoting from “The Waldron Place” posting on Facebook by Virginia Waldron Scales, “Jackson Store/Lahore Post Office was built in the 1850s. There was a blacksmith shop located directly across the road and an old Exxon sign still hangs in the general location of where it once stood. In 1859, Jackson's Shop was added to the store's location and was the local post office. A local historian, Ann Miller, wrote about it not being named Lahore until the U.S. Postal Service changed it after the Civil War. It was named after a village in Pakistan by USPS for reasons unknown, although several online articles state that it was named by a couple who visited Lahore in Punjab before it became Pakistan. The store hasn't been in operation since the 60s, but many residents still have many memories of it being in operation.”

To find and follow Virginia’s stories of her home, the land, and the people who have lived there, go to Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1420384488097188/

Date and photographer unknown. Probably from late 1960s.

Date and photographer unknown. Note photograph of Nixon.