 William Billinglsey originally built the building at the corner
of Washington Avenue and Hawthorne Street in the early 1890's, a
colorful Town figure that was at one time, Mayor, Police Chief and a prominent
area builder.
He could have hardly imagined the many purposes the building was
to serve over the next century, nor how significant it's history would become to
the Beach. While the precise order of the building’s occupants is not
certain, their existence has been clearly documented by lifetime
residents of Colonial Beach.
We know that in 1898, it was the Town’s
first school and Elinore Agnes Jones reported that she had her first
teaching job there. A picture taken of the building in 1908 reveals it
was the home of the Colonial Beach Progress, the town’s first
newspaper. A printing shop was also operated in the building during its
use by the newspaper.
In 1918, it became a clothing store operated by a
Mr. Sak who also lived upstairs with his family. In 1924, it was a drug
store and “old timers remember Doctor Stuart had an office in the
building. During the 1920’s, the building was modernized and its
beautiful porch was removed. The entrance was moved to the right hand
side of the building to accommodate the installation of storefront
windows.
In 1928, the
East Coast Utilities office had a local office
here and remained in the building until the late 1940s. They were
eventually to become Virginia Power.
During
this intervening period, we know that Mr. Jones opened a barbershop in
the building and it also became a grocery store, a lunchroom, and a
bakery. While the exact dates these businesses occupied the building
isn’t clear, it is known they were there and this adds to the mystic
surrounding the building’s history.
During the 1940s, it was occupied
by the telephone company and was the switchboard for Colonial Beach. It
also housed public telephones and visitors to the Beach stood in line
outside the building for hours to use the busy telephones. The back room
where the telephones were still has graffiti on the walls from this era.
The telephone company also served as the Western Union office and
telegrams were delivered to residents of the beach from this office.
 During
the 1950s, it became the home of the Hoffman and Copper Gas Company and
was commonly called the “Hoffman Building” by local residents. In
1993, the building was almost torn down by a Town Council attempting to
redevelop the downtown area. A rebellion by historically minded citizens
saved the building from destruction.
In 1998 the Town of Colonial Beach leased the building to the
Colonial Beach Historical Society for the purpose of becoming the
Town’s official Museum.
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