smalltowntravels

British author and social reformer Thomas Hughes brought a dozen boys from England to the United States in 1880. Because they were not first-born sons, they were likely to inherit nothing, and he believed their energies and talents could be directed towards community building and agriculture. They settled near Big South Fork National Park and erected 70 buildings including a church, restaurant and school house, but by 1900 most of the colonists had left or died.Ten years ago, a teenager named Brian Stagg stumbled upon what was left of the community and fell in love with the 100-year-old buildings and “mountain folk” who still lived in the area. He made it his life purpose to restore Rugby. Although he died tragically just a few years later, his sister, Barbara, has taken over the effort. The original church, library, Founder’s Home, cemetary and Uffington House - where Hughes’ sister and mother lived - are still intact. Everything down to the glass in the windows is original. There are hundreds of 1800s books in the library, and Barbara has the old check-out records showing what books specific colonists read. A tiny printing house is also still standing and houses the town’s original printing press and hundreds of letter fonts that current Rugby residents still use to make announcements and posters. The restaurant, which was destroyed by fire but has since been rebuilt in an exact replica, still serves traditional British food.Barbara and her supporters have recently raised enough money to build a beautiful Visitor’s Center with a floor-to-ceiling map of the original colony and a video sharing the background of Hughes and his American dream. Tours of the buildings reveal beautiful, antique furniture handmade by Rugby’s original residents. For details, visit www.historicrugby.org.

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