In the early decades of the 19th century, a traveler heading west from Washington on the stage road through Fauquier County would have arrived in Salem, a small Virginia village, tired, hungry and likely mud-spattered. By 1824, county records show Salem’s “house of entertainment” was valued at $2,000 — a sum that tells you how seriously the village took the business of hospitality.
In 1882, Salem was renamed Marshall after Chief Justice John Marshall, whose family had deep roots in the county. The stage road became Route 55 and coaches gave way to cars. But the building at 8369 West Main St. never stopped doing what it was built to do.
Neal Wavra walked through its doors a decade ago and understood immediately. “This building was constructed to do this work,” he says. “It pressed right back into service.”…