Toano's Saturday Mornings Happen on a Field Where Four Buildings Once Stood

Toano's most-used gathering spot on Richmond Road is about seven years old. It's the open field across from the Toano Post Office. It became open ground in 2019, when four run-down buildings came down. Since then it has filled up with Saturday vendors, a December campfire and a historical society's information table. The village lost its center to a highway in the 1960s. It got a public square back by clearing ground and letting neighbors use it.

This Saturday, October 31, the Toano Open Air Market will set up on that field from 9 a.m. to noon. The story of how the field got there explains a lot about what's on Toano's calendar between now and Christmas.

What Route 60 Took From the Crossroads

Long before there was a field, there was a crossroads. A Daily Press history of the village traces it back to the old stage road between Williamsburg and New Kent, today's Richmond Road, where it met Old Forge Road. The short version runs like this:

1. 1760s: John Lewis runs an ordinary, an inn serving meals to travelers, at the intersection.
2. 1780: The ordinary burns during the Revolution, and the crossroads becomes known as Burnt Ordinary.
3. 1881: The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway lays track through the center of the village.
4. 1883: The village is renamed Toano, from a Paiute word meaning "high ground."
5. Early 1900s: Toano becomes the largest shipping point for local crops, especially potatoes, between Newport News and Richmond.
6. 1966: Richmond Road is widened to four lanes, and 14 of Toano's historic buildings are demolished.

There's one more detail between those dates. The rail line first ran straight through town. After a group of commercial buildings, including a bank, went up around 1903, the depot and tracks were moved in 1906. Toano's center has been rebuilt around changing roads and rails more than once.

The 1966 widening did the most lasting damage. In the Daily Press account, Toano lost much of its visual and historic character in the decades that followed. By then the newer stores and shops in Williamsburg were already drawing customers away.

Four Buildings Down, One Field Open

The turnaround came from people who grew up there. The Daily Press reported that brothers Jack and Jeff Wray, both raised in Toano, started buying run-down properties in the village center in 2012. The most important were five Toano founder homes and two historic commercial buildings. In 2019 they took down four run-down buildings, and the open lot became the Village Green.

The paperwork came first. Jack Wray and his wife, Rena, chartered the Toano Historical Society in 2018 to speak up for the unincorporated village. That same year, the Toano Commercial Historic District was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register on December 13, 2018. It joined the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 2019. James City County describes the district as 11 properties on 4.1 acres. Nine of them are historically significant commercial buildings put up between 1900 and 1926.

So the field sits between protected buildings. Several of those buildings are still being restored. In its summer 2025 newsletter, the historical society reported that Wray Bros. Inc.'s restoration of the Farinholt House was nearing completion. The society was also working toward a second district, the "Toano Founders Historic District," with help from a Virginia Museum of History & Culture grant.

A Market That Started in a Driveway

The Saturday market didn't start on the Green. WYDaily reported in 2024 that Maureen Anderson began it in 2020, during the pandemic. She posted on Facebook that her daughter, who owns Virginia Bread Company, would have bread for sale, and Anderson would have eggs and honey. Other vendors saw the post and joined in. Before long, customers were ordering online and pulling up her circular farm driveway for trunk pickup. Anderson told WYDaily what that early version gave people:

"It really gave a place where people could gather and chat and talk where it was safe and it wasn't a massive crowd."

The market now meets on the Green, and the field's owner lets Anderson use it, according to a WYDaily profile from December 2024. Anderson calls it a grassroots, farmer-owned market. The vendors make what they sell, so they can answer questions about how it was made. She and her husband, Arnthor Magnusson, run their own stall too. They sell Tasha's Own goat's milk soap, Magnusson's jams and jellies, honey and eggs from the farm they call The Home Farm.

The historical society is part of the scene as well. Its spring 2026 newsletter announced the market was open for the season, Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. It listed baked goods, Tasha's Own products, fresh seafood and seasonal crafts among the offerings. The society planned to bring Toano merchandise and information about its preservation work to the market.

The Next Few Saturdays on Richmond Road

Halloween falls on a market Saturday this year. Here's what's on the calendar for the field and the stops nearby, with each detail as firm as its source allows.

Pumpkinville makes a good second stop on Halloween morning. It's run by a small family farm in nearby Barhamsville. The decorations stay up all October, and the hayride around the field, the cornfield maze and the games are free. Williamsburg Families' 2026 pumpkin patch roundup lists pumpkins, gourds, mums, straw bales and corn stalks for sale. On weekends there are also vendors, food trucks and bounce houses. Since Pumpkinville's season runs through October, Halloween Saturday is likely one of your last chances to pair it with the market.

Who Is Backing This Year's Tree Lighting

The biggest night on the Green is the historical society's Christmas tree lighting. The seventh one was held December 6, 2025, from 3 to 7 p.m. It had a campfire with s'mores, kids' crafts, trolley rides through Toano, Santa and Mrs. Claus, a 50/50 raffle, a historical society bake sale and local artisan vendors. Food and drinks came from Bald Guys Pizza, Bones & BBQ, Uncle Dave's Kettle Korn and The Happiest Hour.

The money for this year's lighting is already lined up. On September 17, 2026, the society's Local Business and Government Relations Committee held its first Toano Business Meet & Greet at the historic W.C. Martin Store. Forty-two people came, including business owners, community members, board members and James City County Supervisors Barbara Null and Tracy Wainwright. Before the evening was over, three local businesses had agreed to share the $3,000 presenting sponsorship for the tree lighting: Drying Machine, Junkluggers and Remix Market.

That meeting followed the same pattern as the Green itself. The society says ideas on the table included a possible Toano business directory, business spotlights and joint promotion. It hopes to hold the meet-and-greet every quarter. The 2025 listing sent people to the Toano Historical Society for event details, so that's the place to watch for this year's date.

The Same Idea on Old Stage Road

The Wrays aren't the only ones reviving old Toano buildings. In March 2026 the Daily Press reported that Josh and Bethany Everhart had opened J&B's Country Store at 9831 Old Stage Road. It's in the former Brizendine Store, which first opened in 1938 and closed in 2020. Josh Everhart grew up in Toano and remembers going to the store with his grandparents. He told the paper, "We wanted to bring that old country store vibe back and thought this place has a lot of potential."

The store carries Bethany's baked goods from Division Bakery & Co., along with local honey, jams, salsa, seasonal produce, eggs and gifts. The deli counter serves breakfast sandwiches, burritos and coffee, plus lunch items like clubs, BLTs, cheesesteaks and pulled pork sandwiches. According to the Daily Press, it's open every day. The market runs only until noon on Saturday, and J&B's is open daily, so you can still get local bread and honey on any other day of the week.

I love seeing neighbors bring Toano's old places back to life, and I'm always glad to hear how my community spends its Saturdays. If you have a favorite stall at the Toano Open Air Market, or you hear the tree lighting date before I do, I'd love to hear from you. Amber Gentille is always happy to talk about this corner of Hampton Roads. Let's Connect.