John Lennon, Poplar Grove and the Fight to Save a Remarkable Piece of Virginia History
Eight months before John Lennon was murdered outside the Dakota in New York City, one of the most famous men in the world quietly slipped into Virginia.
There was no concert, no crowd of screaming fans and no television cameras. It was simply John Lennon, Yoko Ono and their four-year-old son, Sean, traveling through the Virginia countryside looking at country estates and, perhaps, for a place to escape.
Then they arrived on the banks of the East River in Mathews County.
There stood Poplar Grove, an aging Virginia estate with a sprawling historic home and a remarkable old mill powered not by a rushing mountain stream, but by the rising and falling tides of the Chesapeake Bay. Lennon walked the property, saw the tide mill and bought Poplar Grove.
Within eight months, he would be dead.
But the story of Poplar Grove had already been unfolding for nearly two centuries, and John Lennon was only one remarkable chapter. This was the birthplace of the only woman commissioned as an officer in the Confederate Army. Its mill is tied by local tradition to George Washington’s army and the Siege of Yorktown. The property survived war, hurricanes, rising water and generations of change.
Today, Virginia’s only surviving tide mill and the historic estate beside it are entering perhaps their most important chapter yet.
About a year ago, four people with deep roots in Mathews County looked at Poplar Grove and realized that if they didn’t step forward to save it, no one else might.
Their names are Conrad Hall, Lynne White, Josie Thorpe and David Lowe.
And in many ways, this story is really about them.
A Mill Powered by the Tide
Long before electricity and modern machinery, Virginians learned to work with the landscape around them. In the low-lying coastal regions of Virginia, there often wasn’t enough elevation or a fast-flowing stream to power a traditional water mill.
At Poplar Grove, they found another source of power. They harnessed the tide.
At high tide, water was captured in a mill pond. As the tide receded, the stored water flowed back toward the East River, turning the mill wheel and powering machinery used to grind grain. The Poplar Grove Tide Mill is believed to be Virginia’s only surviving tide mill and one of the last remaining examples of its kind in the nation.
The original mill stood before the American Revolution, and local tradition holds that corn was ground here for George Washington’s army during the 1781 Siege of Yorktown. Imagine that for a moment. Men preparing for the battle that would effectively decide the outcome of the American Revolution may have eaten food produced from grain ground by the tides of the East River.
The original mill was destroyed during the Civil War in 1862. A replacement was constructed after the war and continued operating until 1912.
Remarkably, the old mill remains. The tides still rise and fall outside its walls, although the wheel and machinery have been silent for more than a century.
The Poplar Grove and Tide Mill Foundation hopes to change that.
The Birthplace of Captain Sally Louisa Tompkins
Across the mill lagoon stands Poplar Grove House, portions of which date to the late 18th century. In 1833, Sally Louisa Tompkins was born here.
Her life would become one of the most unusual stories of the Civil War.
When the war began, Tompkins used her own resources to establish and operate a private hospital in Richmond for wounded Confederate soldiers. Her hospital developed a reputation for an exceptionally low mortality rate.
When Confederate authorities moved to close private hospitals, Tompkins appealed directly to President Jefferson Davis. Davis allowed her hospital to remain open and commissioned her as a captain so the hospital could continue operating within the military system.
Captain Sally Louisa Tompkins became the only woman officially commissioned as an officer in the Confederate Army.
The quiet Mathews County estate where she was born had produced one of Virginia’s most remarkable Civil War figures. More than a century later, another historic figure would arrive at Poplar Grove.
This one came from Liverpool.
John Lennon Comes to Mathews County
In April 1980, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and their four-year-old son, Sean, traveled to Virginia looking at country estates. A Gloucester-area real estate agent named Jimmie Carter spent two days showing the family properties, including Upper Shirley on the James River and Poplar Grove in Mathews County.
According to Carter’s later recollections, Lennon was casual, relaxed and interested in the Virginia countryside. At one point during their travels, Sean mentioned the Beatles, and John and his young son reportedly began singing “Yellow Submarine” together in the back of their limousine as they drove through Virginia.
It is one of those wonderfully human details that makes history come alive.
When the family toured Poplar Grove, the historic tide mill apparently caught their attention. Poplar Grove soon became more than another stop on a real estate tour.
John Lennon bought the property.
For a brief period in 1980, one of Mathews County’s most historic estates belonged to one of the most famous musicians in the world. Exactly what Lennon envisioned for Poplar Grove remains unclear. Over the years, local stories have suggested a possible music or recording connection to the mill, although documentation of those plans is limited.
Lennon would have very little time to decide what came next.
On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was murdered outside the Dakota in New York City. He was 40 years old and had owned Poplar Grove for less than a year.
Yoko Ono and the Next Chapter
After Lennon’s death, Poplar Grove became connected with the Spirit Foundation, the charitable organization associated with Lennon and Ono. The property was eventually donated for charitable purposes involving children.
It was yet another unexpected chapter for an estate already connected to colonial millers, Revolutionary War tradition, a Civil War hospital administrator and one of the most famous musicians of the 20th century.
But time was not always kind to Poplar Grove. The house aged, and the tide mill endured storms, rising water and decades of exposure to the harsh coastal environment. Eventually, the future of the property became uncertain.
That is when four people decided Poplar Grove was simply too important to lose.
The Poplar Grove and Tide Mill Foundation
The Poplar Grove and Tide Mill Foundation was formed by President Conrad Hall, Vice President and Treasurer Lynne White, and Vice Presidents Josie Thorpe and David Lowe. All four are Mathews residents or have deep roots in the county.
After the property’s last owner died, they began worrying about what might happen next. Poplar Grove could be sold. The land could potentially be divided. The historic house could face an uncertain future, and one of the last surviving tide mills in the nation could continue deteriorating.
Instead of simply hoping someone else would step forward, they did it themselves.
The newly formed foundation acquired Poplar Grove and the tide mill with an ambitious goal: preserve the property, restore the mill and eventually make the site available to the public for education, community gatherings and events.
“We want to carry it into the next 100 years and have people in the community continue to love it and protect it and make it available,” White said.
For White, the mission is deeply personal. Her great-grandfather, James Tyler Driscoll, was one of the last millers to operate the Poplar Grove Tide Mill.
More than a century later, his great-granddaughter is helping save it.
History has a funny way of coming full circle.
Historic Places Don’t Save Themselves
I’ve spent more than 20 years selling real estate across Virginia, and I have always believed that every home has a story. I’ve also watched historic properties disappear.
Sometimes they are demolished. Sometimes the land is divided. Sometimes buildings simply deteriorate until saving them becomes financially impossible.
Historic preservation rarely happens by accident. Old houses don’t save themselves, and tide mills don’t restore themselves. It takes people who recognize the importance of a place before it is too late.
That is what Conrad Hall, Lynne White, Josie Thorpe and David Lowe have done. They didn’t simply admire Poplar Grove’s history. They took responsibility for its future.
Poplar Grove has enough stories for a book. There is a mill powered by the tides of the East River and a connection, through local tradition, to George Washington’s army and the Siege of Yorktown. It is the birthplace of Captain Sally Louisa Tompkins. John Lennon and Yoko Ono quietly toured the property with their young son, and Lennon bought the estate just months before his death.
Now four people with deep roots in Mathews County are refusing to let this remarkable place disappear.
Years from now, when visitors walk through Poplar Grove and stand inside the old tide mill, they may be able to do so because Conrad Hall, Lynne White, Josie Thorpe and David Lowe looked at an endangered piece of Virginia history and decided they weren’t going to lose this one.
The tides are still rising and falling along the East River. The old mill is still standing.
And thanks to the Poplar Grove and Tide Mill Foundation, the next chapter of this incredible Virginia story is just beginning.
Every Home Has a Story.
This one is worth saving.
About John Womeldorf
John Womeldorf, better known as Mr. Williamsburg, is a longtime Virginia Realtor with Liz Moore & Associates and the creator of the Every Home Has a Story series. For more than 20 years, John has helped buyers and sellers throughout Williamsburg and across Virginia while sharing the people, places and stories that make the Commonwealth such a remarkable place to call home.
Have a Virginia home—or a Virginia story—you think John should know about? Contact John Womeldorf at 757-254-8136 or john@mrwilliamsburg.com, or visit MrWilliamsburg.com.