Legend tells us that in 1921 a young physician named Harry W. Judd was traveling by train from Richmond to his home in the Culpeper area, when he became very ill.  As the train pulled into the depot at the bustling mining community of Mineral, Dr. Judd looked out the window and, in a feverish haze, saw what he later described as “streets paved in gold”. It wasn’t the rich ore deposits from the nearby mine Dr. Judd saw, but rather the unpaved clay and gravel of the street. A short time later he brought his wife, Mary, and their children, Harry, Jr., Totten, Doris, Lollee, Merle, and Bill, to Mineral and purchased one of the modest Colonial Foursquare homes at the edge of town that had been built in 1904. While the mining town boomed through the 1930's, Dr. Judd’s practice thrived as countless miners were injured in the pyrite ore mines. After the decline of the mining industry in Mineral, he and and his family stayed on. Doctor Judd practiced general medicine in what became a sleepy community midway between Richmond and Charlottesville until his death in 1957.  The family house and the surrounding property became known as Birdwood to family and friends.