Every fall, I drive by this line of sugar maple trees that mark the driveway to a brick ranch home. They stand atop this knoll and oversee a grain field.
This year’s crop was field corn, already harvested for silage to feed cattle. When I stopped to take this photo from Switchboard Road, the winter wheat was already peeking through the rich soil.
I drive this road regularly, and these trees always catch my eye. But autumn is the season when these Seven Sisters, as I like to call them, really stand out. They consistently paint a colorful scene, but no two are exactly alike.
As for the road’s unusual name, the house that contained the first telephone switchboard for the City of Harrisonburg, Virginia, stands on the east side of the roadway.
The Seven Sisters look down at that historic building, now a resident’s home.
© Bruce Stambaugh 2026
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