2026-05-16T17:03:58-04:00 Zend_Feed_Writer http://shenandoahstories.org/ Shenandoah Stories http://shenandoahstories.org 2017-10-19T13:33:04-04:00 2018-10-19T11:46:22-04:00 http://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/284 The Shenandoah Stories Team During the second half of the 20th century Walter Rinker operated a still and sold alcohol in the Deerhead/Hudsons Cross Road communities. He also operated a store in the area. For more, view the original article. 2017-10-17T14:23:49-04:00 2018-10-19T11:46:22-04:00 http://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/280 Shenandoah County Library Sometime in the late 19th century Captain T. J. Adams operated a general store in Quicksburg Virginia. He died in 1904 and Clarence Lafayette Zirkle bought the business. Zirkle would have sold a wide array of items ranging from dry goods to farm implements. A photograph of one of his advertisement signs indicates he also sold buggies from the T.T. Haydock company. On May 21, 1908 the Shenandoah Valley newspaper reported that Clarence L. Zirkle had been convicted of selling illegal alcohol at his store. According to the article, an empty "Duffey's malt bottle" had been found on site and several witnesses had come forward to testify that Zirkle sold illegal alcohol at the site. Clarence Zirkle was a prosperous merchant and leading citizen in his community who had formerly been a deputy sheriff. He legal council had consisted of noted Woodstock attorneys M.I. Walton and W.L. Newman who had called over 50 witnesses in his defense. However, the jury had convicted him in just over three hours. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and given a $500 fine plus over $1000 in court costs. The fate of Zirkle and his store are unknown. At some point in the 20th century it became known as Pence and Zirkle. The exact location of his business was located is also unclear. For more, view the original article. 2017-10-06T17:07:57-04:00 2022-07-21T15:37:59-04:00 http://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/269 The Shenandoah Stories Team The 1885 Lake's Atlas of Shenandoah and Page Counties notes the "Shenandoah House" stood on this site. It would have served travelers on the Valley Turnpike and from the nearby rail line. Sometime in the last decade of the 19th century/first decade of the 20th century the Holtzman family purchased the structure and renamed it the Hotel Holtzman. It was one of many such businesses they operated in several county towns. In 1907 the Shenandoah Herald reported it was one of the last two bars operating in the Town of Woodstock. The Holtzman Hotel's bar would operate until alcohol was outlawed in 1907. At the time the Shenandoah Herald reported only it and the Holtzman Hotel across the street were operating bars. It, and the Geary Hotel across the street generated over $500 annually in town liquor taxes so their business must have been brisk. Lawyers representing the two businesses fought efforts to outlaw alcohol, but they were unsuccessful. The "dry" won by one vote. On September 26, 1916 the Holtzman Hotel was the site of an address by Lila Valentine, President of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia. The Shenandoah Herald noted it was an "excellent address" and would have been designed to promote the women's suffrage movement in Shenandoah County. The hotel would operate into the 1920s when it was purchased by the Dalke Family. They opened the Uptown Theater here and rented commercial space in the front to a barbershop. After the Dalke's opened the Community Theater two blocks away the Uptown Theater primarily showed westerns and other cheaper films. In 1947 a fire heavily damaged the building and it was demolished. In 1974 Shenandoah County purchased this land and built a new circuit court house here. For more (including 2 images), view the original article. 2017-10-06T15:05:01-04:00 2018-12-18T12:12:07-05:00 http://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/263 The Shenandoah Stories Team Starting in the 1920s, clothing and textile manufacturing became prominent industries in the Shenandoah Valley. One group that operated in the area was the Casey Jones Work-Clothes Company. They opened plants in Woodstock, Mt. Jackson, Shenandoah, Luray, and Elkton which produced denim overalls and provided steady employment to hundreds of locals, including women who had previously been excluded from many industrial jobs. During WWII, their operations expanded and the Woodstock plant on E. Court St. became a major producer of dungarees for the Navy. Business was so good weekly payroll often exceeded $5,000, or approximately $90,000 in today’s currency. In September 1943, that plant was awarded the Army-Navy “E” Award of Excellence presented to companies who achieved “Excellence in Production” of war equipment. Only 5% of the more than 85,000 companies involved in producing materials for the US military’s war effort earned that honor. Not long after they received this award, Casey Jones was purchased by Blue Bell Inc., who later introduced Wrangler Jeans. They continued to operate the plant on E. Court St. until 1956 when a new factory opened on the south end of town. Over the next several decades this building would be a realty office and retail shop. In the 1980s and 1990s it was home to a radio station and Channel 10 TV which covered Woodstock area news. Today it is home to the Woodstock Brew House. They produce a wide array of local brews and maintain a series of 12 beers on tap at all times. In addition they serve food on weekends and utilize locally grown products when possible. For more (including 2 images), view the original article. 2017-10-05T14:35:33-04:00 2023-09-08T11:29:17-04:00 http://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/253 The Shenandoah Stories Team Sometime in the 1880s Lin Irwin's Drug Store opened on the first floor of the Irwin Opera House located at the corner of Main and Court Street in Woodstock. In 1906 Clyde E. Walton and Dr. James H. Smoot purchased the drug store and changed the name to Walton and Smoot. It became one of the town's two major drug stores, the other being Schmitts two buildings down. Besides creating and providing medicine, Walton and Smoot was, and still is, a multipurpose store. It served food, sold a wide array of goods, and for a long period operated a bar and sold beer. An early postcard showing the interior had the hand written notation "Beefstew-Bar-Cold Beer added before it was sent. Soon after purchasing the business, Walton and Smoot moved the drug store to the Magruder Building which was located on North Main Street at the corner of Court Square. In 1935 H.A. Moore and George Clower purchased the business from Dr. Smoot who had previously become the sole owner of the drug store. They continued to operate it under the Walton and Smoot name. Milson S. French purchased George Clower’s share of the business in July of 1952. French, a graduate of the Medical College of Virginia, later became sole owner of the store. He moved the drug store moved to its current home, the former site of the Geary and Woodstock Hotels, in 1968 when the Magruder Building was demolished to make way for a new brick office building. A fire heavily damaged the building in 1975 but the store reopened. It operated until 2019. The building stands vacant as of 2023. For more (including 6 images), view the original article. 2017-10-03T12:31:31-04:00 2018-10-19T11:46:22-04:00 http://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/238 The Shenandoah Stories Team On May 27, 1877 this church was dedicated by the local Christian (Disciples of Christ) congregation. Locally it was known as the Campebllite Church in reference to Alexander Campbell who helped found the Disciples of Christ denomination. This congregation would only remain active for a few decades. By 1898 they were no longer operating in this building and it was sold to George W. Minnick who in turned donated it to local Lutherans of the Tennesee Synod. They organized a congregation under Rev. J. Paul Stirewalt in 1898. The building became associated with the nearby Bethel Lutheran Church sometime in the 20th century and services were held on alternate Sundays at these two locations until Salem was closed in 1944 due to declining membership. It was sold to the Bowman family in 1946. While operating as a church for the Christian Denomination, the Salem Church became the headquarters for the Hamburg Temperance Council. The first recorded meeting of that group happened in February of 1882 when 8 members congregated here but did not officially organize. Two years later this local group did organize at a meeting in the church on March 1, 1882. At that time the group officially became the Hamburg Union of the National Temperance Union. Fifty members signed the initial roll and N.B. Painter was elected president. How long this organization continued to operate is unknown. For more, view the original article. 2017-10-02T16:09:16-04:00 2018-10-19T11:46:21-04:00 http://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/229 The Shenandoah Stories Team This structure was built around 1755 and was the home of the Hupp family who were some of the earliest European immigrants into the Shenandoah Valley. It was built to provide protection from possible Native American incursions and other hostile raiders. A spring in the basement provided a readily available water source. It has been owned by the Hupps since that early period. Like many families of that era, the Hupps operated a distillery on their property. The purposely built distillery building still stands on adjacent property. It was built around the same time as the "Frontier Fort" and would have provided alcohol for the tavern operated at that site and for sale on national markets. For more (including 4 images), view the original article. 2017-09-28T13:32:12-04:00 2019-07-09T13:22:00-04:00 http://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/212 The Shenandoah Stories Team Built in 1836, the Central Hotel was designed to serve individuals travelling on the Valley Turnpike. Providing spirits would have been part of its mission from the beginning. Who the early operators of the site were is unknown, but in the 1880s it was managed by Laonard Walters. On April 14, 1880, he was granted a license by Shenandoah County to keep an ordinary and retail liquor store at the site. In the 1885 Lake's Atlas he is listed as the owner of the hotel which was still providing spirits for travelers. Today this building is an apartment complex. For more, view the original article. 2017-09-27T16:15:40-04:00 2019-07-09T13:07:05-04:00 http://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/196 The Shenandoah Stories Team In 1898, an Edinburg City Directory noted the Eureka House stood on this site. It was the town’s only hotel and was primarily designed to serve travelers on the adjacent rail line. J.F. Holtzman owned the structured and leased it to W.F. Whitman and his wife. This structure was well known for its accommodations and its bar. It burned in 1902 and the only two things that were saved were the piano and the bar glasses, many of which are preserved at the Edinburg Mill. After the fire, Holtzman built a new larger brick hotel on this site. It was known at different times as the Hotel Edinburg, Hotel Bruce, and the Edinburg Inn. The description provided during construction mentioned the structure had 22 rooms, each of which connected to a “long cool porch.” The social scene that had centered around the Eureka House continued in the new building, which also had a new larger bar and a ballroom that attracted many. Advertisements for drinks (like “The Belle of Loudoun Whiskey”) and for events (including balls and socials) appeared regularly. In addition, the Edinburg Anti-Saloon League held their meetings and programs at the site. What their relationship was with adjacent bar patrons is unknown. In 1904, Edinburg and Shenandoah County became a dry community and the bar at the Hotel Edinburg closed. The hotel continued to operate for several decades but closed sometime after 1930. Today, it is home to the Edinburg VFW who once again serve alcohol via their social lounger’s bar. For more (including 4 images), view the original article. 2017-09-27T14:07:19-04:00 2019-07-09T13:14:32-04:00 http://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/191 The Shenandoah Stories Team On August 29, 1782, the Shenandoah County Court certified George Huddle (Hottel) sold 66 gallons of whiskey to support the Patriot cause during the American Revolution. Additional research provided by the Hottel-Keller Memorial Association indicates George manufactured whiskey at his farm during the late 18th century. For more, view the original article.