Shenandoah Stories
A project by Shenandoah County LibraryJoin us in our efforts to explore the history and culture of Shenandoah County Virginia through our web based tour platform Shenandoah Stories. Click a site on the map, select a tour, or view a random story to begin. Read more About Us
Featured Stories
Chapin and Sachs Manufacturing
Chapin and Sachs, sometimes known as Chapin and Sacks, Manufacturing opened a plant in Woodstock Virginia in 1910 following the purchase of the A.W. Nicodemus & Sons Creamery building on what is now…
Strasburg Reservoir
In 1923 the Town of Strasburg completed a new reservoir to supply the town with drinking water. The reservoir contained approximately 25 million gallons of water and was located in what is called…
Bowman Apple Products Plant
In the summer of 1939 Charles Bowman, a Mt. Jackson Orchard Owner, and his two sons Gordon and Courtland traveled to New York State to purchase the bankrupt Gilbert Apple Products plant just north of…
Featured Tours
African Americans in Shenandoah County
13 Locations ~ Curated by Shenandoah County LibrarySpirits, Stills, and Temperance: Tracing the History of Alcohol in Shenandoah County
20 Locations ~ Curated by Shenandoah County LibraryFarms, Factories, and the Frontlines: Shenandoah County in the World Wars
10 Locations ~ Curated by The Shenandoah Stories TeamRandom Stories
Emmanuel Lutheran Church
The congregation that became Emmanuel Lutheran Church began in 1790, when Reverend Paul Henkel founded the Davidson Lutheran Church in New Market. In 1820 Samuel S. Schmucker, a Yale Graduate became the church’s new minister.
Soon afterwards the…
St. John's UCC
The congregation St. John’s United Church of Christ was formed on October 6th, 1849 at the Hudson’s Crossroad community. This church, originally aligned with the German Reformed denomination, met in the area’s schoolhouse along with the older…
Zion Christian Church
On June 15, 1833 seventeen members of the community banded together to form the Zion Christian Church. Originally meetings were held at the Zion Schoolhouse once a month. New members were allowed to join, but only after a unanimous vote. This early…
Mt. Jackson "Colored" Church
Sometime after the Civil War Mt. Jackson's African American population banded together to form a Methodist Church. During the period local churches were segregated by race and the town’s African Americans needed a church to meet their spiritual…
Shenandoah Business College
In 1928 Mr. F.E. Palmer came to Woodstock from Connecticut to begin teaching business classes at what is now Massanutten Military Academy. After 12 years of teaching Palmer founded his own Business School in Woodstock. Over time it would grow to…
New Market Battlefield
As part of his 1864 campaign, Union General Ulysses S. Grant ordered Federal forces under General Franz Sigel to march through the Shenandoah Valley and destroy the railroad and Confederate Army’s base of supplies.
This 9,000 man force began to…