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
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…
New Market Service Station
In the late 1940s a Gulf Station opened in New Market at the intersection of Routes 11 and 211, two of the region's major highways. Before the introduction of the Interstate Highway System, this area…
Emanuel Lutheran Church
The first Lutheran Church in Woodstock predated the arrival of the town’s founder Jacob Mueller. Local German residents had felt the need for a place to practice their Lutheran faith and had therefore…
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
Rinker Stone House
This structure was built around 1749 by Jacob Rinker, an immigrant. The building tops a spring and was most likely designed to protect residents from Native American war parties who were fighting European encroachment. Rinker’s son, also named Jacob,…
JR Miller Tailor Shop
Sometime in the late 19th century Joseph Russell Miller opened a tailor shop on Main Street in Woodstock. A native of Hardy County West Virginia, Miller had moved to Woodstock as a child and was trained as a tailor in a Frederick County shop.…
George's Chicken
In 1944 the Holler family of Edinburg Virginia founded a small poultry processing plant along Stoney Creek west of Edinburg.
Over time this operation grew to become Blue Ridge Poultry and Egg Company, a regional poultry processor. In 1971 Rocco…
Grace United Church of Christ
Grace United Church of Christ dates its history to the foundation to around 1760 when a church was built at Rudes’ Hill. This building housed a Lutheran and Reformed Congregation.
These groups moved to the area of Middle Road in 1783 when they…
Antioch Church of the Brethren
Antioch Church of the Brethren first appears in the historic record in 1868, when a survey taken of land sold from the Haun family to the Rickard family indicates part of the property was set aside to be used by the Tunkard Church of the area which…
Stroop's Snake and Alligator Farm
In 1927 Snoop’s Snake Farm opened two miles south of Edinburg in the small community of Bowman’s Crossing. Though we know little about the site, early advertisements indicated the site featured four types of poisonous snakes and several alligators.…