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
Lantz House
Between 1860 and 1870, the owner of Lantz Mill, Jacob Lantz, built this house on his family’s farm. The original building was a two story, Greek-Revival style structure. The Lantz family continued to…
Historic Courthouse
In April 1795 county justices ordered construction of a new stone courthouse on this lot. It would be constructed of native valley limestone. Courthouses served as a symbol of law and order. For this…
Shenandoah Caverns
In 1884 individuals construction workers building the Shenandoah Valley Railroad accidentally discovered a caverns west of Mt. Jackson.
Though locals had called the area Forestville for years, in…
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
St. James Lutheran Church
St. James Lutheran Church in Zepp dates to around 1822 when W.G. Keil, a ministerial student, began conducting services in local homes. By September of 1822 he had established a church with 30 confirmed members.
The first church building was…
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.…
Riverside Tea Room
Sometime during the 1920s Riverside Team Room, located at Red Banks between Edinburg and Mt. Jackson, produced this menu for patrons. Originally it stood on the west side of US 11.
Riverside Tea Room was first opened between 1920 and 1925 by…
Mt. Jackson Methodist Church
On March 30, 1786 Methodist members of the community now called Mt. Jackson purchased a one acre plot of land near Red Banks for five shillings. Eventually they built a church called Bethel Ford Methodist Meeting House on this site.
Over time,…
Mt. Jackson Museum
In the spring of 1997 a group of citizens in Mt. Jackson gathered together in an effort to preserve the former Burkett Store building on Main Street and other portion's of the community's history. On September 27th of that year they opened the Mt.…
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…