Shenandoah Stories

Join 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

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This brick building was built by Solomon Henkel in 1802. It served as his home and place for him to practice his trade as a physician and druggist. A small brick structure behind the home, also built in 1802, was used by Solomon to prepare his…

In his will, dated June 16, 1822, Reuben Moore gave one-half acre of land in Mt. Jackson for the use of a meeting house, school house, and burying ground to be used by “all Christian Ministers of any society.” Though Moore would not die until…

Dry Run Christian Church was born around 1841, when a small congregation began meeting at the Union Church at Dry Run in Fort Valley. In 1879 this congregation joined the American Christian Church which followed the tenants that Christ was the head…

In 1834 Dr. John G. Schmitt, a Swiss immigrant, arrived in Woodstock Virginia. Schmitt, who was physician, soon opened a drug store on Main Street. In those days, before modern medical practices, a doctor often served as both your doctor and…

Sometime after the Civil War, Levi Rinker of Mt. Jackson donated a plot of land to that town’s African American community to serve as their cemetery. Later, an additional lot owned by Amanda Thorpe was also deeded to the cemetery. This separate…

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.…