Constructed in 1906, this building replaced a stone jail that had been built 100 years earlier. That structure featured a jail yard, wooden fence, and small, dark cells that were called the “dungeon.” This new jail was designed to improve…

Lutheran Ministers began preaching in St. Luke in 1878 when locals formed a congregation separate from the Woodstock Lutheran Church. Their first minister, P. Miller, had a congregation of 42 who met in the Union Church and the local school. One…

In 1907 the Strasburg Textile Manufacturing Company opened on this site. The company manufactured various finished silk products. In 1934 Charles Platt and his son Nathan Platt purchased the company and focused on producing silk casket linings using…

In the spring 1934 a serious fire destroyed a large portion of the Columbia Furnace School which dated to 1911. The Shenandoah County School Board made the decision to replace the damaged structure with an entirely new building. This school house…

The first school for Strasburg’s African American population was called the Queen Street School and was located at the end of West Queen Street. That building housed grades 1-7 until 1929 when it burned. A new school, called Sunset Hill Colored…

Around 1803, the Pennybacker family constructed Columbia Furnace along Stoney Creek west of Edinburg. Additional lands were added in 1808 and the company was sold to John Arthur & Co. It was later owned by the Newman family, who operated it during…