As early as 1874 a school existed on this property in Toms Brook. That year county resident Levi Pitman noted his brother began teaching there. Five years later the school superintendent, John Grabil, recorded that the student population at Toms…

In 1889 Benjamin Franklin Hisey (1858-1946) constructed a cobbler shop on what is now Main Street in Edinburg Virginia. Hisey made and sold a variety of shoes, including corrective footwear. His skill as a cobbler was regionally recognized, and…

The first railroad bridge to cross the Narrow Passage Creek, at what was then called Willow Grove, was built in 1855 by the Manassas Gap Railroad. Its life would be short. The bridge was burned by Turner Ashby in 1862 to delay Union forces. In…

In 2008 a second building, Trinity Brethren Church, became part of the Fort Valley Museum. The trustees of that congregation were no longer able to support the building due to a decline in membership and transferred ownership top the museum to ensure…

The village of St. Luke emerged around the local Lutheran Congregation in the late 19th century. By 1879, there was a separate Lutheran Church, school house, and Union Church in the community. Five years later, Lake’s Atlas indicates the village had…

Founded in 1823 after a disastrous fire, the Woodstock Fire Department is an all-volunteer organization that serves the residents of Woodstock and Shenandoah County. From approximately 1883 until today the fire department has been located on Court…