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
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…
Bowman Apple Products Plant
In the summer of 1939 Charles Bowman, a Mt. Jackson Orchard Owner, and his two sons Gordon and Courtland traveled to New York State to purchase the bankrupt Gilbert Apple Products plant just north of…
Mt. Zion Methodist Church
In 1868 the African American residents of Strasburg Virginia banded together to found Mt. Zion Methodist Church after being inspired by a series of travelling Methodist Missionaries that visited the…
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
Shenandoah County Alms House
During the colonial period, this area was part of the area’s 230 acre Glebe Farm. It was owned by Beckford Parish, the local organization of the established Anglican Church. The property was used to support church operations and their minister, one…
Conicville
The village now known as Conicville appears in the historic record in the 1850s. At the time, descendants of Jacob Rinker, an early settler, were the primary residents. Early accounts indicate that Jacob’s daughter, a “Mrs. Hickle,” was a large land…
St. Luke School
The first school in the St. Luke community dates to before 1841. That year the school building, and a parcel of land, was deeded to a group of school trustees who agreed to use the building and land as a Union Church and school.
This original…
Slaves at Spengler Hall
In 1820 14 enslaved African Americans called this place home. The Federal Census from that year noted 9 of them were male and 5 were female.
Four of these were owned by Philip S. Spengler Jr. Most likely his slaves were a mother and her three…
Zion Baptist Church
This structure housed the Zion Baptist Church for the first half of the 20th century.
The property was home to a school for local African American students in 1868. This institution was sponsored by the American Missionary Association that hired…
Edinburg Fire
Fire has always been a threat to any town in America. Edinburg is not immune. This photograph shows the downtown area after it had been ravaged by a destructive fire in December of 1895. The configuration destroyed six homes, the Edinburg Sentinel…