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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Trains first arrived at Mt. Jackson in 1859 when the Manassas Gap Railroad completed construction of a new line that terminated in the town. Though the railroad intended to extend the route to Harrisonburg, money had run short. Anyone wishing to…

Throughout the county’s history communities have been conducting parades and festivals. One type of this event was the ever popular May Day. Traditionally held on May 1st, this festival dates to early European efforts to celebrate the start of…

In January 1896 a group of dissatisfied Lutherans finally made the decision to break away from St. Davids Lutheran Church and start their own congregation. That year they completed this structure and named it Mt. Zion Evangelical Lutheran…

In 1923 the Town of Strasburg completed a new reservoir to supply the town with drinking water. The reservoir contained approximately 25 million gallons of water and was located in what is called “Little Fort Valley” atop the Massanutten Mountain…

In June 1880 Levi Gochenour deeded a one-acre lot to Shenandoah County Public Schools for the purpose of building a schoolhouse for the families of the surrounding community. It is believed he provided this particular lot, located a half a mile from…

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…