Sometime around 1868, New Market resident Jessie Rupert constructed this building at 9401 Congress Street. The structure, originally three stories tall, served as her residence and a school. Rupert, born May 15, 1831, had considerable experience…

On July 4, 1867 a "Dr. Brown" visited Woodstock and preached at a “colored” camp meeting. This meeting laid the foundation of what is today Mt. Zion Methodist Church. The following year members of Woodstock’s African American community had raised…

In June 1913 Reverend Nickens, a Baptist minister and native of Strasburg, preached a service in that town. His actions must have inspired local African American's of the Baptist faith for just over a month later they began raising money to build a…

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…

Just before the Civil War, a group of Mt. Jackson residents built this structure to house a local hotel. While the war interfered with their plans at first, an 1871 map does indicate that the building housed a hotel and post office. At that time, it…

In 1897 Samuel Lonas purchased a mill at this site during Joseph Maphis’ bankruptcy sale. The “Maphis Mill” as it was commonly called had been constructed shortly after the Civil War when Joseph Maphis had acquired the land and rebuilt a mill…