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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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…

The 1885 Lake's Atlas of Shenandoah and Page Counties notes the "Shenandoah House" stood on this site. It would have served travelers on the Valley Turnpike and from the nearby rail line. Sometime in the last decade of the 19th century/first…

Columbia Furnace was most likely established during the first decade of the 19th century. The community sprang up after George Mayberry & Company, working with the Pennybackers, located an iron deposit nearby and began a mining and smelting…

Built in 1836, the Central Hotel was designed to serve individuals travelling on the Valley Turnpike. Providing spirits would have been part of its mission from the beginning. Who the early operators of the site were is unknown, but in the 1880s…

In 1816 the Reverend Paul Henkel, a notable Lutheran minister in the valley, noted Lutheran residents of Fort Valley formed their own independent congregation. Their meeting house stood on land donated by Jacob Golladay near the mountain road.…

This building in downtown Woodstock has been used for many purposes. Though no evidence exists to show when the structure was built, we do know that it was in existence in 1845 when the Gatewood family occupied the house. At the time John…