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
New Market Service Station
In the late 1940s a Gulf Station opened in New Market at the intersection of Routes 11 and 211, two of the region's major highways. Before the introduction of the Interstate Highway System, this area…
Chapin and Sachs Manufacturing
Chapin and Sachs, sometimes known as Chapin and Sacks, Manufacturing opened a plant in Woodstock Virginia in 1910 following the purchase of the A.W. Nicodemus & Sons Creamery building on what is now…
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
Columbia Furnace School
In the spring 1934 a serious fire destroyed a large portion of the Columbia Furnace School which dated to 1911. The Shenandoah County School Board made the decision to replace the damaged structure with an entirely new building.
This school house…
Junior Order American Mechanics Hall
In 1853 the Junior Order of American Mechanics, or J.O.U.A.M., was founded. Its parent organization, the Order of American Mechanics was a political and social order that advocated for nativist policies and provided financial support for its members.…
Arion Store
The photograph shows the Arion family on the porch of their store in Quicksburg Virginia. From left to right is an unidentified man, Worthington Arion, Catherine Arion, Bessie Arion, William Arion, and Marvin D. Arion.
This family would operate…
New Market Service Station
In the late 1940s a Gulf Station opened in New Market at the intersection of Routes 11 and 211, two of the region's major highways. Before the introduction of the Interstate Highway System, this area would have been filled with cars travelling to…
Sunset Hill School
The first school for Strasburg’s African American population was called the Queen Street School and was located at the end of West Queen Street.
That building housed grades 1-7 until 1929 when it burned. A new school, called Sunset Hill Colored…
Narrow Passage Railroad Bridge
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…