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
Laonard Walters Ordinary and Liquor Store/Central Hotel
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…
Lantz Mills Community
In 1747, Hans George Lantz left Germany and eventually settled on 470 acres along Stoney Creek in Shenandoah County. The area he arrived in had been occupied by Native Americans for several centuries.…
Camp Strawderman
In 1929 Margaret Vance Hoffman opened Camp Strawderman on a plot of land located west of Woodstock, along Stoney Creek, in the Wolf’s Gap community. This land, originally owned by the Strwderman…
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
Woodstock Presbtyerian Church
In 1822 the Rev. William H. Foote, a Presbyterian, began preaching in Shenandoah County. He noted that when he arrived there were three members of that denomination in the county, one in Woodstock and two in Strasburg.
That number would grow…
Edinburg Depot
In March 1900 the Southern Railway completed construction of this passenger depot in Edinburg Virginia. Located beside the tracks near what is now the Dollar General Store parking lot, the depot was closed in 1946. It was moved several blocks west to…
Blue and Gray Tavern
According to one of its advertisements, the Blue and Gray Tavern, operated by H.M. Dorsley, operated approximately 1/2 miles north of Toms Brook Virginia. Its signature dish appears to have been Virginia Barbecue. The catch line on their printed…
Strasburg Steam Pottery-Depot-Museum
Around 1890 the building that now houses the Strasburg Museum was constructed by the Strasburg Stone and Earthenware Manufacturing Company. Organization by Strasburg resident Dr. Granville Brown, this company operated a large steam pottery plant on…
Toms Brook School
As early as 1874 a school existed on this property in Toms Brook. That year county resident Levi Pitman noted his brother began teaching there. Five years later the school superintendent, John Grabil, recorded that the student population at Toms…
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…