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
Emanuel Lutheran Church
The first Lutheran Church in Woodstock predated the arrival of the town’s founder Jacob Mueller. Local German residents had felt the need for a place to practice their Lutheran faith and had therefore…
Headquaters School
In 1891 the Shenandoah County School Board constructed this school near the intersection of what is now Headquaters and Cave Ridge Roads. It was named Headquaters School after the local community…
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.…
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
Strasburg Presbyterian Church
When the first meeting was held at the Winchester Presbytery, the name given to the body representing Presbyterian Churches in a certain district, there were two Presbyterian Churches in Shenandoah County. The records of that meeting, held on…
Bowman Apple Products Plant
In the summer of 1939 Charles Bowman, a Mt. Jackson Orchard Owner, and his two sons Gordon and Courtland traveled to New York State to purchase the bankrupt Gilbert Apple Products plant just north of Mt. Jackson Virginia. This 80,000 square foot, two…
Old Frontier Tavern and Distillery
This structure was built around 1755 and was the home of the Hupp family who were some of the earliest European immigrants into the Shenandoah Valley. It was built to provide protection from possible Native American incursions and other hostile…
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…
George's Chicken
In 1944 the Holler family of Edinburg Virginia founded a small poultry processing plant along Stoney Creek west of Edinburg.
Over time this operation grew to become Blue Ridge Poultry and Egg Company, a regional poultry processor. In 1971 Rocco…
Zion Baptist Church
This structure housed the Zion Baptist Church for the first half of the 20th century.
The property was home to a school for local African American students in 1868. This institution was sponsored by the American Missionary Association that hired…