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
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.…
Holtzman Hotel
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…
Walker's Cash Store
During the late 19th century, this was the site of Wisman and Dellinger, dealers in dry goods and general merchandise. Sometime in the 1920s, it became known as Walker’s Cash Store. At one point a gas…
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
Crabill's Tavern
Sometime around 1825, David Crabill built this tavern south of present-day Maurertown, Virginia, to serve travelers on what would become the Valley Turnpike. Crabill would have provided them food, a hot bed, and spirits of their choosing.
The…
St. John Bosco Catholic Church
St. John’s Bosco is a product of the influx of Irish immigrants who came to Shenandoah County in the mid to late 19th century to work on the local railroads. Two of these individuals, Michael Geary and Patrick Reiley, organized and built the original…
Shenstone
This house was constructed around 1825. Before this, a log cabin that was home to Riley Moore, an original European resident of the area, stood at the site. The house is a Federal Style structure with interior chimneys. Locally it is known as…
Waggoner Shed
This photograph shows part of the “Wagonner Shed” that was located along the Valley Turnpike (Route 11) in Edinburg Virginia.
The shed would have been used by crews operating along the Turnpike in the 19th century. These crews were responsible…
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…
Hupps Hill Trenches
Sometime after occupying Hupp’s Hill on October 20, 1864, Federal troops belong to the second division, VI Corps of General Phillip Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah began work on a series of fortifications to protect themselves from Confederate…