2026-04-04T08:12:36-04:00 Zend_Feed_Writer https://shenandoahstories.org/ Shenandoah Stories https://shenandoahstories.org 2019-05-10T11:39:28-04:00 2019-05-10T11:39:28-04:00 https://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/321 The Shenandoah Stories Team On October 22, 1869 the Shenandoah Herald newspaper noted Samuel Bowman was “laying in a large supply of goods” and would soon open his new store on the “main street of Hamburg.” This building included the store originally included the store facilities on the lower level and a large meeting room with kitchen on the second floor. This upstairs space was used by both local chapters of the Modern Woodmen and the Grange. The 1885 Lake’s Atlas notes this building was both a store and the site of the Hamburg Post Office. Samuel Bowman is listed as living next door. In 1896 Samuel Bowman moved to Woodstock Virginia and opened a store in that town. The Hamburg store remained opened. Its last operator was John Eckard who operated the store until sometime in the mid-20th century. The store building still stands and is privately owned. For more, view the original article. 2017-10-19T13:33:04-04:00 2018-10-19T11:46:22-04:00 https://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/284 The Shenandoah Stories Team During the second half of the 20th century Walter Rinker operated a still and sold alcohol in the Deerhead/Hudsons Cross Road communities. He also operated a store in the area. For more, view the original article. 2017-10-17T14:25:59-04:00 2018-10-19T11:46:22-04:00 https://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/281 The Shenandoah Stories Team 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 this Quicksburg during the 1920s and 1930s. Their enterprise sold plows, shoes, gasoline, dry goods, machinery and numerous other items to serve the local farming community. An oral history interview notes it was a place where “you could get anything and if you went in there and he didn’t have it, he’d find it somewhere.” Three other similar enterprises also served the community during that period. The store also housed the community’s post office during the Republican administrations of the time period indicating William was a leader in the local party. Today Quicksburg is still home to a post office, one of the few unincorporated communities on the county to retain that service. However, it no longer supports the same number of commercial establishments. Easier transportation, a changing economy, and population shift to larger towns meant the closure of many country stores. For more, view the original article. 2017-10-17T14:23:49-04:00 2018-10-19T11:46:22-04:00 https://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/280 Shenandoah County Library Sometime in the late 19th century Captain T. J. Adams operated a general store in Quicksburg Virginia. He died in 1904 and Clarence Lafayette Zirkle bought the business. Zirkle would have sold a wide array of items ranging from dry goods to farm implements. A photograph of one of his advertisement signs indicates he also sold buggies from the T.T. Haydock company. On May 21, 1908 the Shenandoah Valley newspaper reported that Clarence L. Zirkle had been convicted of selling illegal alcohol at his store. According to the article, an empty "Duffey's malt bottle" had been found on site and several witnesses had come forward to testify that Zirkle sold illegal alcohol at the site. Clarence Zirkle was a prosperous merchant and leading citizen in his community who had formerly been a deputy sheriff. He legal council had consisted of noted Woodstock attorneys M.I. Walton and W.L. Newman who had called over 50 witnesses in his defense. However, the jury had convicted him in just over three hours. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and given a $500 fine plus over $1000 in court costs. The fate of Zirkle and his store are unknown. At some point in the 20th century it became known as Pence and Zirkle. The exact location of his business was located is also unclear. For more, view the original article. 2017-10-05T14:35:33-04:00 2023-09-08T11:29:17-04:00 https://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/253 The Shenandoah Stories Team Sometime in the 1880s Lin Irwin's Drug Store opened on the first floor of the Irwin Opera House located at the corner of Main and Court Street in Woodstock. In 1906 Clyde E. Walton and Dr. James H. Smoot purchased the drug store and changed the name to Walton and Smoot. It became one of the town's two major drug stores, the other being Schmitts two buildings down. Besides creating and providing medicine, Walton and Smoot was, and still is, a multipurpose store. It served food, sold a wide array of goods, and for a long period operated a bar and sold beer. An early postcard showing the interior had the hand written notation "Beefstew-Bar-Cold Beer added before it was sent. Soon after purchasing the business, Walton and Smoot moved the drug store to the Magruder Building which was located on North Main Street at the corner of Court Square. In 1935 H.A. Moore and George Clower purchased the business from Dr. Smoot who had previously become the sole owner of the drug store. They continued to operate it under the Walton and Smoot name. Milson S. French purchased George Clower’s share of the business in July of 1952. French, a graduate of the Medical College of Virginia, later became sole owner of the store. He moved the drug store moved to its current home, the former site of the Geary and Woodstock Hotels, in 1968 when the Magruder Building was demolished to make way for a new brick office building. A fire heavily damaged the building in 1975 but the store reopened. It operated until 2019. The building stands vacant as of 2023. For more (including 6 images), view the original article. 2016-06-03T12:27:50-04:00 2018-12-18T12:13:23-05:00 https://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/93 Shenandoah County Library 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 station, clothing department, and garage were operated along with the general grocery store. Despite several closings in the late 20th century, the store continued to reopen. During the early part of the 21st century a restaurant was added. However, economic conditions led to the closing of the store in 2015 and it remains abandoned. For more, view the original article. 2016-05-12T11:58:11-04:00 2018-10-19T11:46:21-04:00 https://shenandoahstories.org/items/show/42 Shenandoah County Library In 1834 Dr. John G. Schmitt, a Swiss immigrant, arrived in Woodstock Virginia. Schmitt, who was physician, soon opened a drug store on Main Street. In those days, before modern medical practices, a doctor often served as both your doctor and druggist. You would be diagnosed and then given a series of drugs, which were mixed in the store, to cure your ailments. Over time the store expanded its retail operations. The store would eventually sell a variety of general merchandise, operate a lunch counter, and serve as a soda shop. This site was one of the most popular in Woodstock, their eatery became a social attraction, and the Schmitts became community leaders. The store was also a popular bicycle dealer. Starting in the 1880s when a bicycle craze swept across the country, and continuing into the 20th century, Schmitt’s was the place to buy your bicycle in Woodstock. In 1885 a new drug store building was built on the same Main Street site by John’s descendent Bernadotte Schmitt. This structure original combined the drug store and the family’s residence. Its high gabled roof, a defining feature of the Italianate architectural style that the building was designed in, is a unique feature in downtown Woodstock. Schmitt’s drug store would continue to operate through the mid part of the 20th century. In 1944 it was purchased by long time employee Joseph B. Clower who managed operations until 1956 when the business was sold to its local competitor Walton and Smoot who closed the drug store. The building would be sold again in the 1980s and in the early 2000s. It has been recently remodeled and now houses a branch of the First Bank and Trust Company and the All things Virginia store at the Farmhouse. For more (including 2 images), view the original article.