From it’s founding in the mid-1770s, the Orkney Springs community has been welcoming visitors. Surrounding it was a plethora of springs that reportedly had healing powers. People from around the country flocked to the area to find a cure to their…

Massanutten Academy began in September of 1899 when the Virginia Classis of the Reformed Church opened the school in the residence of former US Senator H.H. Riddleberger which had been enlarged to serve as classrooms and the boy’s dormitory. The…

On July 4, 1867 a "Dr. Brown" visited Woodstock and preached at a “colored” camp meeting. This meeting laid the foundation of what is today Mt. Zion Methodist Church. The following year members of Woodstock’s African American community had raised…

In 1804 Jacob Funk, Alexander Hite, Joseph Stover, Jacob Lambert, Jonas Crabil, Anthony Spangler, and George Lind conducted a lottery to build a school on this site. There efforts would be successful and the Strasburg Academy opened soon…

In 1884 individuals construction workers building the Shenandoah Valley Railroad accidentally discovered a caverns west of Mt. Jackson. Though locals had called the area Forestville for years, in 1921 it would be rechristened Shenandoah Caverns.…

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…

Mt. Clifton most likely got its name from its imposing position overlooking Mill Creek. It was founded sometime in the middle of the 19th century by George Hammon and his sons. They built and operated a store, flour mill, saw mill, and blacksmith…

The first Lime Kiln was built in Toms Brook by Mr. C.W. Jones, O. Hawkins, and H.W. Scott in 1884. This enterprise eventually fell under the management of Mr. M.L. Bauserman of Toms Brook. This company quarried limestone from one of several…

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.…

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…