Page County Virginia Real Estate

PAGE COUNTY HISTORY

Page County and the towns of Luray, Stanley and Shenandoah all have a place in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the formation of our great nation.

Page County was formed from parts of Shenandoah and Rockingham counties by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1831.

Luray, the county seat, was founded in 1812.

Shenandoah, the southernmost town, was established in 1884 and Stanley, near the center of the county, was established in 1900.

Several National Historic Landmarks are found in the county, including the original courthouse, the 18th century Mauck Meeting House, Stevens cottage in Shenandoah, a nineteenth century reminder of the county's railroad heritage, and several homes dating from the mid-1700's.

Luray Caverns, the largest and most popular in the east, was discovered in 1878.

Each year, more than 500,000 visitors explore the spectacular underground wonder and the adjacent Car and Carriage Caravan of historic vehicles.

Page County Location

Page County, with a total area of 314 sq. miles is located in Virginia's Northern Shenandoah Valley. Luray, the County seat, is located at the intersection of Routes 340 and 211, 12 miles east of I-81 and 27 miles south of I-66.

The area has overnight access to 60% of U.S. industry; is within 500 miles of half of the U.S. population; and offers direct access to Canadian markets via I-81.

The Luray Caverns make the County a tourist location for the eastern U.S. and Canada. Stanley and Shenandoah access I-81 via 340/33.

The Virginia Inland Port, 25 miles north, provides world wide trade opportunities. Land elevations range from 570' at the South Fork of the Shenandoah River to 4050' in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Page County Attractions

Discover Eastern America's largest and most popular caverns. Luray Caverns, a United States Natural Landmark is noted for the profuse variety of formations and unsurpassed natural color.

From well-lighted, paved walkways explore cathedral-sized rooms with ceilings 10 stories high, filled with towering stone columns and crystal-clear pools.

Also, hear the haunting sounds of the world's only Stalacpipe Organ.

Situated just 10 minutes from the central entrance to Shenandoah National Park and scenic Skyline Drive, Luray Caverns is 15 minutes from 1-81 on U.S. 211 in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

For more information, 540-743-6551, www.luraycaverns.com

Shenandoah National Park, a 196,000 acre mountain playground, borders the county on the east. Luray is a central gateway to the 105-mile Skyline Drive, which offers hiking, fishing, camping and sight-seeing to some 2 million visitors annually.

On the west, Page County is bordered by the George Washington National Forest, providing further camping and recreational opportunities.

George Washington National Forest The Massanutten Mountain Range makes up the part of GW National Forest in Page County.

This unique mountain ridge offers many miles of trails open for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding.

There are many beautiful mountain streams filled with mountain trout and areas for picnicking and rustic camping.

Massanutten Storybook Trail: Follow this 0.25 mile paved, interpretive trail and experience the story of the geology of the Massanutten Mountain range.

This trail follows a long curved bridge and leads to an overlook of Page Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Trail is suitable for wheelchairs.

 Lake Arrowhead - A delightful stream-fed 34 acre mountain lake filled with a variety of gamefish.

A white sand beach and swimming area are open in summer months.

Lovely walking trails surround the lake and many picnic and game areas are available.

Open year round from sunrise to sunset. Swimming fee.

Fishing license required.

Shenandoah River - The South Fork of the world famous Shenandoah River flows at the base of the Massanutten Mountain Range throughout the entire length of Page County.

Enjoy canoeing, tubing, floating, fishing, swimming and just relaxing on the banks of the marvelous waterway.

 There are many outlets throughout the county for canoeing and camping on the river along with a variety of lodging.

Discover Eastern America's largest and most popular caverns.

A U.S. Natural Landmark noted for the profuse variety of formations and natural color.

From well-lighted, paved walkways explore cathedral sized rooms with ceilings 10 stories high filled with towering stone columns and crystal-clear pools.

Also, hear the haunting sounds of the world's only Stalacpipe Organ. In addition at Luray Caverns, experience the history of America in an exhibit featuring over 140 items relating to transportation including cars, carriages, coaches and costumes from 1725; along with a one acre ornamental garden creating one of the largest mazes in the Mid-Atlantic states.

Shenandoah National Park lies astride a beautiful section of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which form the eastern rampart of the Appalachian Mountains between Pennsylvania and Georgia.

The Shenandoah River flows through the valley to the west, with Massanutten Mountain, 40 miles long, standing between the river's north and south forks.

The rolling Piedmont country lies to the east of the park. Skyline Drive, a 105-mile road that winds along the crest of the mountains through the length of the park, provides vistas of the spectacular landscape to east and west.

The park holds more than 500 miles of trails, including 101 miles of the Appalachian Trail.

Trails may follow a ridge crest, or they may lead to high places with panoramic views or to waterfalls in deep canyons.

Many animals, including deer, black bears, and wild turkeys, flourish among the rich growth of an oak-hickory forest. In season, bushes and wildflowers bloom along the drive and trails and fill the open spaces.

Apple trees, stone foundations, and cemeteries are reminders of the families who once called this place home.

Shenandoah National Park has many stories waiting to be told, and a world of beauty that can renew and bring peace to the spirit.

"Caring for the land and serving people."

For over 50 years the George Washington National Forest has remained dedicated to managing resources, protecting the quality of the environment, and ensuring the productivity of the land.

 As our young nation began its westward expansion, settlement began in the valley of western Virginia. Shenandoah--daughter of the stars--was a name given to the river and the valley by Native Americans who passed back and forth through the bottom lands.

The Sioux, Shawnees, Delawares, Catawbas and Tuscaroras all had their time here, hunting and harvesting the land.

Later settlers of Scotch-Irish and German heritage began to make their homes in the valley now surrounded by the George Washington National Forest.

Settlers often viewed the forests as land that had to be cleared for more fields.

The mountain lands, though eroded and over cultivated, were still desired by outside mining and timber interests.

In the 1820's the combination of iron and trees to feed the iron furnaces made mining a profitable venture in many areas near the Shenandoah Valley.

These companies brought devastation to the land. Repeated cuttings cleared the mountains, erosion caused streams to become clogged with silt and floods came more frequently and with greater damage.

Perhaps the most insidious effect of industry was wildfire, which burned repeatedly over the mountains.

Miners, timber operators and hunters pushed animal species like elk, white tailed deer and wild turkey to the brink of extinction.

A small group of forest reformers recognized that our natural resources were being exploited and endangered, and introduced bills in Congress that would protect the nation's forests.

In 1891 the Forest Reserve Act was passed.

It authorized the creation of Forest Reserves, the forerunner of what was to become the National Forest System.

Damage to the mountains also extended to the waterways.

In 1911 the Weeks Act was passed, which made it possible for the Federal Government to buy deforested mountain land and protect it for watershed purposes.

Land in what was to become the George Washington National Forest was among the first considered for acquisition.

In 1917 three northern Virginia purchase units were combined to become the Shenandoah National Forest.

It was later renamed the George Washington National Forest to avoid confusion with the National Park bearing the same name.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) also played an important role in the early days of the Forest Service. The first CCC camp in the nation, Camp Roosevelt, was located in the George Washington National Forest.

A total of 14 camps were eventually opened on the Forest.

The CCC employed 9,200 men in Virginia during the nine years of the program's existence.

Their work is still evident today in the roads, campgrounds, picnic shelters, fire towers, and other projects scattered throughout the Forest.

One of the more remarkable changes to occur just after World War II was the development of a more mobile and recreation-seeking society.

Between 1945 and 1956, the number of visitors to some areas increased as much as four times.

With close proximity to Washington D.C. and Richmond, it is not surprising that the George Washington National Forest has always been a popular destination for those who enjoy outdoor recreation.

In 1960 the Multiple-use Sustained-Yield Act was passed by Congress.

It stated that national forests are established and shall be administered for outdoor recreation, watershed, range, timber and wildlife purposes.

A wildlife management agreement with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has helped to reestablish turkey, bear, deer and many other species that were nearly driven to extinction due to unregulated hunting and poor land management practices during the late 1800's.

The Threatened and Endangered Species Act of 1973 has also served to protect wildlife and their habitat.

Protection, growth and management have produced many fruitful achievements on the George Washington.

Good stewardship has been, and remains, the goal of those entrusted with "caring for the land and serving the people."

History of the Town of Shenandoah, Virginia

 The Town of Shenandoah originated in the early 19th Century due to the area’s proximity to an abundance of natural resources.

The presence of iron ore, wood for making charcoal, high grade limestone, and the Shenandoah River helped Shenandoah’s original founders, Daniel and Henry Forrer, establish the community’s iron industry.

The first post office was established in February 1838 under the name of Shenandoah Iron Works.

In 1866, William Milnes, Jr. and Thomas Johns purchased 32,000 acres, including the Shenandoah Iron Works.

With patented tools and improved production, they expanded Shenandoah’s iron industry and built the Big Gem Cast Iron Furnace.

The expansion of the iron industry helped bring the railroad to Shenandoah in 1882.

On June 27, 1882, the name of the post office was changed from Shenandoah Iron Works to Milnes.

On February 12, 1884, and Act was passed by Virginia General Assembly to incorporate the town.

It bore the name Milnes, in honor of William Milnes, Jr., President of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad.

On March 8, 1890, the name of the post office was changed from Milnes to Shenandoah. Thereafter, the name of the town was changed, by an Act of the General Assembly, from Milnes to Shenandoah City.

During the following years, the word "city" was informally dropped from the town’s name.

In 1890, thanks to the efforts of the Shenandoah Land and Improvement Company, Shenandoah experienced a sudden and rapid growth known as the "boom."

Most businesses established themselves on one side of First Street so that they could face the railroad yards and the Shenandoah River.

In 1891, the "boom" collapsed and a general depression settled over the entire country.

The Town maintained a degree of prosperity due to the continued operation of the Furnace Company and the Railroad.

The Norfolk & Western Railroad (N&W) took over the Shenandoah Valley Railroad in 1891.

In 1982, N&W Railroad merged with Southern Railroad to become Norfolk Southern.

The train station, located on First Street, remains the only active station between Roanoke and Hagerstown.

The Town of Shenandoah is currently in the middle of a comprehensive revitalization effort.

With more than a million dollars in grant money and with the support of numerous community, state, and federal organizations, Shenandoah has begun its preservation of the past and its journey into the future.

Stanley

The Town of Stanley is located in the northwestern Virginia, in Page County, seven miles south of the Town of Luray.

Page County is situated in the Shenandoah Valley between the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east and the Massanutten Mountains on the west, in the section known locally as the "Page Valley."

The Town lies just four miles east of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River as it winds its way northward through the valley.

Stanley is within one to two hours of larger urban areas: Winchester, Virginia is 50 miles to the north; Washington D.C., 85 miles to the east; Richmond, Virginia is 110 miles to the southeast; Harrisonburg, Virginia is 35 miles to the southwest; and Staunton, Virginia is 60 miles to the south.

 The earlier recorded inhabitants of Page County, including the Stanley area, were the Shawnee Indians.

At the beginning of the French and Indian War in 1754, the Shawnee Indians left the Shenandoah Valley and moved west over the Allegheny Mountains.

It was forty-six years later, in 1716, that the colorful deputy governor of Virginia Colony, Alexander Spotswood, explored the same area but continued down into the Valley with his small but well-provisioned band of adventurers.

They forded the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, which he named the Euphrates.

According to at least one credible historian, Spotswood's descent was down Tanner's Ridge, and the fording of the river took place near the Village of Alma, just west of Stanley.

The first non Native American settlers in the Shenandoah Valley arrived in Page County about 1726 along the banks of the South Fork between the mouths of the Hawksbill and Stony Creeks.

The settlement was called Massanutten.

Settlement in the Stanley area did not occur for another 120 years.

The history of Stanley goes back only a little over hundred and twenty years.

In 1880, the land on which Stanley is now located was farmland owned by Frederick Judy (originally Tehudis,) a prominent local landowner and farmer of Swiss extraction.

The impetus that gave rise to the birth of Stanley was the coming of the railroad. In 1881, the Shenandoah Valley Railroad was completed through Page County.

It extended from Hagerstown, Maryland to Roanoke, Virginia.

This was the greatest economic event in the history of Stanley and Page County.

It was at the intersection of the railroad and Gordonsville/New Market Pike, now U.S. Route 340 that Stanley grew as a town.

Before the railroad, transportation of goods in Page Valley was undertaken either by wagon moving along the early roads, or by flat-bottomed boats moving north on the Shenandoah River.

Between the years 1820 and 1850, many of these boats were built near Stanley.

 In 1885, Stanley was known as Sands, being named after Joseph H. Sands, the superintendent of the railroad.

In 1890, the railroad was sold and the name was changed to Stanleyton, which was later shortened to Stanley.

James McNider was at the time President of the Stanley Furnace and Land Company and it was either his son or his nephew, Stanley McNider, after whom the Town was named.

The new Town immediately began to attract industry.

In 1885, the Oxford Ochre Company began the operation of ochre mill and mine where the railroad crossed Stony Creek, one mile southwest of Stanley.

This commodity was shipped north for use in making paint.

Because of the availability of higher grade ochre elsewhere, the plant near Stanley was closed in 1911.

In 1890, a manganese mine began operation a mile southeast of the Town just west of Round Head Mountain.

Also at the time, in the Town itself, there was at least one bark mill (which processed bark for shipment to tanneries,) an ice plant and flourmill.

In 1900, Stanley was officially incorporated by an Act of the Virginia General Assembly.

Nine years later, disaster struck in the form of a fire that reduced the Town to ashes.

Only one home and the brick Stanley Hotel were spared. By 1911, most of the Town had been rebuilt.

At the time, Stanley contained two churches, a four-room school, a drug store, ten mercantile establishments, one bank, one 75-barrel capacity roller process flourmill, a lighting plant, one hotel, one livery and one bark mill with a capacity of about 400 cords of bark a year.

The population in that year was recorded at 218 persons.

By 1920, the Town's population grew to nearly 450. The Town continued to flourish with the addition of the two canning factories in the 1920's.

The Town, as well as the rest of the country, felt the bitter effects of the 1929 Depression, as its economy declined and its population dwindled as many of its young people went in search for jobs elsewhere.

For three decades, population growth stagnated.

In 1953, however, the Town annexed 445 acres of additional land area and doubled its population to approximately 800.

 During the late Seventies and early Eighties, the Town of Stanley saw the most changes that affected the growth and prosperity since the railroad came through the Town.

During the 70's, the Town of Stanley was the largest incorporated town within the State of Virginia without a central sewer system.

This was a major financial commitment for Town officials, however, the overall economic benefit for the betterment of the Town made the venture worth the expense.

The Town sought out and obtained numerous grants and in early 1979, the construction on the 3.1 million dollar wastewater plant and sewer collection system was started.

The project was completed in the summer of 1981.

The Town Government also incorporated change with the creation of the positions of Town Manager, Public Works Director, Recreation Director, and Wastewater Operator positions.

It was also in 1980 that Town adopted its first zoning ordinance that would pave the way for the future growth that the Town was expecting with the completion of the wastewater sewer system.

The Town was divided into five separate districts, Medium Density Residential, High Density Residential, Town Commercial, Highway Commercial and Industrial.

During the mid 1980s, the town acquired the old Farmers and Merchants Bank for the new Town Office.

The 1980s also brought the first shopping center for Town, which included a grocery store, and three other retail stores.

The Town of Stanley continued to grow throughout the 1990s with the development of a retirement facility and a 150-acre lot subdivision just outside the Town's corporate limits.

The Town also purchased a 28-acre park that caters to the citizens needs for recreation.

In the late 1990s, Page Memorial Hospital built a satellite medical facility in Stanley that better serves the citizens medical needs.

In 1994, the Town of Stanley was awarded a Wellhead Protection grant from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency.)

The money was used to conduct a study of the Town's five wells and how they could be protected from future contamination.

The project has received several awards for the efforts in maintaining good water quality.

Several of the awards included a 1994 "Water System of the Year" from the Virginia Rural Water Association, a "Certificate of Environmental Achievement" from the Renew America in 1997, and in 2001 EPA Award the Town Leadership Award for protection of its drinking water.

In 2005 the Town of Stanley opened the William "Bill" Kibler Community Library.

The library is located on East Main Street across from the Post Office in the former Jefferson Bank Building.

The library was made possible from donations left by the late William Bill Kilber.

Mr. Kibler was a well known educator and always dreamed of the establishment of a library in Stanley.

Mrs. Debbie Snellings, local resident, is librarian and the library is part of the Massautten Valley Library System.

Plans in the future include a museum that will exhibit many of Mr. Kiblers collections as well as related items of Stanley history.

In May 2005, the county opened its new offices in the former IGA building located on West Main Street.

The remodeled offices will house the Page County Social Services and the Page County Extension Office.

The Town of Stanley is a town that has seen many different phases throughout its inception.

However, this is a Town with character and reserve to keep growing and making citizens proud to be residents.

Stanley is a Town proud of it past and looking forward to its future.