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Ancient legend:
"How the Shenandoah Came to Be"
The
past
When
Virginia's colonial Governor Alexander Spotswood led his famed Knights
of the Golden Horseshoe through the western wilderness and up the Blue
Ridge Mountains at Swift Run Gap, he gazed down on a broad valley that
stretched into the distance. He could see the craggy peaks of the
Massanutten Range jutting out into the valley floor, the virgin
forests and meadows on the rolling hills below and, far to the west,
yet another range of mountains that framed the land. His awe was such
that he wrote... "We have discovered paradise."
Spotswood was not the first to view this place. Early Indian
hunting parties that roamed the valley felt its splendor and called it
"Shenandoah"-- which means "Daughter of the Stars."
A place that has endeared itself
to all who have come...
But it was Spotswood who saw the potential of these westward lands.
Here, a growing colony could find fertile soil and a place where
settlers could raise their families.
And the settlers came. A great stream of pioneers from eastern
Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland followed the Valley's natural
waterways and land channels into the area.
When the Revolutionary War began, these same settlers helped
fill the ranks of the Continental Army. Pig iron, essential to the
armaments of the colonials, was produced here in abundance.
In 1778, Virginia Governor Patrick Henry named Rockingham County
for the Marquis of Rockingham, one of the few friends Virginia had at
the Court of London. The following year a prominent farmer named
Thomas Harrison donated two and one-half acres for a courthouse,
and the city of Harrisonburg was born. Today, the stately limestone
Courthouse occupying the original site is a familiar landmark.
When the Civil War broke out, the Valley's productive farms
helped feed the Confederate army and once again the forges rekindled
to the tasks of armaments. Stonewall Jackson used Harrisonburg as one
of his headquarters. Confederate cavalry leader Turner Ashby met his
death just east of Harrisonburg.
After the destruction of the Civil War, Rockingham County
experienced an economic rebirth. Agriculture and tourism flourished.
People were drawn to the area's resorts and the active social life
that revolved around them.
The stability of the area's economic base was tested during the
Great Depression. But, as is still true today, the agricultural base
proved as solid as the limestone bedrock.
"Harrisonburg and Rockingham County is America's Heartland --
mother of history, birthplace of Presidents, lap of the Civil War,
heart of rural Shenandoah Valley. The Harrisonburg lifestyle is a
wonderfully wholesome environment for family, business and industry."
The Past... The
Present... The Future
Photos:
Mountain Panorama: Hubert Gentry, Gentry Photography
Court Square: Allen Showalter, King Photo
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547 East Market Street
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801
(540)
433-8233 (800) 445-5330
Info@StonewallJacksonInn.com
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