Historic Strasburg

Historic Strasburg. Stop 3. , In the spring of 1862, where the Strasburg water tower now stands, Union soldiers leveled the hilltop and erected earthworks and artillery emplacements surrounded by trenches. This hill was selected because it had an effective command of the roads, the railroad, and the town below. By May 15, 1862, the fort was manned and named Banks Fort for Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, commander of the Union army here. Throughout the rest of the Civil War, Federals and Confederates--including Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's army--each briefly occupied Banks Fort. After the Civil War the area was gradually reshaped, as the water tower and new houses were built, circa 1930, and the original trench lines were made into streets., Just across Washington Street is the Strasburg United Methodist Church. Methodists first organized here in 1779, using the Lutheran and Presbyterian churches and the old grammar schoolhouse for services. In 1835 trustees of the Strasburg congregation paid Adam Keister $55 for a lot on the northwest corner of Holliday and Washington Streets. Their plan to build the Strasburg United Methodist Church finally came to life in 1876 when a frame structure was completed. The present Gothic Revival church replaced the original building in 1905. To its left is the Italianate-style Methodist parsonage with its decorative porch and roof cornice trim. Customarily, the town's churches tolled their bells when a parishioner died, one bell for each year of the departed's age., On the right, as you walked to this marker, are the offices of the Shenandoah Publishing House at 152 N. Holliday Street. In 1912, Ε.Ε. Keister (1890-1972)-a descendant of early settler-landowner-storekeeper-potter Adam Keister-purchased the weekly hometown paper, Strasburg News. Subsequently, he decided to purchase or establish several other weekly and semi-weekly newspapers in nearby towns. Numerous books, local histories, and genealogies also were being printed, and it wasn't long before he realized the need to expand operations. In 1922 he erected a 30'x100' one-story building, eventually putting on 3 additions to create a plant 235 feet long and 40 feet wide. On September 15, 1932, Mr. Keister decided the time had come to convert the weekly and semi-weekly newspapers into a morning daily, and the award-winning Northern Virginia Daily came into being., Behind you is Stover Funeral Home established in 1878 by Francis Marion Stover. It was first operated in connection with a cabinet shop and later with a furniture store. Mr. Stover's son Frank received his license in 1920, taking over the active management, and in 1924 he built a completely new funeral home. Succeeding owners have been Frank and Madolyn Kitchin in 1965; Stanley and Patsy Morehead in 1978; and Marty and Sharon White in 2019., (Caption):, A view overlooking Strasburg from Banks Fort during the Civil War, trenches visible in lower left, To reach Stop 4 turn right on Washington Street and go one-half block to the log cabin. , 152 East Washington Street