Historic Strasburg

Historic Strasburg. Stop 4. , The log dwelling to your right, known as the Dosh House, was built in 1778 on land sold by the town's founder, Peter Stover. The back wing was the earliest part of the house. This small structure was built in the German "flurkutchen haus" style featuring two front doors and a central chimney. The two-story house was built later and the two structures were joined by a log hyphen. Note the dovetailed logs at the corners., Early log construction homes in Strasburg, such as the Dosh House, were usually clad in clapboard. You can see many homes of this period along the Walking Trail route. These homes are distinguished by their evenly spaced windows, centrally located doors, porches, limestone foundations, and their position right on the sidewalk., On November 14, 1761 founder Peter Stover's charter for the Town of Strasburg was approved by the Virginia House of Burgesses. Stover had received a letter November 9, 1761 from George Washington advising him that his bill was only in need of the addition of Trustees to be passed. Stover was born in Germany in 1715 and immigrated to Pennsylvania with his family in 1718. He migrated south to the Strasburg area in the late 1730s. Stover purchased a parcel of 438 acres from Jacob Funk and laid out streets and lots for a town. The area was known as Staufferstad or Stover Town before the charter established the official name as Strasburg. The charter stipulated that lot holders were to build a house with a brick or stone chimney on the property within a year and that the Town was to hold two fairs each year!, To your left is the Town Run. This small waterway has been economically important to the Town in years past supporting a commercial watercress business, turning a grist mill, supplying water for several tanneries along its course, and providing water for railroad steam engines from a tank located behind what is now the car wash. The source of Town Run is a spring behind the Hupp Homestead, the stone house located on your left as you drive north on Route 11 out of town., As you walk to Stop 5, notice the lovely examples of folk Victorian homes at 133, 145, 155 along Washington Street., (Captions):, Water tanks, like the one pictured here at Pugh's Run near Woodstock circa 1900, once stood by the Town Run, where the car wash is now located by the railroad bridge. The tanks were used to refill steam engines between stations., To reach Stop 5 go right one-half block, cross Holliday Street, and continue one block to the sign beside the white clapboard Annex of the Lutheran Church. , 193 West Washington Street