On Rawley Pike (U.S. 33), on the right when traveling east.
Rockingham County. During its October 1777 session, the Virginia General Assembly carved Rockingham County out of a large portion of Augusta County. The first court was held on 27 April 1778. Rockingham County was named for Charles Watson . . . — — Map (db m34459) HM
On Warm Springs Pike (Virginia Route 42) 0.8 miles north of Mussoq Creek Road ( Route 747), on the right when traveling north. Reported missing.
Rockingham County. Area 876 Square Miles. Formed in 1778 from Augusta, and named for the Marquis of Rockingham, British statesman. John Sevier, of Tennessee, was born in this county. In it took place the battles of Cross Keys . . . — — Map (db m88642) HM
The Woodbine Cemetery Company, Incorporated March 19, 1850 1877 These gates are erected in memory of the officers and members of the Woodbine Society, who gave generously of their time and means to beautify this cemetery, where they now rest from . . . — — Map (db m16486) HM
On Harpine Highway (Virginia Route 42) near Jesse Bennet Way (County Route 859), on the right when traveling north.
Near Edom, Virginia, on January 14, 1794, in a heroic effort to save his wife, Elizabeth, and child, Dr. Jessee Bennett performed the first successful Caesarian section and oophorectomy to be done in America. — — Map (db m30364) HM
On Court Square (U.S. 33) just west of South Main Street (U.S. 11), on the left when traveling east.
About a dozen disguised people took Charlotte Harris from the custody of jailers in eastern Rockingham County on the night of 6 March 1878 and hanged her from a tree approximately 13 miles southeast of here. This is the only documented lynching of . . . — — Map (db m158137) HM
Near Fort Mill Ridge Park Road, on the right when traveling east.
In early April, 1863, a Confederate force led by Captain John H. McNeill's Rangers and four additional companies of Virginia cavalry left Rockingham County for West Virginia. At Moorefield, 20 miles south of Fort Mill Ridge, the force divided into . . . — — Map (db m25353) HM
On South Main Street (Business U.S. 11) at Franklin Street, on the left when traveling north on South Main Street. Reported permanently removed.
This was the home of Edward T.H. Warren, a Harrisonburg attorney. As a lieutenant in the Valley Guards, a Rockingham County militia company, Warren attended the trial and execution of John Brown in Charles Town (in present-day West Virginia) in . . . — — Map (db m41497) HM
Near South College Street (U.S. 127) at West Lexington Street, on the right when traveling south.
The Lincoln family first came to America in the seventeenth century, originally settling in the Massachusetts Bay colony. The Lincolns continued to move throughout the colonies, settling in present-day New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Thomas . . . — — Map (db m46319) HM
Near Frontier Drive north of Barterbrook Road, on the right when traveling north.
Shuler School
The log schoolhouse on this exhibit was built around 1840 and originally stood in Rockingham County, Virginia. Rural families started schools like the Shuler School to provide their children with a basic education. Parents . . . — — Map (db m298911) HM
Near Frontier Drive north of Barterbrook Road, on the right when traveling north.
Virginia Germans
This log farmhouse was built in Rockingham County, Virginia in 1773 by a German immigrant. Many German farmers in the Valley of Virginia constructed similar homes in the 18th century. Later improvements to the house . . . — — Map (db m298906) HM
Near Beechland Road (Kentucky Route 438) at Lincoln Park Road ( Route 528), on the left when traveling east.
Thomas Lincoln
Thomas Lincoln was born on January 7, 1778, in Rockingham County, Virginia, to Captain Abraham and Bathsheba Lincoln. He was the youngest of three sons and the fourth of five children. The Lincoln family migrated from . . . — — Map (db m46311) HM
On W Academy Street (State Highway 704) at S Franklin Street, on the right when traveling east on W Academy Street.
Alfred M. Scales was born on November 26, 1827, in eastern Rockingham County. After attending Caldwell Institute in Greensboro and the University of North Carolina, he read law under Judge William H. Battle, then settled in Madison and opened his . . . — — Map (db m62981) HM
On State Highway 65 at Hearthstone Trail, on the right when traveling east on State Highway 65.
Wentworth Methodist Church was organized in 1836, and the present sanctuary was constructed in 1859. It contains a slave gallery and is the last antebellum Methodist church building in Rockingham County. It was listed on the National Register of . . . — — Map (db m63042) HM
Near Fort Mill Ridge Park Road, on the right when traveling east.
From the protection of the fort and their encampment along Mill Creek, Union soldiers were stationed at picket posts throughout adjacent valleys at key junctions, fords, and approaches. Patrols were sent through the country-side to feel for the . . . — — Map (db m25433) HM
On East Main Street (County Route 151) just east of North Spring Street, on the right when traveling west.
On December 11, 1905, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, was born one of the most acclaimed documentarians in American history. Pare Lorentz attended West Virginia Wesleyan College & resided here in Buckhannon during most of his childhood. He later . . . — — Map (db m178913) HM
Near Skyline Drive (at milepost 57.5), on the right when traveling north.
"Laws and generally accepted customs" When Shenandoah first welcomed visitors in 1936, Virginia was a "Jim Crow" state, its laws requiring segregation of the races. This created a dilemma for the National Park Service and the Department of the . . . — — Map (db m134300) HM
On Eastside Highway (U.S. 340) 0.1 miles north of Teter Road.
Rockingham County. Rockingham County was formed from Augusta County in 1777. Harrisonburg was established as the county seat in 1780. Settlers migrating south and west along the Great Wagon Road, a route first developed by Native Americans, . . . — — Map (db m308013) HM
On Bristow Road (County Route 806), on the right when traveling west.
(caption of upper, left picture) Prince William County’s surveyor, Thomas Nelson Jr., recorded this plat of Brentsville on November 30, 1822. The Public Square is outlined in red. The Courthouse, Jail, and Clerk of the Court’s Office . . . — — Map (db m2828) HM
Near Canal Walk at 5th Street Footbridge, on the left when traveling west.
Throughout the period of slavery in Virginia, enslaved people sought freedom through acts of resistance, self-liberation, and rebellion. At the start of the Civil War, enslaved people sought to aid United States troops at Fort Monroe. On January . . . — — Map (db m256292) HM
On Warm Springs Pike (Virginia Route 42) 0.1 miles north of Argahyll Lane, on the left when traveling south.
Rockingham County. Rockingham County was formed from Augusta County in 1777. Harrisonburg was established as the county seat in 1780. Settlers migrating south and west along the Great Wagon Road, a route first developed by Native Americans, . . . — — Map (db m307403) HM
On Parkwood Drive (Virginia Route 1124) 0.1 miles east of Park Road, on the right when traveling west.
This is the site of the second Park School that was built in 1929. The original building was located northeast of here at the edge of Park Woods. It began as Eastern Mennonite Elementary School but later became part of the Rockingham County Public . . . — — Map (db m158140) HM
On U.S. 231 0.2 miles north of State Route 36, on the right when traveling north.
Abundant water and fertile land in this area south of the Tennessee River attracted pioneer settlement in the early 1800s. The community established here by three Virginia-born brothers, Hopkins, John, and Theophilus Lacy, took on their name and . . . — — Map (db m27611) HM
On South Main Street (Virginia Route 42) south of West College Street, on the left when traveling north.
Bridgewater
Historic District
has been registered as a
Virginia
Historic
Landmark
pursuant to the authority vested in the
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
Act of 1966 — — Map (db m236119) HM
Near Beechland Road (Kentucky Route 438) at Lincoln Park Road ( Route 528), on the left when traveling east.
President Abraham Lincoln’s great, great, great, great grandfather, Samuel Lincoln, left England in 1637, settling in Hingham, Massachusetts. The next four generations of Lincolns continued to move south and west — to New Jersey, then . . . — — Map (db m46301) HM
On Washington Street at Henry Street, on the right when traveling east on Washington Street.
The mural of the river boatmen is a tribute to the men who were responsible for the economic development of the vast interior region along the Dan River. The most prominent figures in the mural, the African American boatmen in the foreground, . . . — — Map (db m251215) HM
On Walnut Lane north of Mason Street (Virginia Route 257), on the right when traveling north.
Innovator & Entrepreneur
This plaque is in honor of Samuel H. Blosser, whose innovation and ingenuity contributed not only to the history of the Town of Dayton, but to the entire poultry industry in Rockingham County and Virginia. . . . — — Map (db m280332) HM
On Valley Pike (U.S. 11) south of Shady Lane, on the right when traveling south.
Rockingham County. Area 876 square miles. Formed in 1778 from Augusta, and named for the Marquis of Rockingham, British statesman. John Sevier, of Tennessee, was born in this county. In it took place the battles of Cross Keys . . . — — Map (db m653) HM
Near Singer Glen Road (Virginia Route 613) west of Kieffer Road ( Route 876), on the left when traveling west.
This was the only United Brethren Church that the anti-slavery denomination opened within the Confederacy during the Civil War. It was constructed on the northeastern side of Green Hill along Joes Creek northwest of Edom in 1833 as Green Hill . . . — — Map (db m115464) HM
On West Water Street at Monroe Street, on the right when traveling west on West Water Street.
In its edition of August 27, 1851, the Plymouth Villager made a backhanded confirmation of the presence of abolitionists in Washington County, North Carolina. "A coat of tar and feathers is in waiting for the gentleman who will come about . . . — — Map (db m276306) HM
Near East Market Street (U.S. 33) at Reservoir Street.
During the Civil War, Woodbine Cemetery was Harrisonburg’s principal burial ground. Chartered in March 1850, it opened later that year after the city’s first mayor, Isaac Hardesty, sold 2.5 acres of his property to the cemetery company. The need . . . — — Map (db m39333) HM
On East Side Highway (U.S. 340) north of Naked Creek Road ( Route 609), on the right when traveling north.
Rockingham County Area 876 square miles
Formed in 1778 from Augusta, and named for the Marquis of Rockingham, British Statesman. John Sevier, of Tennessee, was born in this county. In it took place the battles of Cross Keys . . . — — Map (db m234636) HM
On Walnut Lane north of Mason Street ( Route 257), on the right when traveling north.
"The most important event for poultry in Virginia and probably the whole world occurred in 1885 when a young man by the name of Sam Blosser was found putting thermometers under hens, sitting around and watching them all day, and even sleeping . . . — — Map (db m280321) HM
On Main Street 0.1 miles south of Leroy Road, on the left when traveling north. Reported permanently removed.
The crest of the hill was the site of Madison Hall, built in the mid-1700s for John Madison, the first Court Clerk of Augusta County, which originally included this area of Rockingham County within its frontier boundaries. In response to the . . . — — Map (db m254877) HM
Near Fort Mill Ridge Park Road, on the right when traveling east.
In late April 1863, the Confederates launched a major raid from Rockingham County into West Virginia. A primary goal of the raid was the destruction of the Cheat River Bridge of the B&O Railroad near the Northwestern Turnpike crossing the Cheat . . . — — Map (db m25436) HM
On Homer Lake Road west of County Route 12, on the right when traveling west.
Kelley’s Tavern was originally called Strong’s Inn after Cyrus Strong, who built a mud-mortar log cabin here in the 1830's. The inn at Strong’s Ford was a stop on the Bloomington or State Road from Danville west to Urbana. Kelley’s Inn was a stop . . . — — Map (db m23803) HM
On Stingley Road (County Route 57) 0.2 miles west of Smith Road (County Route 386), on the left when traveling west.
James and Sophia Clemens’ lives are part of a story of tens of thousands of people of color who migrated north in search of land to farm and better lives during the first half of the 19th century. In 1818, James Clemens (1781-1870) purchased 387 . . . — — Map (db m168860) HM
On Rush Creek Road (Local Road 26) at Local Road 32, on the left when traveling east on Rush Creek Road.
Side A
Erected in 1828, the Randolph Mitchell House is a five-bay, Federal-style "I" house. Its facade features a doorway with an Adam-style fan and sidelights. The interior boasts a grand stairway in the foyer and fine woodwork . . . — — Map (db m224972) HM
On Grand Cavern Road west of South River Road, on the left when traveling west.
The Creation of Shenandoah National Park
This stone chimney was placed here to honor the people of the Blue Ridge Mountains who lost their homes, land and livelihood when Shenandoah National Park was formed in the 1930s. The memorial . . . — — Map (db m308045) HM
On South Main Street (U.S. 11) 0.1 miles north of Campbell Street, on the left when traveling north.
Harrisonburg was Rockingham County’s seat of government and largest town, and it was an ideal site for a hospital. When the Civil War began in 1861, although the railroad had not yet extended to Harrisonburg, the town sat at the intersection of . . . — — Map (db m39330) HM
On South Liberty Street (U.S. 11) at West Grattan Street, on the left when traveling south on South Liberty Street.
On July 4, 1924, Harrisonburg and Rockingham County officials and community members dedicated the World War I Liberty Monument. Leadership provided by American Legion, Rockingham (now Dayton) Post 27 brought the monument to Harrisonburg.
World . . . — — Map (db m263588) HM
On North Federal Street at East Elizabeth Street, on the right when traveling north on North Federal Street.
Lucy Frances Simms, a prominent and devoted African American educator, was born approximately one mile from this location in 1855. She, her mother, and her grandmother were slaves at "Hill Top," the Robert Gray farm.
Simms and Booker T. . . . — — Map (db m158129) HM
On Turners Mill Lane at Breneman Church Road ( Route 778), on the right on Turners Mill Lane. Reported permanently removed.
On October 6, 1864, Union soldiers approached this mill on their march from Harrisonburg to Broadway during “The Burning.” This was U.S. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s two-week campaign to end the Valley’s role as the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy.” . . . — — Map (db m39329) HM
On Blue and Gold Drive, on the right when traveling west.
This Memorial is dedicated to the Approximately 200 Families and Land Owners in Rockingham County Displaced by the Creation of Shenandoah National Park Names are Spelled as Found in Available Park Records of Displacement
The idea of . . . — — Map (db m270104) HM
On Water Street (Virginia Route 1605) 0.3 miles west of Port Republic Road ( Route 253), on the left when traveling west.
The Riverside Graveyard was established on land deeded by Molly and John Carthrea, Sr., to the Methodist Episcopal Church's trustees in 1793. Soon a log church was built at water's edge in the upper end of the cemetery. On February 26, 1809, . . . — — Map (db m309630) HM
Near Frontier Drive north of Barterbrook Road, on the right when traveling north.
Pennsylvania Barn in Virginia
This reconstructed barn is modeled on a three-bay bank barn near Winchester, VA. It is considered to be a variant of the Pennsylvania Barn. This two-story barn is built into a hillside (bank) to allow wagons . . . — — Map (db m298903) HM
Near Frontier Drive north of Barterbrook Road, on the right when traveling north.
Settling the Valley
Colonial authorities encouraged Protestant immigrants to move to the Valley of Virginia starting in the 1720s and 1730s. Over the next decades, mostly Ulster Scot, German, English, and Virginian settlers established . . . — — Map (db m298905) HM
On Bowman Road (Virginia Route 732) at High Street, on the right when traveling west on Bowman Road.
Religious Dissenters
After his famed 1716 expedition to the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Governor Alexander Spotswood decided to encourage settlement of the Virginia's western frontier by religious dissenters-such as Presbyterians, . . . — — Map (db m280272) HM
On Main Street (Business Virginia Route 42) south of Eberly Road ( Route 732), on the right when traveling south.
Living first at Oyster Bay on New York's Long Island, the English family of Isaiah Harrison moved on to Delaware where he owned substantial acreage. About 1732, the family moved south, landing by ship at the port of Alexandria. From there, they . . . — — Map (db m280644) HM
On Main Street (Business Virginia Route 42) south of Eberly Road ( Route 732), on the right when traveling south.
The First Settlers
When Daniel Harrison and wife Margaret settled here about 1745, they were among the earliest wave of pioneers west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Their home, along the banks of Cook's Creek, became a center of frontier . . . — — Map (db m280345) HM
On Turners Mill Lane east of Brenneman Church Road ( Route 778), on the right when traveling east.
Circa 1800
is listed in the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the
United States
Department of the Interior
☆ ☆ ☆
Circa 1800
is registered as a
Virginia Historic Landmark
Pursuant to . . . — — Map (db m280380) HM
On Turners Mill Lane just east of Brenneman Church Road ( Route 778), on the right when traveling east.
On October 6, 1864, Union soldiers approached this mill on their march from Harrisonburg to Broadway during “The Burning.” This was U.S. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s two-week campaign to end the Valley’s role as the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy.” . . . — — Map (db m280440) HM
On Blue and Gold Drive, on the right when traveling east.
Two Rockingham County Schools and Three Churches were Located Inside the Shenandoah National Park Boundary
Dean Mountain and Sunnyside were mountain schools operated by the Rockingham County Public School System; both schools were closed . . . — — Map (db m270102) HM
Thin black lines indicate changes in relevance. Between each pair of lines entries are ordered geographically but all have the same relevance.
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.
