Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-06-08

paper vi JUNE OTu dS IOllOWSl :
In our last letter we alluded to Staunton as
the chief city in the Valley of Virginia. Be
fore our visit we had thought Sta union a
place of some note, but when we sa W the city,
its buildings, streets, public and private enter
prises, and had mingled with its men of bust
ness, we felt little like the queen of Sheba
when she visited Solomon. Considered from
its superb location, its schools and churches,
its size its wealth, its industrial development,
the wealth of its surroundings in mineral and
agricultural products, Staunton is beyond
question the
QUEEN CITY OF THE VALLEY"
Staunton is the county seat of Augusta
county, one of the richest i'll the State, and
which on account of its fine soil and agricul-
tural development has been compared to
Lancaster county, Pa. The Valley at this
point is 20 or % miles in width, with Staun-
ton near the center, and distant from Harper's
Ferry 12O miles, This distance is a gentle up
grade, following the valley of the Shenandoah
river averaging to 10 feet to the mile, and
giving Staunton an elevation of about !, $50
feet. The site of the city is not level spot as
might be surmlsed, but is built on quite roll
and rising to considerable height are two
rounded mountains called Bctsey Bell and
Mary Cray. These mounts were so called by
the Scotch-Iris1I settlers from two similar
mounts in the north of Ireland which in
turn were named, it is said, from a sadly
romantic story of two lovely Scotch lasses of
noble birth, who died in early womanhood
during pestilence.
When the Scotch-Irish entered this Valley
they quickly discerned the advantages of
this site from the standpoint of trade as well
as of beauty. In prehistoric times the North
American Indians traversed the Valley of
Virginia in their journeyings north and
south. Through passes in the Allegheny and
Blue Ridge mountains they also at this point
crossed the Valley east and west, journeying
eastward to fish in the waters tributary to the
Chesapeake Bay, or westward to hunt deer,
bear, wild turkeys, ETC., in the great wooded
mountains. Where these two Indian trails
crossed each other, forming a kind of
INDIAN X ROADS,
the city of Staunton was laid out in 174S, and
the following year The Indian
trails developed into highways emigrant and
stage routes. By and by the great turnpike
from Harper's Ferry was built Finally rail
roads followed, the Baltimore & Ohio travers-
ing the Valley north and south, and the
Chesapeake & Ohio crossing nearly at right
angles in the city of Staunton, and following
he Indian trail east and west through the
passes.
Aided by its very favorable location, Staun-
aimed a position of great importance in the
Valley, and for hundreds of miles east and
vest across the mountains The Scotch-Irish
settlers fostered the spirit of liberty, and here
Turing the Revolutionary War Thomas JEFF
;erson, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee
and other great sons of the Old Dominion
ook counsel together. Here, too, when
lriven from the eastern section by Tarleton,
the General Assembly of the State held its
sessions, meeting in the old Episcopal church.
In the recent civil war, Staunton was, next
% Richmond, the chief base of supplies for
he Confederate army. Both before and since
he war this city has been the central market
country Hither the farmers bring their
,ran, their cattle, the wool from their sheep
about 1000 pounds is said to he marketed
here annually) butter, poultry, etc, whence
hey are shipped to northern points. Here,
90, has long been the base of supplies for
merchants and farmers. Wholesale and re-
all merchants, of Staunton, formerly by
wagons, now railroads, send their wares long
distances south and west.
Besides being rich in agricultural products,
staunton, the Valley and the bordering
contain rich mineral wealth-coal,
ron, limestone, marble, manganese, 0he
argest mines in the U. s. Kaolin, and vari-
Jus Others The iron of this section is of very
superior quality, and has been used in the
manufacture of cannons and other fire arms.
plate armor for iron clads, and many other
purposes requiring superior quality. For
more than hundred years these coal mines
nave been worked. The proximity of the
immense beds of coal, and extensive coke
regions, gives special facility for the manu-
dCIuTe VI IOIl SlttI Will It's VI
railroads reaching north, south, east and west,
must ever make Stalnton an important centre
IN the iron trade.
In addition to these natural sources of sub
stantial wealth, the great
TIMBER LANDS OF VIRGINIA
in no small degree to the wealth of
this section and the development of manu-
featuring interests Of these forests the
VALLEY Vigyinian says
"Staunton has close and direct access to
what is perhaps the largest and most valuable
body of hardwood timber in the United
States. The numerous ranges and spurs of
the Appalachian mountain system, with the
valleys between, are covered over a
great portion of their surface with hickory,
ash, locust, red cedar, maple, BIRCH white and
yellow tulip poplar, black walnut, cherry,
chestnut, white oak, and other less valuable
varieties of timber. The Appalachian system
of mountains, with the valleys between, and
the hilly land on each side of the system, is
$50 miles wide at Staunton, extending from
Charlottesville, at the eastern base of the Blue
Ridge, to the Ohio River. This wide belt of
timbered territory extends from Pennsylvania
on the north to Alabama on the south, in
Guiding almost the whole of West Virginia,
and a strip so miles wide from the western
edge of Virginia. 1t contains, besides the
varieties of hardwood named, many extensive