Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1918-08-31
FROM OCEAN TO MOL MAIN.


Your correspondent having said
goodbye to Atlantic City and ocean
bathing for this vacation sqasos,:;low
finds himself comfortably Situated al
the old town of Woodstock, the COUNTY
seat Of Shenandoah, one Of ihe :leadngi
counties Of the Tar famed Valley, :
Virginia, one hundred miles distant
from the ancient City Of Alc:-a,aria,
along the line Of the Mc~275,--;::r i'::-.2nch
of the Southern Railroad. It's alt-1c-
tions as a suitable placc for pc ding
a portion of our vacation were made
known to us by our friend, the Rev,
Charles Z. Clarkson, who was ono of
the students at the Episcopal seni-
nary near your city, and is low min
lister of Emmanuel Episcopal Church
in Woodstock, and also the Episcopal
Church at Mount .Jacl;suo. tWelvc
miles up the Valley.
The chief attraction Oh Woodstock,
and this is always Ut tire ingbc:.G con-
sidcration, IS ii fine pure "atcl', "llick
comes from copious springs on Massa-
nuIten Mountain, about tnrec .niies
cast Of the town. 10 uul lnI.ld Ii
seems as good III quality aS tile NaLcr
supplied now at the Seminary and
High School, and that is saying : great
deal for ii. Of course WCcd1iccl- Is
not rated by summer visitors, general,
in the same category Win Winchester,
Bcrryville and Harrisburg, still We
have found it q quiet Fii2a9all' -csting
place. tFsr1 i.
1t has about l,5OO inhabitants, aud
hundred inhabitants, and It's main
business stree IS the we!l-knc-"..n Val
ley pike forming Il part of The greet
highway from New York to Atlanta
ii these days Of automobile ii....- aling.
and in the days of Inc past lie noted
artery of travel by carriage, and vag-
on trains full of the products If The
fertile country between Winchester
and Staunton. It is also, like ihC rest
O. the country hercahcut; fiio1 nth
stern and gloring :nemo.luS OF tue
Civil War as they gather around Gea-
cral jackson, supreme III stlai' ~, ard
the Knightly Ashby, with other lead.
ers under Jackson, on the Confederate
side, whose names will always. otn lie
neart of Virginia and the South. Sui
the history Of Woodstock goes Lack to
the coloniol and Revolutionary period.
/: was originally one of the villages
and towns Of Old Frederick county,
for Old Frederick County comprised
what, is now Frederick, Rockingham,
Shenandoah, first called Durmore
county; Jefferson, Berkeley Morgan,
Hampshire, part OF Handy tlle3;e Ave
now i'll West Virginia. part Of Rag.
end finally Clark and Warien counties.
This territory, III The earliest days,
was part of Orange county, which also
included Augusta county; Frederick
was set apart from Orange hy the
House of Burgesses III 1888, but as the
population was then so small il had
no court until 1743, SO from 1888 nptil
1913 it remained practically G part Of
Grange county.
It is well known that grea. pro- ;
portion OF the settlers Of this part OF
Nirginian were Germans According ,
", it is not surprising to find that ,
Woodstock owes it's foundation to the
old German settler, Jacob Miller or
who was the first possessor
# the property where the town now
stands, and encouraged many Of his
friends to settle on this spot between T
730 and 1850. The village was first
allied Miler''s Town, but in the year,
7G1, the founder had il incorporated
nder its present name Of Woodstock.
IS it stood on well-traveled road it
rev and prospered, and became a W
lace of Importance. r II
When Dunmore county was set off o
rom Frederick, in 1772, it was made @,
ne county. At first the citizens ap- W
roved the rule Of Lord Duimore, the er
lst British governor of Virginia but K
forwards condemned akis arbitrary he
'licy, and in 1777 requested the House
Burgesses to charge the name OF up
e county to Shenandoah, after the fly
,autiful river which waters the Val on
Y Of Virginia. This was done, as ca
est of US know today. az
The German language and customs WI
evailed in Woodstock, although there ley
ere English settlers in that part of
e Valley, until the days of the Rev. thu
lbriel Peter Muhlenburg, who is so I'll
LIBERATED in the history of this town, wo
Il of tho povol,,+;o,c~,, Uror Ha mn