Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-07-24
VALLEY EDEN
IS EDINBURG
l.. T. Stoneburner Writes Interesting
Story of Home Town--Should
Have Been .Edenburg"

i uated on the vailey Plke, near the
center of Shenandoah County. There
is tradition that it was first known
as .Shryock or Shryockville, but we
have not the data to say certainly
that such was the case, but the we'll
known fact that the Shryocks were
among the earliest settlers and We're
large property holders in this sec
ton lends color of fact to the tradi-
ton. 1t is a well-established fact,
however, that the hamlet was later
known as Stony Creek, an appropri-
ate name, for the stream of Stony
Greek runs through the town for its
entire length, and by this name it
was known for many years.
The town made slow growth until
1852 when it was Incorporated, May
"a. by act of the State Legislature.
Our fathers, charmed with the
the scenery of the mountains and
the surrounding country, with it's
hills and valleys, chose as an appro-
pirate name for our beautiful little
town and asked the Legislature to
give the name of Edinburg. One has
only to spend a moment in contem-
plation of our mountains, seen on
every side, with their constantly
lchanging colors and play of light
upon their rugged sides, with a
glance at the fertile fields and COM
ancestors chose wisely in selecting
la name. But, from carelessness,
doubtless, the act of Incorporation
changed the "e' into an st." thus
giving us the name of Edinburg, by
which we who are alive today know
the place.
A Virginia Eden
One can but think that had the
person who changed the name of our
loved town been familiar with the
place he would have realized that
this town and vicinity is as complete
4 a reproduction of the home prepared
for the first pair that God created,
as any place in the whole world
Realizing this, the name chosen by
our fathers was appropriate and our
town should have been called Eden
burg as intended. But the mistake
was made and not corrected and con-
lsequently our town has meaning
less name when it should recall the
Garden of Eden every time It is men
toned. For some reason, possibly,
the loss of the chosen name. no ac-
ton was taken in court until De-
cember 1856, when the plat of the
town, with the names of streets, lot
holders, etc., was recorded in the
clerks Office in Deed Book No. 5.
From that record we find there
were 81 property-holders in the
place. We also find there the names
and width of the several streets, and
from that one must conclude the in
corporators expected our town to
grow much more than it has, for
they had more streets and alleys laid
off than we have today, and, after
spending lifetime in the town, some
of them are unknown to the writer.
Streets and Businesses
These streets and alleys are as fol-
lows:
! Main Street, 40 feet wide
Old Road, 20 feet
Piccadilly to High Street, "a feet
wide
From High Street to the depot /
grounds, 80 feet wide
Water Alley, 20 feet wide
/ Center Street, 80 feet wide
Water Street, 20 feet wide
South Street, 20 feet wide
1 Hisey Alley II feet wide /
Conner Alley, II feet wide
East Street 20 feet wide
Walnut Street, 20 feet wide
North Street, 20 feet wide
High Street. 40 feet wide
i West Street, 80 feet wide
Today, we have Main Street, Old
Road, Piccadilly, High, Center, Price
and Water streets. The Conner AL
ley, Marston's Alley, Groves Alley.
Hiseys Alley and Bellows Alley be-
ing private property. What has be-
come of the other mentioned streets
and alleys, no one at this day seems
to know However, we have more
and better homes and business
houses than our fathers had, even
If they did have more streets. To-
day. we have three general stores,
three grocery stores. one drug store,
three eating houses, two hotels, three
barber shops, one bank, two imple-
stores, one millinery store, two gar
ages, three shoe shops tone of them
fitted with all the latest and most
approved machinery, one black
smith shop, several carpenter shops,
two up-to-date filling stations and
several tanks for gasoline, lumber
mill (the old Edinburg Mills, built
In 1S4S by the Grandstaffs). True,
this mill has been greatly enlarged
and, years ago, fitted with rolls in
stead of the old burrs that originally
ground the grain, but it is the same
old mill that more than three-fourths
IF q oapfu~v ouo orauud tho 0ricfc