The Shenvalee began in 1926 when Roland F. Hill came to New Market and purchased what was then called the “Dr. Strayer Farm.” Hill would use the land to create a resort hotel and golf course. Local newspaper publisher John G. Miller would eventually…

As part of his 1864 campaign, Union General Ulysses S. Grant ordered Federal forces under General Franz Sigel to march through the Shenandoah Valley and destroy the railroad and Confederate Army’s base of supplies. This 9,000 man force began to…

The Smith Creek Baptist Church was formed on August 6, 1756. The area that is now known as New Market was called Crossroads because it was at the intersection of the area’s major north-south and east-west roads. A community had emerged around this…

The congregation that became Emmanuel Lutheran Church began in 1790, when Reverend Paul Henkel founded the Davidson Lutheran Church in New Market. In 1820 Samuel S. Schmucker, a Yale Graduate became the church’s new minister. Soon afterwards the…

On March 16, 1857 the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church in New Market purchased a 1/4th acre lot on the Valley Pike to build a new church building. This new church, finished in 1861, replaced their previous structure that dated to 1832 and…

In 1905 Charles D. Zirkle, who was on his deathbed, donated 45 acres of his property to the Virginia Conference of Seven Day Adventist to build a school. Two years later construction began on the main building of what was then the New Market Academy.…

In 1793 the Davidsburg Church, a Union Church consisting of Lutheran and Reformed congregations, built a log church on this site. It is currently marked by four stone markers engraved with the letter “D.” The Union Church continued to operate…

In 1807 John Strayer constructed the front portion of this building at the corner of the Valley Pike and what was then the Sperryville Turnpike. The structure held both his home and mercantile business that sold hardware, clothing, and paint.…