GoLookOn > Destinations > Staunton

Staunton

Website: http://www.staunton.va.us/

In the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, Staunton - the Queen City on the Great Wagon Road between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghenies - offers old fashioned Americana at its best.

Staunton's beginnings trace back to 1732, when John Lewis, the area's first white settler, came to the Shenandoah Valley and built his home a mile east of the present city. Many settlers followed Lewis and four years later when King George II issued William Beverley a grant of 118,491 acres embracing a large part of what is now Augusta County.

The town of Staunton was incorporated as a city in 1871. In 1905, when the population surpassed the 10,000 mark, the city was forced by state law to reorganize its government and install a board of aldermen and a common council.

The addition of 12 square miles, more than doubling the size of the city, on Jan. 1, 1987 was the fifth annexation.

Staunton is still the center of a commercial, industrial, agricultural and service-oriented area of western Virginia. East of the city limits, Interstates 81 and 64 join.

Cultural and recreational opportunities abound. Many area organizations sponsor art exhibits, music festivals and concerts, plays and dramatic readings, lectures, seminars and workshops drawing out-of-town visitors as well as local residents. Two large municipal parks provide golf, tennis, swimming, picnicking, softball and baseball activities. Close by are a national forest and a national park.

Among many historic landmarks in Staunton, the best known nationally is the old manse at North Coalter and Frederick streets which is the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States. Nearby is the Frontier Culture Museum, which opened in 1988. The living history museum features original farmsteads from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Staunton also contains five historic districts: The Wharf, Beverley, Gospel Hill, Newtown and Stuart Addition.

The Wharf

When the Virginia Central Railroad was built in 1854, it changed Staunton from a rural village into a booming center of commerce. By the turn of the century, warehouses were built around the train depot supplying everything from fresh produce to wagons and harnesses. Since it is not near any body of water, it is not known how The Wharf got it's name.

Beverley

This compact urban area retains it's 19th century charm and "Main Street" ambience. Although Staunton was founded in 1747, on land originally owned by William Beverley, most buildings date from the "boom" years between 1870 and 1920. Downtown Staunton, one of Virginia's finest collections of Victorian era architecture, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Gospel Hill

The corner of Beverley and Coalter Streets was called Gospel Hill in the late 1790s when religious meetings were held here at Sampson Eagon's blacksmith shop. Today, the intersection marks the heart of this gracious neighborhood of shady trees and elegant homes that represent a century of domestic architectural styles.

Newtown

Deeded to the city by Alexander St. Clair in 1787, this area was called Newtown to distiguish it from the original part known as Oldtown. Staunton's oldest residential area encompasses the grounds of Stuart Hall School, historic Trinity Church, the landmark Stuart House and the city's first black church.

Stuart Addition

This diverse older neighborhood adjoins the campus of Mary Baldwin College and the former Staunton Military Academy. Rich in historical associations, it boasts a number of buildings listed in the National Register and some of the steepest hills in town. Deeded to the town in 1803 by Judge Archibald Stuart, Stuart Addition Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.