Views of the Old Shenandoah Valley

Backcountry Notes ^ | April 11, 2010 | Jay Henderson

[jay1949]

The Shenandoah Valley -- an expanse of rolling countryside located between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Allegheny Front -- absorbs the new slowly. The people and places in this article were photographed during the first part of the 20th century, up to 1941, at which time automobiles had begun to replace horse-drawn buggies (but not quite), mail was delivered at a log post office, fields were still plowed with draft-horse power, and a steam engine powered a portable sawmill.

[jay1949]

Mountain Folk and Log Cabins Ping List

[ErnBatavia]

Thanks!

[AtlasStalled]

The web site is beautiful and wonderfully done . . . decades ago I had a motorcycle and would take weekend trips through the Shenandoah Valley, and was taken away by its beauty. I just love all these historical photos.

[SouthDixie]

I enjoy your threads...I like the Lincoln on the rickety, foggy road.

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping of interest*

[stormer]

[Bahbah]

A pleasant stroll through the past was just right for this morning.

[GoodDay]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj1iEi8yWyw&feature=related

“Shenandoah” sung by the great Jo Stafford. Arrangement by her husband, Paul Weston.

[advance_copy]

Thanks for posting the link to those old photos, which were a fine sight for these eyes born and raised there.

[sphinx]

And then came progress. The Shenandoah today is pretty much strip development along I-81, which is a bumper to bumper truck corridor. And that’s the rural parts — a quarter of the Valley has been eaten by Harrisonburg.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Thanks for the link — as I commented on the Journal, it’s sort of amazing how “old” things looked even as recent as 1941.

My first visit to the Valley was 1962 when my brother was considering going to W&L. My mother piled us all into the station wagon to make a visit in late March. It was miserable weather as we left Wilmington, DE... When we got to Northern VA, spring had sprung and it was just beautiful. We took the Skyline Drive south from Front Royal and drove all the way down to Waynesboro, I suppose, before getting off and catching the local roads to Lexington. I remember the views of the Valley on both sides of the Blue Ridge was just stunning.

I would later return to get my masters at UVA and fell into even deeper love of the Blue Ridge and Shendandoah. And yes, much has been lost to commercialization and I-81 and I-64 but it is still some of the most beautiful land in our country.

[JDoutrider]

BTTT

[jay1949]

Thanks for the kind words. There are plenty of riders on the old roads in the Valley in nice weather.

[jay1949]

Thanks — the driver of the Lincoln was an intrepid soul — looks like a great road for sliding into the ditch.

[jay1949]

I-81 is certainly impacted by The Sameness — the usual fast food places and so on — but it only seems as if Harrisonburg has consumed that much of the Valley. My wife and I avoid I-81 whenever possible — we drive US 11 (LOTS less truck traffic there these days — I remember when it was bumper-to-bumper) and if there’s a way to go off US 11, we’ll take that. Much remains relatively unspoiled and there are some big tracts in strong hands. There are some pictures from a drive we took last summer in this article: http://www.backcountrynotes.com/backcountry-by-ways/2009/9/2/motoring-down-the-great-wagon-road.html

[Smokin' Joe]

Thanks for the ping...Great photos, and I have fond memories of the area. Harrisonburg does seem to have devoured a lot of the valley.

[cva66snipe]

I didn’t get to see that part of Virginia until I started driving a truck. Up till then going up I-81 I always took I-64 east over to Norfolk. Believe it or not it was a lot faster to get to the coast on than I-40 and still is for that matter. Shenandoah Valley was a nice ride going up and a welcomed site to see after leaving New Jersey, NYC, and points north coming back south.