Winchester, Virginia

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Winchester, Virginia
Official seal of Winchester, Virginia
Seal
Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Coordinates: 39°10′42″N 78°10′0″W / 39.17833, -78.16667
Country United States
State Virginia
Founded 1802
Government
 - Mayor Elizabeth Minor
Area
 - City 9.3 sq mi (24.2 km²)
 - Land 9.3 sq mi (24.2 km²)
 - Water 0 sq mi (0 km²)
Elevation 725 ft (221 m)
Population (2005)
 - City 25,119
 - Density 2,526.7/sq mi (976.0/km²)
 - Urban 53,559
 - Metro 121,190
  Urban as of 2000[1]; Metro as of 2007[2]
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s) 540
FIPS code 51-86720[1]
GNIS feature ID 1498552[2]
Website: http://www.winchesterva.gov/

Winchester is an independent city located in the state of Virginia. The population was 23,585 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Frederick County and the principal city of the Winchester, Virginia-West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a part of the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester with surrounding Frederick county for statistical purposes. Winchester is the home of Shenandoah University.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Native American history

Around 1000 A.D. early native population included Cacapon, Opequon, Shawnee and Tuscarora tribes. By the Middle Ages, the natural north-south conduit of the Great Appalachian Valley made Winchester a likely place for tribal warfare as bands of Catawba, Cherokee, Delaware, Iroquois, and Shawnee marauded the valley plains for hunting grounds. The first tribe with real control of the valley were the Susquehannocks, who were then raided and expelled by Iroquois around 1600. Supposedly the Iroquois allowed the Shawnee tribe to either village or establish transient campsites here at Shawnee Springs from about 1694 to the mid-1700s, overlapping with the arrival of early Quaker settlers and homesteaders. The father of the historical Shawnee chief Cornstalk had his court here.

[edit] European exploration

French Jesuit expeditions first entered the valley as early as 1606 resulting in a crude map drawn in 1632 by Samuel de Champlain, but the first confirmed exploration of the northern valley was by explorer John Lederer who viewed the valley from the current Fauquier and Warren County line on August 26, 1670. This was followed by more extensive exploration and mapping by Swiss explorer Louise Michel in 1705 and then Governor Alexander Spotswood in 1716.

In the late 1720s Governor William Gooch promoted settlement by issuing large land grants and, subsequently Robert "King" Carter", manager of the Lord Fairfax proprietorship, acquired 200,000 acres (800 km²). This combination of events directly precipitated an inrush of settlers from Pennsylvania and New York, made up of a blend of Quakers and various German and Scots-Irish homesteaders.

[edit] European settlement

The settlement of Winchester began as early as 1729, when Quakers like Abraham Hollingsworth migrated up the Great Valley along the Indian Path (later known as the Great Wagon Road) from Pennsylvania and began to homestead on old Shawnee campgrounds. The first German settler appears to be Jost Hite in 1732, who brought ten other families including some Scots-Irish. Though an Anglican colony, Governor William Gooch had a tolerant policy on religion, and throughout Virginia, the availability of land grants brought in many religious families, who were often given 50 acre plots through the sponsorship of fellow religious grant purchasers and speculators. As a result, the Winchester area became home to some of the oldest Presbyterian, Quaker, Lutheran and Anglican churches in the valley. The first Lutheran worship was established by Rev. John Casper Stoever Jr., and Alexander Ross established Hopewell Meeting for the Quakers. By 1736, the Opequon Presbyterian Church in Kernstown was built. A legal fight erupted in 1735 when Thomas Fairfax, Sixth Lord Fairfax, came to Virginia to claim his land grant, which included "all the land in Virginia between the Rappahannock and the Potomac rivers", an old grant from King Charles II, and which overlapped and included Frederick county.

[edit] Founding of Winchester

By 1738 these settlements became known as Frederick Town. The county of Frederick was then carved out of Orange County, and the first government was created consisting of a County Court as well as the Anglican Frederick Parish (for purposes of tax collection). Colonel James Wood, an immigrant from Winchester, England, was the first court clerk, laid out 26 half-acre (2,000 m²) lots around 1741, and constructed his own residence, Glen Burnie. Finally, the County Court held its first session in 11 November 1743, where James Wood served until 1760. Lord Fairfax, understanding that possession is 9/10ths of the law, built a home here (in present-day Clarke County) in 1748. By 1750 the Virginia House of Burgesses granted the fourth city charter in Virginia to Winchester as Frederick Town was now re-named after Colonel Wood's birthplace of the old Norman capital of England, Winchester. In 1754, Abraham Hollingsworth built the local residence called Abram's Delight, which served as the first local Quaker Meeting house. George Washington spent a good portion of his young life in Winchester helping survey the Fairfax land grant for Thomas Fairfax, Sixth Lord Fairfax, as well as performing surveying work for Colonel Wood. In 1758 Colonel Wood added 158 lots to the west side of town, and then Thomas Fairfax contributed 173 more lots to the south and east.

[edit] French & Indian War

Colonel George Washington
Colonel George Washington

General Edward Braddock's expeditionary march to Fort Duquesne crossed through this area in 1755 on the way to Fort Cumberland. George Washington, knowing the area well from his position as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax, accompanied General Braddock as his aide-de-camp. Resident Daniel Morgan also joined Braddock's Army on their march to Pennsylvania as a wagoner.

In 1756, on land granted by James Wood, Colonel George Washington designed and began constructing Fort Loudoun, which ultimately covered 0.955 acres (3,860 m2) in present-day downtown Winchester on North Loudoun Street. Fort Loudoun was occupied and manned with guns until the start of the Revolutionary War. During this era, a jail was built in Winchester, which occasionally held Quakers from many parts of Virginia who protested the French and Indian War and refused to pay taxes to the Anglican parish. While their cousins in Pennsylvania dominated political control, Virginia was an Anglican colony, and pacifism was not as well tolerated. Strong pacifism from Quakers combined with strong Virginia support during both this war and the next, led to long term stifling of Quaker population, causing Winchester to become more of a Quaker gateway to places further in the mid-west, until the Quaker population was a small minority by the mid 1800s.

During the war, in 1758, and at the age of 26, Colonel George Washington was elected as the representative of Frederick County to the House of Burgesses. Daniel Morgan later served as a ranger protecting the borderlands of Virginia against Indian raids, returning to Winchester in 1759. Following the war, from 1763 to 1774 Daniel Morgan served in Captain Ashby's company and defended Virginia against Pontiac's Rebellion and Shawnee Indians in the Ohio valley.

[edit] Revolutionary War

Colonel Daniel Morgan
Colonel Daniel Morgan

During the Revolutionary War, the Virginia House of Burgesses chose local resident and French and Indian War veteran Daniel Morgan to raise a company of militia to support General George Washington's efforts during the Siege of Boston. The 96 men of "Morgan's Sharpshooters", led by Morgan, assembled in Winchester on 14 July 1775 and marched to Boston in 21 days. Morgan, Wood, and others also performed various duties in holding captured prisoners of war, particularly Hessian soldiers.

Hessian soldiers were known for walking to the high ridge north and west of town and purchasing and eating apple pies from the Quakers. Thus, this ridge west of town became affectionately known as Apple Pie Ridge and the Ridge Road built before 1709 leading north from town was renamed Apple Pie Ridge Road. The local farmers found new business booming in feeding the Virginia Militia and fledgling volunteer American army, a task for which the town and valley would later be punished during the American Civil War. Following the war, the town's first newspapers, The Gazette and The Centinel, were established, and Daniel Morgan later served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1797 and 1799.

[edit] Civil War history

Main article: Winchester in the American Civil War

Winchester and the surrounding area were the site of numerous fights during the American Civil War as both contending armies strove to control that portion of the Shenandoah Valley. Seven major battlefields are within the extent of the original Frederick County:

Within the City of Winchester:

Nearby the City of Winchester:

Winchester was a key strategic position for the Confederate States Army during the war. It was an important operational objective in Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's and Col. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's defense of the Shenandoah Valley in 1861, Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862, the Gettysburg Campaign of 1863, and the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Including minor cavalry raids and patrols, and occasional reconnaissances by various forces, it is claimed that Winchester changed hands as many as 72 times, and 13 times in one day. Battles raged all along Main Street at different points in the war. Both Union General Sheridan and Stonewall Jackson located their headquarters just one block apart at various times.

Located at the north end of the upper Shenandoah Valley, Winchester was a base of operations for major Confederate invasions into the Northern United States, at times threatening the capital of Washington, D.C.. The town served as a central point for troops conducting major raids against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and turnpike and telegraph paths along those routes and the Potomac River Valley. For instance, in 1861, Stonewall Jackson removed 56 locomotives and over 300 railroad cars, along with miles of track, from the B&O Railroad and ultimately closed down the B&O's main line for ten months. Much of the effort to transport this equipment by horse and carriage centered in Winchester.

During the war, Winchester suffered greatly under five major periods of Union occupation:

During the Federal occupation of Winchester, many residents were exiled from town, personal property was stolen, citizens rendering medical assistance to wounded soldiers were shot and murdered, homes were illegally stolen, occupied and destroyed, a medical school was burned down, and the citizens of the Commonwealth were not allowed to vote on re-admittance to the Union under the reign of Major General Schofield. Major General Milroy was noted for his claim that "my will is absolute law" as he plundered Winchester, exiling women and imprisoning old men and boys. Major General Sheridan rampaged up the Valley from Winchester and destroyed "2,000 barns filled with grain and implements, not to mention other outbuildings, 70 mills filled with wheat and flour" and "numerous head of livestock," according to the Official Records. Not mentioned in the official records are the many private homes that were destroyed, and innocent women and children injured and killed. Unsurprisingly, several Winchester Unionists were noted for changing their sympathies after these occupations.

In spite of Winchester's wartime hardships, a few residents made great contributions to the Confederate cause, such as Dr. Hunter McGuire, Chief Surgeon of the Second "Jackson's" Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, who laid foundations for the future Geneva conventions regarding the treatment of medical doctors during warfare. Winchester served as a major center for Confederate medical operations, particularly after the Battle of Sharpsburg in 1862 and the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, and set the stage for advancements in the practice of medicine, internationally and during combat operations.

Among those who took part in battles at Winchester were future U.S. presidents McKinley and Hayes, who both were officers in the Union IX Corps.

Today, Winchester provides a wealth of exploration and tourism for Civil War enthusiasts. Many remains of Civil War era forts are scattered around town, such as the remains of:

  • Fort Jackson - (aka Fort Garibaldi, Main Fort, Fort Milroy, Battery No.2)
  • Fort Alabama - (aka Star Fort, Battery No.3)
  • Fort Collier - (aka Battery No.10)
  • Louisiana Heights - (aka the combination of West Fort or Battery No.5 and Battery No. 6)
  • Bower's Hill - (aka Battery No.1)

Jubal Early Drive snakes around south of downtown Winchester, along the central location for many of the battles.

[edit] 20th century history

Winchester was the first city south of the Potomac River to install electric light.

Winchester is the location of the bi-annual N-SSA national competition keeping the tradition of Civil War era firearms alive.

[edit] Sites on the National Register of Historic Places

Site Year Built Address Listed
Abram's Delight 1754 Parkview Street & Rouss Spring Road 1973
Douglas School 1927 598 North Kent Street 2000
Fairmont 1800s 311 Fairmont Avenue 2004
Glen Burnie 1829 801 Amherst Street 1979
Handley Library 1913 Braddock & Piccadilly Streets 1969
John Handley High School 1920s 425 Handley Boulevard 1998
Hexagon House 1870s 530 Amherst Street 1987
Thomas J. Jackson Headquarters mid 1800s 415 North Braddock Street 1967
Adam Kurtz House (Washington's Headquarters) 1757 Braddock & Cork Streets 1976
Old Stone Church (Presbyterian Meeting House) 1788 304 East Piccadilly Street 1977
Winchester Historic District 1750-1930 US 522, US 11 & US 50/US 17 1980
Winchester Historic District (Boundary Increase) 120 & 126 North Kent Street 2003
Winchester National Cemetery 1860s 401 National Avenue 1996

[edit] Historical points of interest

Map of Winchester, Virginia and the surrounding Frederick County (WInchester is independent of the county but is the county seat).
Map of Winchester, Virginia and the surrounding Frederick County (WInchester is independent of the county but is the county seat).

[edit] Geography

Winchester is located at 39°10′42″N, 78°10′0″W (39.178355, -78.166771).[3] It is in the Shenandoah Valley, between the Blue Ridge and the Appalachian Mountains. I-81 passes through the city, along with US-50, US-522, US-17, which ends in the city, and VA-7, which also ends in the city. The city is approximately 75 miles (121 km) to the west of Washington, D.C.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.3 square miles (24.2 km²), all of it land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 23,585 people, 10,001 households, and 5,650 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,526.7 people per square mile (976.0/km²). There were 10,587 housing units at an average density of 1,134.2/sq mi (438.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.06% White, 10.47% African American, 0.24% Native American, 1.59% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.46% from other races, and 2.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.47% of the population.

Historical populations
Census
year		 Population
1900 5,161
1910 5,864
1920 6,883
1930 10,855
1940 12,095
1950 13,841
1960 15,110
1970 14,643
1980 20,217
1990 21,947
2000 23,585
2004 24,779

There were 10,001 households out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.5% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 13.1% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,335, and the median income for a family was $44,675. Males had a median income of $30,013 versus $24,857 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,500. About 8.1% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Gallery

[edit] Apple Blossom

Winchester is the location of the annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, which has existed since 1924 and draws approximately 250,000 visitors to the area. The festival includes a carnival, the longest fireman's parade and the third longest grand feature parade in the U.S.,[citation needed] several dances and parties, and a coronation where the Apple Blossom Queen is crowned. Local school systems and many businesses close the Friday of Apple Blossom weekend.

Winchester has more than 20 different "artistic" apples that are made of various materials including wood, rubber pipe, plaster, and paint. These apples were created in 2005 by occupants of the city, and were placed at a specific location at the artists' request after being auctioned off. For example, a bright red apple with a large stethoscope attached to it was placed beside a much-used entrance to the Winchester Medical Center.

[edit] Sports Teams

Winchester is home to the Winchester Royals of the Valley Baseball League. [4] Winchester is also home to the Winchester Generals, a profession roller hockey team in PIHA (Profession Inline Hockey Association). [5]

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Sister cities

Winchester's sister city is Winchester, England, from which the Virginia town gets its name. During the Eisenhower administration, Winchester also formalized a sister city relationship with Ambato, Ecuador.

[edit] Notable residents

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  3. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  4. ^ Winchester Royals
  5. ^ Winchester Generals

[edit] External links


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