Strasburg

In 1761, when the Virginia General Assembly established the town of Strasburg, German-speaking people had already migrated from Pennsylvania to settle the Shenandoah Valley. Peter Stover chose a spot at the foot of Massanutten Mountain to lay out the streets for the new town. Since the Civil War, the peak of the mountain had been called Signal Knob and was the site of an aircraft beacon erected by the Federal Aviation Agency. The mountain lighthouse stood guard over the town every night, its revolving flash lulling people to sleep until the invention of modern radar. There is nothing in Strasburg that time has not touched, and there is nothing in Strasburg that time has forgotten. The site of the town's original railroad depot is now the Strasburg Museum. The Strasburg Textile Mill, once a 24-hour factory providing many jobs, is now an antiques mall.