Front Royal History

 

• In the beginning 

• The First White Settlers

• Interesting Tidbits 

• How did  Front Royal get the name ?

• Historic Early Homes

• Old Family Names in Warren County

• Information Resources

In the beginning
 

As recorded on a stone marker beside state route 55 at Linden, Warren County was first "discovered" in 1670 by a German doctor-explorer from Hamburg by the name of John Lederer who came across the Blue Ridge from Annapolis, Maryland. He was accompanied by an English settler from Fauquier county named Col. John Catlett and a lone Indian guide and interpreter as he arrived at Manassas Gap over-looking the present site of Front Royal.

However,  he was far from the first white man to set foot in the valley at either location, having been preceded into the region as far back as 1635 by countless fur traders and trappers, plus numerous crews of lumber jacks sent in by the English to harvest the giant virgin oaks, which grew in abundance in the area, for use as masts and spars for ships of the royal navy.

There had also been a Jesuit priest who supposedly had entered the valley as far back as 1632 to convert the Indians, but he had found few to convert because of the fierce inter-tribal wars down the centuries. What set Lederer and his exploring successor, the Swiss-born Frenchman Louis Michel who entered what was later to become Warren County by way of Annapolis and Harpers Ferry in 1705, apart from their predecessors was the fact that instead of an axe, trade goods, or a bible, they carried nothing but a pen and notebook with which to record their findings; thus making them both bona fide explorers. Both drew crude maps of the wanderings which, along with their written notes, were to be later translated into English and published in London; Lederer' s in 1673 and Michel in 1707.

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First white settlers
 

The first bands of permanent white settlers arrived in warren county between 1728 and 1731. They included a group of English men under William Russell  who helped settle his Fairfax land grant around Flint Run near Limeton on  a large tract which ran eastward all the way to the twin forks of the Shenandoah at Riverton. Among this group we find such familiar family names as Ramey, Harding, Maddox, and Rudacille. Other small groups begin drifting in over the Blue Ridge from the seacoast at about the same time (1728-1731) to settle on Fairfax land along the Blue Ridge foothills as far west as Happy Creek.

But by far the largest band arrived in 1731 under the leadership of the Maryland Quaker, Robert McKay, whose son's house stands at Cedarville and is said to be the oldest house still standing  in the area. Pennsylvania German Joyst Heydt- later anglicized to Joist Hite- each held 10,000 acre land grants; McKay's from the royal governor, Sir William Gooch, at Williamsburg; and Hite's purchased direct from a local Dutch fur trapper named Jan van Meter who trapped up around the Howellsville region of Warren County.

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Interesting tidbits of information about early Warren County
 

• At one time or another before its incorporation in 1836 Warren County has been part of Frederick, Dunmore, and Shenandoah counties.
  
• In 1798 the Virginia Assembly granted the Shenandoah company a charter to operate fleet of flatboats on the Shenandoah river.  Many of these were built at Shenandoah or Stanley in Page county and measured 40 to 60 feet in length, 10 to 15 feet in beam, and drew 4 to 5 feet fully loaded. They were propelled by long poles and guided by long steering oars called sweeps. River traffic died out soon after the coming of the railroads.
  
• By 1846 Warren County had a population of 5,627, 25% of whom were black slaves, and there were 5000 cattle, 7000 sheep, and an equal number of hogs.
  
• The first train arrived in Front Royal on Oct. 10th, 1854.
  
• During the Civil War (1861-1865) Front Royal was a major supply depot for both armies.
  
• The battle of Front Royal took place on May 23rd, 1862. 
  
• The Scorched earth policy of General Grant, Halleck, & Sheridan in 1864-65 left much of Warren County in ruins.
  
• The first county magistrates met at Lanes Tavern on the present site of Stokes Mart at the corner of East Main and Water Street in 1836 to organize Warren County's first courts; 11 men in all.
  
• The principal products of the county after the war were copper ore, tanned hides, flour, wagons of all kinds, lime, lumber, hogs, and wine. 
  
• The great depression of 1873 slowed down all industry but farming and the economic slack was taken up by the birth of the summer tourist trade in the 1880's and '90's. 
  
• The worst flood in county history occurred in 1870.
  
• Shenandoah National Parks & Skyline Drive were opened in 1936 and completed by 1946. Today over 2 1/2 million people visit them each year.

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No one knows for sure, how Front Royal get the name, but here are a few legends from the Warren County Sesquicentennial--

Among the simpler explanations is that the village at that time was located at the frontier of the royal lands, i.e. the royal front. Following the European custom of placing the word "road" or "street" before its actual name, in this case the "royal front" would be referred to as "Front Royal"

Another explanation has the village as a military outpost and a traveler when challenged with word "Front" was to respond with "Royal!"

And another concerns "Muster Day" the day when the local militia was called to town to practice military drills. Attendance was compulsory and enthusiasm was not routinely high. The drill sergeant did not always have the best of luck in getting the militia to follow his commands and when things got to the point where a simple "about face" or "right face" could not get them facing in the same directions, he would shout "front the royal oak" . "Front Royal" is believed by some to be a derivation of the phrase "Front the royal oak".

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Historic Early Homes
 

• Bel Air - beside Happy Creek Road in Front Royal
  
• The Balthis House - on Chester Street
  
• Rose Hill, the old Millar homestead - N. Royal Ave.
  
• The Belle Boyd Cottage - on Chester Street
  
• The Robert Mckay Junior - house at Cedarville (1734)
  
• Erin at Nineveh - on U.S. 522-340
  
• Mt. Zion  - at Milldale on state route 624 (1775)

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List of Old Families of Warren County

• Beatty
• Buck
• Blakemore
• Cloud
• Downing
• Denton
• Earle
• Henry
• Ramey
• Rudacille
• Lockhert
• Matthews
• Marlowe
• Williams
• Lehew
• Maddox
• Marshall
  

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Resource Information
 

This information are excerpts of the Bicentennial Souvenir History of Warren County Book edited and written by Alvin R.L. Dohme with the Assistance of members of the Commission, The Warren Heritage Society, and the Lord Fairfax Planning District Commission.

If you are interested in purchasing this book it is available at: 

The Warren Heritage Society located 101 Chester Street, Front Royal, VA 22630.
Telephone # (540) 636-1446