Winchester

History

Indigenous peoples lived along the waterways of present-day Virginia for thousands of years before European contact. Archeological, linguistic, and anthropological studies have provided insights into their cultures.

17th century

The Shenandoah Valley area, considered a sacred common hunting ground, appears by the 17th century to have been controlled mostly by the local Iroquoian-speaking groups, including the Senedo and herando.

The Algonquian-speaking Shawnee began to challenge the Iroquoians for the hunting grounds later in that century. The explorers Batts and Fallam in 1671 reported the Shawnee were contesting with the Iroquoians for control of the valley and were losing. During the later Beaver Wars, the powerful Iroquois Confederacy from New York, including the Seneca from the western part of the territory, subjugated all tribes in the frontier region west of the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line.

French Jesuit expeditions may have first entered the valley as early as 1606, as the explorer Samuel de Champlain made a crude map of the area in 1632. The first confirmed exploration of the northern valley was by the explorer John Lederer, who viewed the region from the current Fauquier and Warren County line on August 26, 1670.

18th century

By the time Anglo-European settlers arrived in the Shenandoah Valley around 1729, the Shawnee were the principal occupants in the area of the Shenandoah Valley that developed into Winchester. During the first decade of white settlement, the valley was also a conduit and battleground in a bloody intertribal war between the Seneca and allied Algonquian-speaking Lenape from the north, and their distant traditional enemies, the Siouan Catawba based in the Carolinas.

In 1705, the Swiss explorer Louise Michel and in 1716 Governor Alexander Spotswood did more extensive mapping and surveying. In the late 1720s, Governor William Gooch promoted settlement by issuing large land grants. Robert "King" Carter, manager of the Lord Fairfax proprietorship, acquired 200,000 acres (810 km2). This combination of events directly precipitated an inrush of settlers from Pennsylvania and New York, made up of a blend of Quakers and German and Scots-Irish homesteaders, many of them new immigrants. The Scots-Irish comprised the most numerous group of immigrants from the British Isles before the American Revolutionary War.

The Iroquois Six Nations (the Tuscarora people had joined them by 1722 after losing battles in the Carolinas in the early 18th century) finally ceded their nominal claim to the Shenandoah Valley at the Treaty of Lancaster (1744), arranged by British officials. The treaty also established the right of colonists to use the Indian Road through the valley, later known as the Great Wagon Road.

The father of Shawnee chief Cornstalk had his own court at Shawnee Springs, near today's Cross Junction, Virginia, until 1754. In 1753, on the eve of the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War), messengers came to the Shawnee from tribes further west, inviting them to leave the Valley and cross the Alleghenies, which they did the following year. The Shawnee settled for some years in the Ohio Country before being forced by the US government under Indian Removal in the 1830s to remove to Indian Territory.

The settlement of Winchester began as early as 1729, when Quakers such as Abraham Hollingsworth migrated up (south) the Great Valley along the long-traveled Indian Path (later called the Great Wagon Road by the colonists) from Pennsylvania. He and others began to homestead on old Shawnee campgrounds. Tradition holds that the Quakers purchased several tracts on Apple-pie Ridge from the natives, who did not disturb those settlements. The first German settler appears to have been Jost Hite in 1732, who brought ten other families, including some Scots-Irish. Though Virginia was an Anglican colony, Governor William Gooch had a tolerant policy on religion. The availability of land grants brought in many religious families, who were often given 50-acre (200,000 m2) 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, Scots-Irish built the Opequon Presbyterian Church in Kernstown.

19th century

Winchester and the surrounding area were the site of numerous battles during the American Civil War, as the Confederate and Union armies strove to control that portion of the Shenandoah Valley. Seven major battlefields are in the original Frederick County:

Within the city of Winchester:

The First Battle of Kernstown, March 23, 1862

The First Battle of Winchester, May 25, 1862

The Second Battle of Winchester, June 13–15, 1863

The Second Battle of Kernstown, July 24, 1864

The Third Battle of Winchester, September 19, 1864

Near the city of Winchester:

The Battle of Cool Spring at Snicker's Gap, July 17–18, 1864

The Battle of Berryville, September 3–4, 1864

The Battle of Belle Grove (or Cedar Creek), October 19, 1864

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, historians claim that Winchester changed hands as many as 72 times and 13 times in one day. Battles raged along Main Street at points in the war. Union General Sheridan and Stonewall Jackson located their headquarters just one block apart at times.

At the north end of the lower Shenandoah Valley, Winchester was a base of operations for major Confederate invasions into the Northern United States. At times the attacks threatened 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. His attack 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.

20th century

Winchester was the first city south of the Potomac River to install electric light. In 1917 the Winchester and Western Railroad connected Winchester with Rock Enon Springs, moving both vacationers and supplies to the resort that is now Camp Rock Enon with far greater speed. Winchester is the location of the bi-annual N-SSA national competition, keeping the tradition of Civil War era firearms alive. A three-block section of downtown Loudoun Street was closed to vehicular traffic in the 1970s and is a popular pedestrian area featuring many boutiques and cafés. The street was repaved with brick and landscaped in 2013. Apple Blossom Mall opened in 1982.

In 1983, a tire dump in the area containing over seven million tires burned for nine months, polluting nearby areas with lead and arsenic. The location was cleaned up as a Superfund project between 1983 and 2002.

Winchester has been designated as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for over three decades.

Geography

Winchester is located at 39°10′41″N 78°10′01″W.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.3 square miles (24 km2), virtually all land.

It is in the Shenandoah Valley, located between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Allegheny Mountains, and is 15 miles north-northeast of the northern peak of Massanutten Mountain. I-81 passes through the city, along with US 50, US 522, US 17, which ends in the city, and SR 7, which also ends in the city. The city is approximately 75 miles (121 km) to the west of Washington, D.C., 24 miles (39 km) south of Martinsburg, West Virginia, 25 miles (40 km) north of Front Royal, 118 miles (190 km) south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and 180 miles (290 km) north of Roanoke.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Winchester has depending on which isotherm is used, either a humid continental climate or a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. The hardiness zone is 7a.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Winchester had a population of 28,120, and the median age was 36.7 years. 20.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older; for every 100 females there were 97.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.5 males age 18 and over.

As of the 2020 census, 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 11,404 households in Winchester, of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 36.3% were married-couple households, 22.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 31.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 12,372 housing units, of which 7.8% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.7%.

Economy

Companies based in Winchester include American Woodmark, Trex, and Rubbermaid Commercial Products. Federal agencies with operations in Winchester include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

According to the City's 2024 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Record manufacturing

Winchester was home to Capitol Records' East Coast Pressing Plant. Capitol Records Distribution Corporation announced in 1968 the purchasing of land in Winchester, Va for a new record processing plant. Along with this plant they built several houses, bought a few small businesses and later built a tape production plant. The Winchester plant began construction in 1968 and production in 1969. The plant initially had a workforce of 250 people. This plant complemented the other existing manufacturing facilities of Capitol Records in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jacksonville, Florida and Los Angeles, California. In 1969 Capitol Records' Pressing Plant in Scranton began phasing out its vinyl manufacturing in favor of the new Winchester plant. Records pressed here include Talking Heads' Remain in Light, Dead Boys' Young, Loud and Snotty, and Yoko Ono's Fly. Capitol Records announced in late 1987 that it would end tape duplicating production in the US, in favor of offshore manufacturing, including in Winchester by early 1988, putting more than 500 employees out of work when they closed the Winchester plant.

Arts and culture

Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival

Winchester is the location of the annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, which has existed since 1924. It is usually held during the first weekend in May. The festival includes a carnival, firework show, parades, 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.

Sports

Winchester is home to the Winchester Royals, which is part of the Valley Baseball League, a National Collegiate Athletic Association-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Shenandoah University is located in Winchester and has numerous male and female sports in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Winchester is also home to the Winchester Speedway, a 3/8-mile clay oval track, which plays host to a number of touring series, such as the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.

Government and politics

Winchester had long favored Republican candidates through the second half of the 20th Century. However, in 2008 the city swung strongly into the Democratic column to support Barack Obama. Even though Obama lost ground in 2012 and only carried the city by 148 votes, it has nevertheless stayed Democratic-leaning ever since. In 2020, Joe Biden won the city with the highest percentage for a Democrat since 1936.

City council

Winchester's follows a Council-Manager form of government. It is governed by the Common Council, an elected body within a ward system. The city is composed of four wards, each with 2 councilmen, with the city's mayor serving as the ninth representative and leader of the council. While the council began as a 13-member board, it transitioned from 13 to 9, beginning in 2006 and ending in 2008.

Mayor: Les Veach (R)

Ward 1: Chip Newcom (D), Richard Bell (D)

Ward 2: Emily Windle (R), Terry Sloane (I)

Ward 3: Kim Herbstritt (D), Corey Sullivan (R)

Ward 4: Kathy Tagnesi (R), John Fox (R)

Education

Winchester Public Schools operates public schools, including John Handley High School.

Transportation

Highways

The most prominent highway serving Winchester is Interstate 81, with Winchester located roughly halfway between its northernmost and southernmost ends. I-81 extends northeast to southwest, beginning on the New York side of the Thousands Island National Park in Ontario. From here, the highway continues through upstate New York into northeastern Pennsylvania, where it passes through central and southern Pennsylvania into western Maryland. From here, it passes through a small portion of eastern West Virginia, all of Virginia, from Winchester, Virginia's northernmost city, through central and southern Virginia. After Virginia, the highway finally passes through the short border with eastern Tennessee. The highway terminates shortly after this.

Other highways passing through Winchester include U.S. Route 11, U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 50 and U.S. Route 522. These four highways follow city streets through downtown Winchester, with U.S. Route 17 coming to its northern terminus. Virginia State Route 7 also serves Winchester, terminating in downtown. Virginia State Route 37 bypasses the city to the west.

Public transportation

Winchester is served with on-demand transit and two fixed bus routes.

The Potomac Valley Transit Authority serves Winchester's Trex complex and other destinations with routes 102, 103, 201, 202, and 203.

Airports

Winchester Regional Airport provides general aviation and air taxi service to the area.

Notable people

Sister cities

Ambato, Ecuador

Winchester, United Kingdom

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