In 1739, attracted by rich valley land and abundant water supply, Benjamin Allen purchased a 400-acre tract at the confluence of Mill Creek and the North Fork of the
Shenandoah River and established a grist mill by 1746. Soon other settlers and small mills followed. The village was known as Mount Pleasant. On January 28, 1826, an act of the General Assembly of Virginia changed the name of the village in honor of General
Andrew Jackson, the hero of the War of 1812. Mount Jackson became relatively wealthy because of its location, about halfway between Winchester and Staunton along the
Valley Turnpike through the
Shenandoah Valley, at a place where a tributary, Mill Creek, fed into the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. This provided power for milling enterprises to serve the local farms. Another major road, Howard's Lick Turnpike, was started in 1856, originating in town heading towards mountainous western Virginia. Generating further development, Mt. Jackson was the original terminus of the spur of the
Manassas Gap Railroad that extended from
Strasburg, Virginia. This railroad was a key conduit for the crops and produce of the region to go to market further east. The connection to Mt. Jackson was completed in 1859, but the Civil War stopped further construction so the line remained a spur with Mt. Jackson the endpoint. It was not until 1868, after the
Baltimore & Ohio bought the line and repaired it from war damage, that the rail line was completed through to Harrisonburg. Mt. Jackson became a small but significant rail entrepot for grain, apples, and livestock, continuing to prosper as a mill and railroad town during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Civil War era Company G of the 33rd Regiment of Virginia Infantry, part of the famous "
Stonewall Brigade" under command of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, was largely recruited in Mt. Jackson and vicinity. The town saw conflict during the Civil War, incurred damage and was occupied by soldiers of both armies at various times. During his
Valley Campaign of 1862, General
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson made one of his headquarters just south of town at a manor on
Rude's Hill, about 3 miles south of Mt. Jackson. As a highly defensible high ground position, commanding the Valley Pike, the North Fork of the Shenandoah River and Meem's Bottom and approaches south, Rude's Hill had a particularly active role in the Civil War, occupied, encamped on and contested by both armies from 1862 to 1865. On November 16–18, 1863 Col. William H. Boyd's Union cavalry reconnoitered from West Virginia to the area of the Valley Pike. The Federal troopers skirmished at Woodstock, Edinburg and Mt. Jackson. North of Mt. Jackson the Federals encountered Confederate cavalry under command of Maj. Robert White. White. The rebel troopers retreated through Mt. Jackson fighting, crossing the bridges through Meems Bottom and to the defensible position on Rude's Hill. Realizing that White's horse artillery could sweep the bridge from the hill, Boyd withdrew from the skirmish at Rude's Hill and withdrew to Woodstock, pursued by Confederate cavalry. Boyd's reconnaissance-in-force then returned to West Virginia. Losses from the Mount Jackson cavalry engagement were light on both sides. Troop movements and engagements in and near the town were particularly active in May 1864, around the
Battle of New Market, 7 miles from Mt. Jackson. On May 14 a delaying action was fought at Rude's Hill by the Confederate
18th Virginia Cavalry, under the overall command of
Col. John Imboden. The Confederate cavalry slowed the Union advance, enabling Gen.
John Breckinridge to gather the main body of his Confederate forces at New Market, about 4 miles away. After losing the battle on May 15, Union General
Franz Sigel managed to organize a rearguard on Rude's Hill, with infantry east of the turnpike, some cavalry west of the road and the artillery behind the line. Due to the exhaustion of the men and low ammunition, Sigel decided to retreat across the Meems bottomland and the North Fork of the Shenandoah River to Mount Jackson. Breckinridge at the same time, concerned the Federals would make a stand on Rude's Hill, advanced his cavalry and artillery to the crest of Rude's Hill where they shelled and harassed Sigel's retreating Federals in Meems Bottom. The Union army managed to cross Mill Creek at Mt. Jackson and burned the bridge that spanned the creek to Mt. Jackson before the Confederates could catch up. Rude's Hill was also the site of a Confederate stand following their demoralizing and humiliating defeat on September 22, 1864, at the
Battle of Fisher's Hill, about 23 miles north of Mt. Jackson. Gen.
Jubal Early rallied and deployed his remaining Confederate infantry in line across the top of the hill on November 22, 1864, to check the advance of two divisions of Union cavalry following them. The Union cavalry charged the Confederate line but were repulsed in a sharp action. Early then retreated from Rude's Hill to Harrisonburg, eventually retreating to the entrance of the Shenandoah Valley at Browns Gap in the Blue Ridge. In a predawn raid on October 3, 1864, Confederate Captain John McNeill led approximately 50 Confederate rangers against roughly 100 Union troopers of the 8th Ohio Cavalry Regiment guarding a bridge from Meems Bottom, a strategic crossing of the Valley Turnpike over the North Fork of the Shenandoah River to Mt. Jackson. The attack lasted just fifteen minutes with most of the Union cavalry captured but McNeill, one of the best-known and feared Confederate partisan raiders as leader of
McNeill's Rangers, was mortally wounded. He was taken to the house on Rude's Hill, where his identity was later discovered by Union General
Philip Sheridan's troops. He was later secreted away by a band of Confederates after the Federals had temporarily left, thinking him to sick to move. McNeill was taken by the Confederates to Harrisonburg where he died on November 10. In October 1864, as part of Union General Phil Sheridan's
1864 Valley Campaign aimed at destroying anything of potential military value, Mt. Jackson's mill was obliterated. Towards the end of the war, Rude's Hill was also the scene of a cavalry skirmish when Confederate Brigadier General
Thomas Rosser's troopers attacked Union troops guarding Confederate prisoners on March 7, 1865. Outside of troop movements or significant engagements, Civil War skirmishes were recorded as happening at Mt. Jackson on March 25, 1862; June 3, 6 and 16, 1862; November 18, 1863; September 23–24, 1864; October 3, 1864; and March 7, 1865. The Confederate cemetery is all that visibly remains of the hospital today in the town of Mt. Jackson.
Historic buildings One of the most notable landmarks in Mt. Jackson, Virginia is the little red brick Union Church in the center of town, built circa 1825, one of the oldest structures in the town. In 1822 an early settler bequeathed to the town a lot to build a nondenominational church for the use of any Christian congregations in the area. A frame church was originally erected on the site, but was replaced by the present brick structure around 1825. The church was used by both sides during the Civil War, including use as a hospital, with etchings on the walls by passing soldiers. Daniel Grey, a Revolutionary War soldier, lays buried here. Many of the most prominent early citizens of the area lay at rest in the church yard. Union Church is on the National Register of Historic Places. The
Mount Jackson Historic District encompasses 125 buildings and contributing structures in the town. This includes a variety of commercial, residential, and institutional buildings dating primarily from the late-19th to the early-20th century, the era of the town's greatest prosperity. They are in a variety of popular architectural styles including
Gothic Revival,
Federal, and
Queen Anne. Other notable buildings include the Stoneburner House, Tisinger House, S. P. Lonas House, Brill Building, Lonas Store, former Peoples Bank (c. 1904), Mt. Jackson Volunteer Fire Department (1936), Mt. Jackson Theatre Building (1938), St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (1876), Mt. Jackson Methodist Episcopal Church (1884), and Triplett Middle School (1925). The historic district was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1993. ==Geography==