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
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 . 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 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. A
legal fight erupted in 1735 when
Thomas Fairfax, Sixth Lord Fairfax came to Virginia to claim his land grant. It included "all the land in Virginia between the Rappahannock and the Potomac rivers", an old grant from
King Charles II which overlapped and included Frederick County. It took some time for land titles to be cleared among early settlers. By 1738, these settlements became known as
Frederick Town. The county of
Frederick was carved out of Orange County. 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 and had been a surveyor for
Orange County, Virginia. He contracted for his own home
Glen Burnie homstead around 1737, and it may have been used for early government business. Wood laid out 26 half-acre (2,000 m2) lots in 1744. the Virginia
House of Burgesses granted the fourth city charter in Virginia to 'Winchester' as Frederick Town was renamed after Colonel Wood's birthplace in England. 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 Wood added 158 lots to the west side of town. In 1759 Thomas Lord Fairfax contributed 173 more lots to the south and east. . The fort was built between 1756 and 1758 under the supervision of
George Washington.
General Edward Braddock's
expeditionary march to
Fort Duquesne crossed through this area in 1755 on the way to
Fort Cumberland. Knowing the area well from work as a surveyor,
George Washington accompanied General Braddock as his aide-de-camp. Resident
Daniel Morgan joined Braddock's Army as a wagoner on its march to Pennsylvania. In 1756, on land granted by James Wood, Colonel George Washington designed and began constructing
Fort Loudoun, which ultimately covered in present-day downtown Winchester on North Loudoun Street. Fort Loudoun was occupied and manned with guns until the start of the
American Revolutionary War. During this era, a jail was built in Winchester. It 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 politics there, Virginia was an Anglican colony and did not tolerate pacifism well. The strong Quaker tradition of pacifism against strong Virginia support for this war and the next, led to long-term stifling of the Quaker population. Winchester became a gateway to Quaker settlements further west; by the mid-19th century, the Quaker population was a small minority here. During the war in 1758, at the age of 26, Colonel George Washington was elected to represent 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 (that part now in
West Virginia). During the
American 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. He led the 96 men of "Morgan's Sharpshooters" from Winchester on July 14, 1775, and marched to Boston in 21 days. Morgan, Wood, and others also performed duties in holding captured
prisoners of war, particularly
Hessian soldiers. Hessian soldiers were known to walk to the high ridge north and west of town, where they could purchase and eat apple pies made by the Quakers. The ridge became affectionately known as Apple Pie Ridge. The Ridge Road built before 1751 leading north from town was renamed
Apple Pie Ridge Road. The local farmers found booming business in feeding the Virginia Militia and fledgling volunteer American army. Following the war, the town's first newspapers,
The Gazette and
The Centinel, were established. Daniel Morgan continued his public service, being elected to one term in the
U.S. House of Representatives (1797–1799).
19th century American Civil War 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. , depicted by
Thure de Thulstrup, During the war, Winchester was occupied by the Union Army for four major periods: by Major General
Nathaniel Banks (March ? May 12 to 25, 1862, and June 4 to September 2, 1862), Major General
Robert Milroy (December 24, 1862, to June 15, 1863), Major General
Philip Sheridan (September 19, 1864, to February 27, 1865), and Major General
Winfield Scott Hancock (February 27, 1865, to June 27, 1865). Major General Sheridan raided up the valley from Winchester, where his forces 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," to lessen the area's ability to supply the Confederates. Numerous local men served with the Confederate Army, mostly as troops.
Hunter McGuire was Chief Surgeon of the Second "Jackson's" Corps of the
Army of Northern Virginia. He laid the 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. Among those who took part in battles at Winchester were future U.S. presidents
McKinley and
Hayes, both as officers in the Union
IX Corps. The United States assigned military presence to Winchester and other parts of the South during
Reconstruction after the war. Winchester was part of the
First Military District, commanded by Major General
John Schofield. This period lasted until January 26, 1870.
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==