City of Staunton history

In 1807 he joined Manuel Lisa’s trapping party, and it was Lisa who sent him on a mission to the Crow and other Indian tribes that led Colter to travel alone to the Yellowstone area.

1820: Richard Chapman builds first mill in Staunton (saves trips to St Louis)

Efforts to establish a school for the deaf in Virginia had begun as early as 1825, followed by a movement to create a similar institution for the blind.

When Western Lunatic Asylum opened in Staunton in 1828, it was one of only five such facilities in the entire United States.

When he died in 1830, Sheffey had bequeathed his spacious home Kalorama to his wife.

1831: Stephen Hicks opens first general store

1835: David Hendershot plats the first section of a village

In 1836 the hospital's "Keeper," Samuel Woodward, was replaced by Doctor Francis Taliaferro Stribling, who served first as visiting physician and later as superintendent.

1837: First Post Office (William Bonner is first Postmaster)

Finally in March of 1838, the General Assembly passed an act establishing The Virginia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and Blind.

The earliest of the three was Augusta Female Seminary, founded in 1842 by the Reverend Rufus W. Bailey.

The second school, Virginia Female Institute, was established on New Year's Day of 1844.

The Wesleyan Female Institute officially opened in September of 1846 with thirty day students and a handful of boarders.

Staunton's first bank opened for business in 1847.

A municipal cemetery was begun in 1849 in response to severe overcrowding in the graveyard of Trinity Episcopal Church (formerly Augusta Parish Church). The twelve acres west of town purchased by the Thornrose Cemetery Company became the nucleus for one of Virginia's most beautiful burial grounds.

The following item appears on page two of the Staunton Spectator and General Advertiser of February 15, 1854:

During the American Revolution the Virginia legislature met for a brief period in Staunton’s Trinity Episcopal Church, rebuilt in 1855 as the Old Trinity Church.

1859: Staunton becomes an incorporated village

When Mary Julia Baldwin was engaged as the seminary's principal in 1863, no one could have foreseen the devotion with which she would pursue her task.

In May of 1864 Union troops under Major General Franz Sigel started southward up the Valley, intending to destroy the vital Virginia Central Railroad at or near Staunton.

The African Episcopal Church, founded in 1865, was Virginia's first black church west of the Blue Ridge.

Sears was almost sixty-five in 1867 when he resigned as president of Brown College in Providence and moved to Staunton to administer the fund.

Henry Voge opens first coal mine in 1869 (“The Gin Shaft”)

Although isolated examples of both Gothic Revival and Italianate buildings from the antebellum period do exist in Staunton, most of the buildings erected in these romantic or revival styles were built after 1870, when the years of war and reconstruction were over.

1873: Royal Gem Mill built

Won a gold medal for “Jack Frost Flower” at Paris World Exposition (1875)

1878: Staunton Star Times begins publication

Achieved a population of 2209 in 1890 (sufficient enough to apply for “City” status)

1894: John Kennedy starts Staunton High School

1904: Illinois Traction System passes through Staunton

1913: Staunton Public Library established (first Librarian was Bess Kirkwood)

The Labor Temple was built in 1914 by the Local Miners Union.

1922: Staunton Country Club established

1923: Staunton Volunteer Fire Department established

1925: Staunton High School built

Perhaps the beards also represented a socially acceptable way for males to escape the conformity of the 1950’s.

1956: Illinois Traction System runs its last passenger train through Staunton

1959: Staunton celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Village incorporation

1971: City Complex built (Library, City Clerk’s Office, Police Station)

From David J. Brown, ed., Staunton, Virginia : a pictorial history, Staunton, Virginia : Historic Staunton Foundation, 1985.