Middletown, Virginia

The Middletown Historic District is a national historic district located in Middletown, Virginia. It originally encompassed 234 contributing properties, the majority of which are residential buildings and their associated outbuildings. The boundaries of the historic district are approximately Church Street, Senseney Avenue, and First through Sixth Streets, except for a portion of Main Street that ends just south of Reliance Road (Route 627). The non-residential historic structures include four specialty shops, a former theater, four churches, the Town Hall, two former schools, three warehouses and an inn. Notable buildings include the former Middletown Mission Church (c. 1818), Grace United Methodist Church (1897), the former Mt. Zion Church (1880), the former Middletown School (1909), the Town Hall (1880), the Wayside Inn (1797), Larrick's Tavern (1750), the former Wayside Theatre (1946), and Lafolette House (1800). Located in the district and separately listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) is St. Thomas Chapel (1837). The area that is present-day Middletown began developing in the mid-18th century due to the Great Wagon Road that brought settlers and commerce to the Shenandoah Valley. When the Virginia General Assembly formally established Middletown in 1796, there were already many residential and commercial buildings in the area. The town continued to develop thanks to the Valley Turnpike, present-day Main Street/U.S. Route 11, which connected the town to nearby Newtown (Stephens City) and Strasburg. During the 19th century Middletown experienced continued residential and commercial growth until the Civil War. Many skirmishes took place in the area during Jackson's Valley campaign. The 1864 Battle of Cedar Creek, which began just south of the town limits before moving north through the town, resulted in many damaged properties. Commerce increased after a railroad track built in 1870 helped the town recover from the war's effects. Many of the town's historic houses were constructed in the late-19th century. In the 20th century Route 11 was widened, utilities were installed, and the county's first high school opened in Middletown. Additional houses, warehouses, and commercial buildings, including a bank and movie theater, were constructed. A fire station built in the 1960s replaced historic houses, a trend that continued during the next few decades. Due to the efforts of a local heritage group and with support from residents, a large portion of the town was listed as a historic district by the VLR and NRHP in 2003. Despite the historic designation, there have been several contributing properties demolished. Town officials are hoping to avoid further demolition by encouraging residents to maintain their property and by preventing the construction of buildings that do not fit in with the character of the historic district.

St. Thomas Chapel, also known as St. Thomas Episcopal Church or St. Thomas Protestant Episcopal Chapel, is a historic building located at 7854 Church Street in Middletown, Frederick County, Virginia, United States. Built in the 1830s, regular services were held at the Episcopal church for almost 100 years. The building has been restored twice, once after being heavily damaged during the Civil War, and again in the 1960s. The church was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1973.

Monte Vista, also known as Cedar Grove Farm and Heater House, is a historic home located near Middletown, Frederick County, Virginia. It was built in 1883, and is a large three-story, five-bay, brick dwelling with Eastlake and Queen Anne design elements. The front facade features a two-story portico with four full-height Tuscan columns, added about 1942. Also on the property are the contributing large bank barn with cupola and weathervane, a scale house dating at least to 1907, a frame summer kitchen, a two level stone ice house, a smokehouse, and a brick bake oven. It was owned by Solomon and Caroline Wunder Heater, who lost two sons fighting for the Confederacy, even though she was a staunch Union sympathizer.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Laurel Ridge Community College, formerly Lord Fairfax Community College, is a public community college with multiple campuses in the Shenandoah Valley and Piedmont regions of Virginia. It is part of the Virginia Community College System and operates four locations — the Fauquier and Middletown Campuses, the Luray-Page County Center, and a site at Vint Hill in eastern Fauquier County — that serve seven counties and one city in the area, enrolling 5,862 students in academic year 2021–2022. Students attending Laurel Ridge can obtain an associate degree or certificate. In July 2021, the Virginia State Board of Community Colleges changed names for local institutions named after people who owned slaves or advocated racist policies such as school segregation. The board allowed the college to change its name to from Lord Fairfax Community College to Laurel Ridge Community College. Instead of venerating Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, plantation owner, the new name honors laurel flower that has been associated with academic achievement.

Thorndale Farm is a historic farm property at 652 North Buckton Road, in rural Frederick County, Virginia east of Middletown. The property, over 41 acres (17 ha) in size, includes a wood-frame farmhouse built about 1790 and enlarged and restyled in the Greek Revival about 1855, as well as a later 19th-century barn and a c. 1840 meathouse. It was originally part of a much larger land grant made to John Larrock, a militia captain the American Revolutionary War. Part of the farm was involved in the 1864 Battle of Cedar Creek in the American Civil War.The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, was fought on October 19, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fighting took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia, near Cedar Creek, Middletown, and the Valley Pike. During the morning, Lieutenant General Jubal Early appeared to have a victory for his Confederate army, as he captured over 1,000 prisoners and over 20 artillery pieces while forcing 7 enemy infantry divisions to fall back. The Union army, led by Major General Philip Sheridan, rallied in late afternoon and drove away Early's men. In addition to recapturing all of their own artillery seized in the morning, Sheridan's forces captured most of Early's artillery and wagons. In heavy fog, Early attacked before dawn and completely surprised many of the sleeping Union soldiers. His smaller army attacked segments of the Union army from multiple sides, giving him temporary numerical advantages in addition to the element of surprise. At about 10:00 am, Early paused his attack to reorganize his forces. Sheridan, who was returning from a meeting in Washington, D.C. when the battle started, hurried to the battlefield and arrived around 10:30 am. His arrival calmed and revitalized his retreating army. At 4:00 pm his army counterattacked, making use of its superior cavalry force. Early's army was routed and fled south. The battle ruined the Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley, and it was never again able to maneuver down the valley to threaten the Union capital city of Washington, D.C. or northern states. Additionally, the Shenandoah Valley had been a key producer of supplies for the Confederate army, and Early could no longer protect it. The Union victory aided the reelection of Abraham Lincoln, and along with earlier victories at Winchester and Fisher's Hill, won Sheridan lasting fame.

Belle Grove Plantation is a late-18th-century plantation house and estate in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, USA. It is situated in Frederick County, about a mile southwest of Middletown. Built between 1794 and 1797, the large Federal-style manor house is a National Historic Landmark and was opened to the public by its owners, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP), as a historic house museum in 1967. In 2002, Belle Grove became part of the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park, a National Park Service unit, although it continues to be owned and operated by the NTHP. It is part of a U.S. National Historic Landmark, the Cedar Creek Battlefield and Belle Grove Plantation. Belle Grove is also designated a Virginia Historic Landmark and, as part of 900-acre (3.6 km2) "Cedar Creek Battlefield and Belle Grove", is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Historically important as the home of revolutionary veteran Major Isaac Hite, Jr – President James Madison’s brother-in-law – and as the headquarters of General Philip Sheridan during the Battle of Cedar Creek (1864), the manor house has been little altered over the centuries and remains one of the best preserved 18th century homes in the country. Affording grand vistas of the surrounding Shenandoah Valley, Blue Ridge and Alleghenies, the estate is situated on 283 acres of Maj. Hite’s original 483 acres. (The entire CCBGNHP, including the nearby battlefield, consists of 3,593 acres.)

Meadow Mills is an unincorporated community in Frederick County, Virginia, United States. Meadow Mills is located in southern Frederick County southwest of Middletown on Cedar Creek, hence its former eponymous name of Cedar Creek. The presence of grain as local crop in Meadow Mills is indicated in an 1882 issue of The Stephen City Star community newspaper where the presence of mills and the use of threshes within the community of Meadow Mills is mentioned. Two Meadow Mills residents, J. and W. Hottel are also named as millers.

Ridings Mill is an unincorporated community in southern Frederick County, Virginia. Ridings Mill takes its name from the mill on West Run there. The community is located to the east of Middletown at the crossroads of Ridings Mill and Huttle Roads. Named for the mill located on West Run on Ridings Mill Road, this is a rural area consisting mainly of farms.

The Shenandoah Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and West Virginia. The valley is bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Appalachian and Allegheny Plateaus to the west. Most of the AVA is in Virginia, with a small portion in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Most of the vineyards in the AVA are located in Virginia and grow a wide variety of Vitis vinifera, Vitis labrusca, and French hybrid grapes. The hardiness zone is mainly 7a except for some 6b in high areas. The region is Virginia's first AVA, identified in 1982. Limestone soil, which is common to the Valley, has been long associated with great wine growing regions in Europe. The Shenandoah Valley AVA's climate allows grapes to attain higher acidity, generally regarded as good in wine. The cooler, relatively dry climate, soil composition and position between two mountain chains makes the Shenandoah Valley more ideal for viticulture than any of the state's other regions. The Shenandoah Valley is relatively dry, a "rain shadow" between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains; the annual rainfall in the Valley is one half that of the Virginia average. The growing season in the valley is distinctly warmer and drier than in neighboring Virginia regions, which don't have the natural rain barrier from the nearby mountains and where, east of the Blue Ridge, vineyard soils are primarily clay and loam. The conditions in the Shenandoah Valley AVA are thus more hospitable than those east of the mountains for Cabernet Franc, Chambourcin, Cabernet Sauvignon, Lemberger, Petit Manseng, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, and Riesling.

Ogdens Cave Natural Area Preserve is a 131-acre (53 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Frederick County, Virginia. The preserve protects a cave that carries a below-ground branch of Buffalo Marsh Run, which also flows overland through the preserve.With nearly one mile (1.6 km) of the cave mapped, Ogdens Cave is the longest known cave in Frederick County. Several rare invertebrate species are found within the cave, including the thin-neck cave beetle (Pseudanophthalmus parvicollis), two amphipods, an isopod, and the Appalachian springsnail (Fontigens bottimeri). These species are sustained by nutrients delivered by the cave's stream and by various animals, such as bats and crickets, that come and go from time to time.Above ground, the preserve covers a former farm that is reverting to a natural state. Management of the preserve includes the planting of native warm-season grasses in upland fields, and hardwood trees along Buffalo Marsh Run, to reconstruct the historic natural landscape of the area.The preserve is owned and maintained by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. To protect the cave's delicate ecosystem, public access is not permitted. Public, guided tours of the cave have been arranged in the past.

Kline's Mill is a historic grinding mill in Frederick County, Virginia, United States. First built in the 1770s, the rebuilt 1794 mill contains original millwork and is a rare surviving example of a mechanism based on Oliver Evans' continuous milling system.