Harriston, Virginia

Site AU-154 (in full, 44-AU-154) is an archaeological site in Shenandoah National Park, in Augusta County, Virginia, United States. The site was discovered during the early 1970s as part of a comprehensive survey of the national park. It is one of fifteen sites that the survey found along Paine Run,: 135  a group that also includes the Paine Run Rockshelter and the Blackrock Springs Site.: 136 Site 44-AU-154 lies on the southern side of Paine Run at the mouth of its hollow, on the edge of the national park and at the foot of the Blue Ridge, thus occupying a transition zone between the Shenandoah Valley and the mountain. It extends from the stream to the base of the mountain, approximately 25 metres (82 ft) north to south, while east to west it is four times as long.: 66  At the time of its discovery, a Forest Service fire road bisected the site; the northern half was partially occupied by a privately owned house, while the southern half was part of the national park.: 67  Approximately 400 metres (1,300 ft) east of the site is a rock outcrop with several rockshelters, including the significant Paine Run Rockshelter.: 71 Out of more than 2,000 artifacts discovered in a cursory excavation of the road and roadside sections of the site, more than 98% were locally obtainable jasper and quartzite. Some of the projectile points found at the site were characteristic of the Savannah River and Halifax cultures, allowing the site's occupation to be dated as occurring between 3000 and 1000 BC.: 69  During this time, the site is likely to have been used as a semipermanent base camp for Indians relying either on the mountain resources or the resources of the valley, whether for tool-manufacturing, processing hunted animals, or using plants found nearby.: 71  Because AU-154 bears evidence of a wider range of activities than do some of the smaller sites located higher up on Paine Run, it may have been a central point for activities occurring at the single-use higher camps.: 140 The site's archaeological value is so significant that it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 1985, together with the Paine Run shelter and the Blackrock Springs Site.

The Paine Run Rockshelter (44-AU-158) is an archaeological site in Shenandoah National Park, in Augusta County, Virginia, United States. The site was discovered during the early 1970s as part of a comprehensive survey of the national park. It is one of fifteen sites that the survey found along Paine Run,: 135  a group that also includes archaeological site 44-AU-154 and the Blackrock Springs Site.: 136  Located in a mountainside hollow,: 21  near three other rockshelters,: 135  the site is deeply stratified.: 25  It is a small shelter, only about 45 square metres (480 sq ft) in area, and little taller than the average man.: 71  The shelter faces northward, toward the narrow floodplain and Paine Run, which flows approximately 15 metres (49 ft) away;: 73  it sits just east of site 44-AU-154.: 71 While other archaeological sites in Paine Run Hollow date primarily from the Archaic period,: 43  the rockshelter appears to have been occupied at a period of culture change, as the inhabitants were in the process of transitioning from the use of quartzite to cryptocrystalline for their stone tools.: 42  Evidence of occupation persists as late as the fourteenth century AD.: 167  The site's two components yielded eight hundred and fifteen hundred separate artifacts in total;: 198  its artifactual density was the highest of any site recorded by the survey, prompting its interpretation as a regional base camp used frequently by larger groups of people.: 163  The surveyors readily conducted a test excavation after finding many lithic flakes, pieces of pottery, and projectile points on the surface.: 73  The ceramics are dominated by a form known as "Albemarle cord-marked", which represents nearly two-thirds of potsherds found in the shelter.: 78  Meanwhile, the shapes of the surviving lithic flakes (small pieces with almost no cores) appears to indicate that toolmaking done in the shelter consisted of refining rough work that had been performed elsewhere.: 80 The site's archaeological value is so significant that it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 1985, together with 44-AU-154 and the Blackrock Springs Site.

Grand Caverns, formerly known as Weyer's Cave, is located in the central Shenandoah Valley in the town of Grottoes, Virginia, United States. A limestone cavern, it claims the distinction of being America's oldest show cave, in operation since 1806.In 1973, the National Park Service designated the cave a National Natural Landmark in recognition of its shield formations and other features, such as flowstone, stalactites, and stalagmites.

Crimora is a census-designated place (CDP) in Augusta County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,209 at the 2010 census, a 23% increase from the 1,796 reported in 2000. It is part of the Staunton–Waynesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area.

On September 23, 1985, Henson Airlines Flight 1517 crashed in Grottoes, Virginia, while on approach to the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. The two pilots and twelve passengers were killed.

Coiner House, also known as Koyner House and Koiner House, is a historic home located near Crimora, Augusta County, Virginia. It was built about 1825, and is a two-story, three-bay brick "I-house", with an original one-story kitchen wing. Attached to the kitchen wing is a two-story, frame ell dated to the early 20th century. The interior features colorful graining, marbleizing, and polychromy, as well as elaborate provincial woodwork. Also on the property are a contributing late-19th century bank barn and mid-19th century dairy.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Grottoes is an incorporated town in Augusta and Rockingham counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 2,668 at the 2010 census. The Rockingham County portion of Grottoes is part of the Harrisonburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the small portion that extends into Augusta County is part of the Staunton–Waynesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area. Only seven of the town's 2,668 residents reside in Augusta County.Grottoes is home to the Grand Caverns, America's oldest show cave.

Mt. Meridian Schoolhouse is a historic one-room school building located at Mt. Meridian, Augusta County, Virginia. It was built in 1886, and is a one-story, rectangular frame building with a gable roof. By 1890, the school had been enlarged to two rooms, which was later removed. The school closed in 1908.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Mount Meridian is an unincorporated community in Augusta County, Virginia, United States. Mount Meridian is located on the Middle River 1.9 miles (3.1 km) west of Grottoes. The Mt. Meridian Schoolhouse, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located near Mount Meridian.Politician James A. Walker was a native of the Mount Meridian area.

Crimora School, also known as Crimora Grammar School, is a historic public school building located at Crimora, Augusta County, Virginia. The original section was built in 1927, and is a brick building consisting of an auditorium/gymnasium as the core of the building with rectangular gabled blocks on either side containing two rooms with the projecting gable ends. It is in a Vernacular Bungalow style. The school was subsequently expanded in the 1930s and in 1942. In 1954–55, the school was again enlarged with a large brick veneer rear addition containing six classrooms, a cafeteria, teacher's lounge, library and office.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

The Harnsberger Octagonal Barn, also known the Mt. Meridian Octagonal Barn, is located near Grottoes, Virginia. Built about 1867, the barn is possibly the only example of such a barn in Virginia, as the building style was more popular in the expanding midwestern United States in the immediate post-American Civil War era than in economically depressed Virginia. The octagonal style was popularized in 1853 by A Home For All, or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building by Orson Squire Fowler.The barn was built for Robert Samuel Harnsberger in 1867, following the example of his brother Stephen, who had built an octagonal house nearby in 1856. The barn represents an adaptation of the octagonal concept to the site, incorporating elements of traditional bank barns. The barn's builders encountered difficulty in assembling and fitting the barn, requiring the assistance of other carpenters.The wood frame barn retains the traditional bank barn functions of a central wagon floor with hay lofts to either side, rather than a functional distinction between each of the sides as suggested by Fowler. As with a bank barn, accommodations for cattle are on the lower level, with the stalls arranged in a line rather than radially.The barn was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 8, 1982.

The Stephen Harnsberger House, also known as the Harnsberger Octagonal House, is an historic octagon house located on Holly Avenue in Grottoes, Virginia. The house was built in 1856, three years after the publication of A Home For All, or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building by Orson Squire Fowler. Rather than following the tenets of the book, which suggested a radially-oriented plan with functions for every side, the plan of the Harnsberger house is more akin to a traditional double-pile center-hall house of the kind that was prevalent in Virginia at the time. The center hall is flanked by two very deep rooms, with smaller rooms behind, divided from the front rooms by chimneys. On both the basement and second floor levels a central passage extends the depth of the house. This is in contrast to the wedge-shaped rooms advocated by Fowler.The house exhibits Greek Revival detailing, typical of the time. Interior woodwork is mostly intact. The house received an ell addition to the rear housing a kitchen by 1890. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 8, 1982. Harnsberger's brother Robert built an octagonal barn a few miles away in 1867, which is also listed on the National Register.