Last updated: October 13, 2023
Article
Shenandoah Valley Corridor

Ann & Rob Simpson
Fertile soil and a transportation corridor brought wealth and prosperity to the Shenandoah Valley. They also made the Valley an avenue of invasion and counter-invasion, and a target for destruction. The Civil War wrought permanent change in the Valley's social and economic order.
People, Places, & Stories
- Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park
Cedar Creek Crossing
- Type: Place
- Locations: Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park
The Valley Turnpike was the main transportation route through the Shenandoah Valley in the early 1800s. During the Civil War both US and Confederate armies used it. The armies contested the crossing at Cedar Creek during the campaigns of 1862 and 1864, with the bridge burned and rebuilt several times.
- Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park
French & Indian War Along Cedar Creek and in the Shenandoah Valley
- Type: Article
- Locations: Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park
The expansion by the French into the Ohio River Valley led to conflicts with claims by the Virginia frontier settlers. The Indian natives also viewed the increased number of European settlers, especially those in the Shenandoah Valley, with alarm, seeing them as unwelcome encroachers on land they considered theirs.
- Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park
Valley Turnpike
- Type: Article
- Locations: Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park