e
national park in the East....

"Acquisition of the area was a very difficult task. In 1926 the
newly created Virginia State Commission on Conservation and
Development started field work, and the Shenandoah National
Park Association began a campaign to raise funds for the
purchase of the land. The required area was made up of 3,870
separate tracts. Most of the owners did not wish to sell; land
titles were not clear nor boundaries well defined; sufficient
money to make the purchase was not available. Congress reduced
the minimum area required for administration, protection, and
development of the park by the National Park Service. Certain
individuals made large donations. The Virginia legislature
appropriated $1,000,000 for acquisition and passed a special
law providing for wholesale condemnation of the land. Finally,
in 1935, at a total cost of approximately $2,000,000, 275
square miles were acquired, and the deed to the park area was
presented to the United States government by the State of
Virginia.

"The completion of this tremendous task of acquiring and
establishing the Shenandoah National Park has made available to
the people of the United States, for recreational and
educational purposes, an unusually attractive region of
mountains, hollows, dashing streams, forests and flowers.

"The mountains rise to a maximum height of slightly more than
4,000 feet above sea level, or approximately 3,200 feet above
the surrounding country."

Strasburg

We can hardly mention a Valley town which has retained its original name
throughout the years. What is now known as Strasburg was in the
beginning called Staufferstadt, which indicates its German background.
Peter Stover was the founder from whom the settlement took its name but
when he had the town incorporated in 1761 he changed it to Strasburg in
honor of his home city in Germany.

There are evidences of the pioneer life of the Valley to be seen near
here. A house built about 1755 and occupied by the Hupps was so
constructed as to serve efficiently as a fort during the Indian raids;
this may still be seen. The home of George Bowman, a son-in-law of Joist
Hite, is also close by Strasburg.

Joist Hite had four famous grandsons born at this Bowman home. John was
a governor of Kentucky. Abraham was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War