"Tools That Built the Shenandoah Valley: Aspects of Its Early Technology"
(posted 2-13-03)

A new exhibit entitled "Tools That Built the Shenandoah Valley: Aspects of Its Early Technology" will open to the public on Saturday, January 18, 2003, and continue until April 8, 2003. The exhibit will include tools and technology which helped transform the Shenandoah Valley from a frontier culture to a successful agricultural society. Included are a number of rare and unusual items such as an 18th century felling axe, called a Holzaxt, which originated in the Bergton area of the western Shenandoah Valley and may have been owned by a close relative of Daniel Boone. Other interesting items include a Conestoga wagon grease bucket from the Shirley Estate, New Market, Virginia; a wooden millstone jack from Turner's Mill in Edom, Virginia; and a hand-wrought iron herb chopper from the Lloyd Miller estate in Singers Glen, Virginia.

The exhibit presents an interesting glimpse into the past, showing how creative craftsmen and everyday folk invented and used tools in the 19th and 20th centuries. A majority of the tools on display were donated to the HRHS by Melvin and Betty Armentrout.

The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society is located on the corner of Bowman and High Streets in Dayton, Virginia, and is open Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM. There is a $5.00 admission charge, which includes entrance to the museum, genealogy library, gift shop, and the newly refurbished electric map of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Phone 540-879-2616 or e-mail heritag1@HeritageCenter.com.