History
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Greene County was formed from Orange County in 1838 and named for Revolutionary War hero Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene. In 1722, Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood issued the Octonia land grant to eight Virginians, and the Octonia Stone, five miles southeast of here, marks the westernmost edge of this 24,000-acre grant. William Stanard, heir to part of the grant, founded Stanardsville, the county seat, in 1794. The county courthouse, built in the Roman Revival style popularized by Thomas Jefferson, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1930s, 15% of Greene County's land was acquired to form Shenandoah National Park. Rockingham County was formed from Augusta County in 1777, and Harrisonburg became the county seat in 1780. Settlers moving south and west along the Great Wagon Road, first developed by Native Americans, encountered the natural bounty of the Shenandoah Valley. The earliest European immigrants were mainly German-Swiss, Scots-Irish, and English. During the Civil War, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson concluded his Valley campaign at Cross Keys and Port Republic on 8–9 June 1862. Later, agricultural enterprises, Mennonite and Church of the Brethren refugee resettlement programs, and colleges and universities attracted new community members.
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