Evidence of the presence of generations of Indigenous Peoples of House Mountain includes multitudes of stone weapons and projectile points found in various locations on and around the mountain. Watch the video to see what happened when we took an archaeologist around the mountain to look at some personal collections.
The first documentation of the Shenandoah Valley by a European man dates to the year 1632.
It should be noted that the names of many of the earliest colonial-era explorers who crossed through the Blue Ridge and into the Shenandoah Valley are lost to history. Escaped servants and slaves moved past the boundaries of colonial settlement in search of freedom, without sending official reports to Jamestown or Williamsburg.
Virginia colonial governor Alexander Spotswood expanded the British colony's western frontier by leading an expedition across the Blue Ridge Mountains and down into the Shenandoah Valley.
Virginia colonial Governor William Gooch sought to protect his colony from any possible French or Indian incursions by planting settlements west of the Blue Ridge mountains in the Shenandoah Valley.
A series of armed conflicts between Native Americans and settlers of European descent occurred along the western frontier of the British colonies during the 1750s and 1760s.
As the more sought after land in the valleys and along the river became unavailable or too expensive, settlers began to move up the steeper ridges of House Mountain where the terrain and rocky soil often made farming difficult.
During a heavy snowstorm in December, 1846, six members of the Pettigrew family were killed and their cabin in the saddle between the House Mountains burned. Watch the video to learn more about this tragic chapter in the history of House Mountain.
In the late 1800’s, the temperance movement gained ground in the United States, part of a widespread effort to ban all alcoholic beverages. The small town of Denmark, at the northwestern foot of House Mountain, even featured a Temperance Hall.
Before the turn of the century, the eastern half of the United States was dominated by the American chestnut. It is estimated that in some places, such as the Appalachian Mountains including House Mountain, one in every four hardwoods was an American chestnut.
