Agricultural Heritage

Cloverhill going north looking west

Mennonites migrated into the Shenandoah Valley as early as the 1730s, though not until after the Revolutionary War did the trickle turn into a steady migration from points north.  Most 18th century Mennonites farmed, whereas in the twentieth century many diversified their economic pursuits into other areas of work.  The farming heritage in the western part of Rockingham County near Clover Hill, Virginia, with the Allegheny Mountains as a backdrop, is still strong and deep.

Massanutten Mountain 2013

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Mennonite Bishop Lewis J. Heatwole wrote an article for the Daily News Record, Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 1921, in which he explained the meaning of the word Massanutten.  From his research he concluded that Massanutten is from two Indian words for “ground” and “potato,” which when put together mean “Potato Ground.”  Today the old peak still towers over the valley, easily seen from a jumbo jet descending on a Washington, D.C. airport from the south, and visible from about any point in the Shenandoah Valley.  The encroachments of civilization have not dimmed the spectacle and grandeur of a mountain that has provided a visual feast for ancient Indians and modern travelers.

Burkholder house with Massanutten Mountain 2013

On a crisp July Sunday evening after a thunderstorm erupted across the Shenandoah Valley, a group gathered in the Cove schoolhouse at the CrossRoads Heritage center to listen to stories about 19th century Martin Burkholder documents.  “Grace is a treasure,” Burkholder wrote in 1853, a fitting description for any era, including ours today.