Editing Front Royal, Virginia (section)

== History ==
[[File:Battle of Front Royal 1.png|thumb|left|The [[Battle of Front Royal]] was fought during the US Civil War]]
[[File:American Viscose Plant Front Royal VA postcard.jpg|thumb|Mid-20th century postcard showing an aerial view of the American Viscose Corporation Plant in Front Royal, Virginia.]]

The entire [[Shenandoah Valley]] including the area to become Front Royal was annexed and claimed for hunting by the [[Iroquois Confederation]] during the later [[Beaver Wars]], by 1672. Some bands of the [[Shawnee]] settled in the area as client groups to the Iroquois and alternately to the Cherokee after 1721. The Iroquois formally sold their entire claim east of the Alleghenies to the [[Virginia Colony]] at the [[Treaty of Lancaster]] in 1744.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hofstra|first=Warren|title=The Planting of New Virginia: Settlement and Landscape in the Shenandoah Valley|year=2005|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore, MD|isbn=0801882710|pages=10–12}}</ref>   Front Royal, originally settled in 1754, had been known to European explorers as early as the 1670s, and the nearby settlement of Chester's Ferry was in existence by 1736. The town also had a well-known nickname by the 1790s, "Helltown," due to the many livestock wranglers and boatmen on the Shenandoah coming through the area, who came into town looking for alcohol. It was incorporated as "Front Royal" in 1788.

Rail service was established in 1854 with the construction of the Alexandria, Orange and Manassas Gap Railroad between Manassas and Riverton. This line was soon extended to Strasburg in time to become a factor in the [[Battle of Front Royal]] on May 23, 1862, and throughout the Civil War. Lumber, agriculture, manufacturing and grain mills provided employment in the region for decades after the Civil War.

The American Viscose rayon plant, once Front Royal's principal employer, with 3,000 workers at its peak, operated between the 1930s and 1989. The plant manufactured rayon for tires during World War II and later produced rayon for rocket nozzles for the Defense Department and the [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]].<ref name=pf1>{{cite news |last1=Finn |first1=Peter |title=Pollution Landmark Demolished in Va. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/11/12/pollution-landmark-demolished-in-va/30f07e0d-22ec-4853-aab6-9f5bbead4419/ |access-date=June 30, 2018 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=November 12, 1997}}</ref>

===Etymology===
Several theories regarding the origins of the name "Front Royal" have been suggested.

A common theory is that the town was named for a giant [[oak tree]] – the "Royal" Tree of England – that stood in the public square during colonial days where Chester and Main Streets now join. It was there that the local militia were drilled. During drills, a frequent command given by the drill sergeant was, "front the Royal Oak!" The command was repeated and eventually shortened to simply "Front Royal".<ref name=nameOrigin_1>{{cite book|last1=Federal Writers' Project|title=Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion |date=1952|publisher=US History Publishers|isbn=1603540458|page=443|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z2VzSg9hfp0C&pg=PA443 |access-date=February 8, 2015}}</ref><ref name=nameOrigin_2>{{cite book |last1=Lillard |first1=David Edwin |title=Appalachian Trail names: Origins of place names along the AT |date=2002 |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |isbn=081172672X |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRsC_EBRPEwC&pg=PA42 |access-date=February 8, 2015}}</ref> This theory is supported by a bulletin published by the [[United States Geological Survey]] in 1905, which states that the town was first known as Royal Oak, with the current name being derived from the commands of a confused colonel.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA132 |title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, Issue 258 of the U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |author=Gannett, Henry |year=1905 |page=132 |access-date=December 11, 2015}}</ref>

A second account holds that when local militia were stationed around the town during the American Revolution, the sentry would call out "Front", to which the required entry password was to respond "Royal". Eventually their military post became known as "Camp Front Royal".<ref name=nameOrigin_1/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Willis |first1=Carrie Hunter |last2=Walker |first2=Etta Belle |title=Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia |date=1940 |publisher=Dietz Press |pages=35–36 |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33018/33018-h/33018-h.htm#Page_34 |access-date=February 5, 2015}}</ref>

A third version holds that, in early decades of European settlement, the area was referred to in French as "le front royal", meaning the British frontier. French settlers, trappers, and explorers in the [[Ohio Country]] of the mid-18th century were referring to the land grant made by King Charles II, then in control of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron. In English, "le front royal" is translated to the "Royal Frontier".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harder |first1=Kelsie |title=Illustrated dictionary of place names, United States and Canada |date=1976 |publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold Company |location=New York |isbn=9780442230692 |pages=188–189 |oclc=1622195 |edition=1st |url=http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1622195 |access-date=July 31, 2022 |ref=Harder}}</ref>

The name was in common usage by 1788, when the town was incorporated as "Front-Royal."<ref>{{cite book |title=Front Royal 1997 Town Plan |date=March 23, 1998 |publisher=Front Royal Town Council |page=6 |url=https://www.frontroyalva.com/DocumentCenter/View/1643/Pages-1-19 |access-date=July 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805101553/https://www.frontroyalva.com/DocumentCenter/View/1643/Pages-1-19 |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref>