Editing Stephens City, Virginia (section)

===Founding and early days===
The area surrounding present-day Stephens City was originally inhabited for 12,000 years by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], including the [[Susquehannock]], [[Lenape]], [[Tuscarora people|Tuscarora]], [[Catawba people|Catawba]], [[Iroquois]], and [[Cherokee]]. One of the largest groups, the [[Shawnee]], had already left the area when European settlement began. The tribes that did remain were initially peaceful towards the settlers, but relations soured after resources and land were confiscated.<ref name="persson">{{cite web | url=https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6448&context=etd | title=The Archaeology of Opequon Creek: Religion, Ethnicity, and Identity in the Material Culture of an Eighteenth-Century Immigrant Community, Frederick County, Virginia | publisher=College of William & Mary | date=2004 | accessdate=June 6, 2023 | author=Persson, Ann Schaefer | pages=12–16 | archive-date=October 21, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021180419/https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6448&context=etd | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=rurallandmarks>{{cite web | url=https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/FK-022_Rural_Landmarks_Survey_1988-1992_PH_I-III_1988_KALBIAN_report.pdf | title=Rural Landmarks Survey Report Frederick County, Virginia: Phases I-III 1988-1992 | publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources | date=1992 | accessdate=June 6, 2023 | author=Kalbian, Maral S. | archive-date=September 11, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911230906/https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/FK-022_Rural_Landmarks_Survey_1988-1992_PH_I-III_1988_KALBIAN_report.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|19}} The ancestors of [[Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron]], received a [[land grant]] from King [[Charles II of England]] which included a large portion of modern [[Virginia]]. After discovering one of the grant's boundaries, the [[Potomac River]], extended into the [[Alleghany Mountains]] and that others had also received grants west of the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]], a compromise was reached whereby these grant holders would keep their land. One of these grants, named the King's Grants, was acquired in 1730 by John and Isaac Vanmeter from Governor [[Sir William Gooch, 1st Baronet]]. The Vanmeter grant was purchased by Baron Jost Hite the following year.<ref name="Inez">{{cite book |title=Early Days and Methodism in Stephens City, Virginia, 1732–1905 |last=Steele |first=Inez Virginia |publisher=Geo. F. Norton Publishing (1906); Commercial Press (1994) |edition=1994 Reprint}}</ref>{{rp|1–2}}

Hite, a wealthy [[Protestantism|Protestant]] immigrant from [[Strasburg, Germany]], had settled in [[Kensington, New York]], before moving to [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]]. In 1732, Hite, his three sons-in-law, and a dozen other German and [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch-Irish]] families moved south and settled along [[Opequon Creek]], the present site of the [[John Hite House]].<ref name="persson"/>{{rp|2}}<ref name="Inez"/><ref name="odell">{{cite book | title=Pioneers of Old Frederick County, Virginia | publisher=Walsworth Publishing Company | author=O'Dell, Cecil | year=1995 | location=Marceline, Missouri | pages=310–315}}</ref> One of the men who had traveled with Hite, [[Peter Stephens (pioneer)|Peter Stephens]], received a land grant of {{convert|674|acre|ha|abbr=off}} and settled {{convert|2|mi|km}} further south where he built a log house.<ref name="Inez"/><ref name="odell"/> Stephens was also a German Protestant and had immigrated from [[Heidelberg]].<ref name="Inez"/>{{rp|3}}

Peter's house was built on the north side of Crooked Run, later renamed Stephens Run. Peter, his wife, Mary (Maria Christen Rittenhouse), and their children were soon joined by others who built homes in the surrounding area.<ref name="lehman">{{cite book | title=The Story of Frederick County | author=Lehman, Sam | year=1989}}</ref><ref name="Images of America">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QBh5RMFPlTMC&pg=PA7 |title=Images of America: Stephens City |date=October 6, 2008 |access-date=May 20, 2012 |last1=Fravel |first1=Linden A. |last2=Smith |first2=Byron C. |publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]] |isbn=9780738554396 |archive-date=February 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216114541/https://books.google.com/books?id=QBh5RMFPlTMC&pg=PA7 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|7}}  The oldest Stephens child, Ludwig (Lewis), was by that time an adult and operated a tavern at the family homestead. In the 1740s and 1750s, Lewis acquired land from Hite, Fairfax, and Peter Rittenhouse.<ref name="Images of America"/>{{rp|7}} His land holding was expanded to {{convert|900|acre|ha|abbr=off}} in 1755 when Peter conveyed {{convert|424|acre|ha|abbr=off}} to Lewis.<ref name="odell"/><ref name="Images of America"/>

During the [[French and Indian War]], Lewis made plans to establish a town, citing the need for a central area where locals could gather to defend themselves from possible attack.<ref name="Images of America"/> In 1754 Lewis began laying out the town, composed of 80 0.5-acre (0.2 ha) lots and 60 1-acre (0.4 ha) lots.<ref name="kalbian">{{cite book | title=Frederick County, Virginia: History Through Architecture | publisher=Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society | author=Kalbian, Maral S. | year=1999 | location=Winchester, Virginia | isbn=9780923198114}}</ref>{{rp|184}}<ref name="History">{{cite web |url=http://newtownhistorycenter.org/town-history/ |title=Town History |access-date=November 17, 2007 |last=Smith |first=Byron C. |publisher=Newtown History Center of the Stone House Foundation (released under the [[GFDL]]) |archive-date=February 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216204404/http://newtownhistorycenter.org/town-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On September 21, 1758, Lewis petitioned the colonial government of Virginia in [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] for a town charter. The [[Virginia General Assembly]] approved the charter for the town of "Stephensburgh" on October 12, 1758, making it the second oldest town in [[Frederick County, Virginia|Frederick County]].<ref name="Images of America"/> Among the town's 900 acres, a market house, [[common land|common]], and three town wells were [[plat]]ted.<ref name="lehman"/> The mostly German-speaking residents soon left off the "h" in Stephensburgh; the town was usually spelled "Stephensburg". By the start of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], Stephensburg was often called simply "New Town" or "Newtown", as the new settlement on the [[Great Wagon Road]] south of [[Winchester, Virginia|Winchester]].<ref name="History"/> During the war, local [[Patriot (American Revolution)|patriots]] who fought for the [[Continental Army]] included Gabriel Stephens, one of Peter Stephens' grandsons, who was captured at [[Fort Washington (Manhattan)|Fort Washington]] along with other Newtown soldiers.<ref name="Images of America"/>{{rp|8}}

Newtown continued to grow after the war, and by the 1790s, the town limits were expanded north and Newtown's first post office opened.<ref name=rurallandmarks/>{{rp|176}}<ref name="History"/> Shenandoah Valley and Newtown's central location at the intersection of the [[Valley Pike]] and a route connecting [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]] with the [[Cumberland Gap]], today's [[Virginia State Route 277|Route 277]], attracted heavy traffic through the region, and wagon-making emerged as an important industry for the town.<ref name="kalbian"/>{{rp|185}} Local artisans operated over a dozen wagonmaking shops in Newtown, supplying wagons throughout the state.<ref name="Inez"/>{{rp|185}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Martin, Joseph |title=A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia and the District of Columbia |url=https://archive.org/details/newcomprehensive00mart |year=1835|publisher=Charlottesville, J. Martin }}</ref> By 1830, the town's population had reached 800.<ref>{{cite book |author=Howe, Henry |title=Historical Collections of Virginia |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalcolle03howegoog |year=1845|publisher=Charleston, S.C., Babcock & co. }}</ref> In 1853, free African Americans began a settlement about a mile east of town near the intersection of present-day Route 277 and [[Virginia State Route 641|Double Church Road]] which became known as "Crossroads" or "Freetown", which lasted until after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. After the January 1, 1863, [[Emancipation Proclamation]], some of the newly freed slaves worked for [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] commanders and many of the already free African Americans left the area.<ref name="History"/><ref name="noyalas">{{cite book | title=Two People, One Community: The African American Experience in Newtown (Stephens City), Virginia, 1850-1870 | publisher=Commercial Press, Inc. | author=Noyalas, Jonathan A. | year=2007 | location=Stephens City, Virginia | pages=6, 29}}</ref>

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the majority of Newtown's young men joined [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] forces. During the war, the town was "between the lines", nominally controlled by the Union but with much Confederate [[Partisan (military)|partisan]] activity.<ref name="History"/><ref name="Steele">{{cite book |title=Between the Lines: The Civil War Diaries, Letters and Memoirs of the Steele Family of Newtown/Stephens City, Va., 1861 to 1864 |last=Fravel |first=Linden A.}}</ref> On May 24,&nbsp;1862, [[Stonewall Jackson]]'s Confederate [[Jackson's Valley Campaign|forces]] advanced northward on the Valley Pike and attacked Union troops, who were retreating at the time. At Newtown, General [[George Henry Gordon]] of the [[2nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry|Second Massachusetts Infantry]] ordered his Federal troops to make a stand. The skirmishing involved heavy artillery fire, but Gordon's men retreated without loss of the important supply wagons. When Gordon left the town to Jackson's forces, both sides claimed a victory. Throughout the day control of the town changed hands six times between Union and Confederate forces.<ref name="Inez"/>{{rp|16}}<ref name="History"/>

In June 1864, Major Joseph K. Stearns of the 1st New York Cavalry arrived under orders to burn the town down to help stop Confederate ambushes on the wagon road. Because the remaining population mostly consisted of women, children and the elderly, Stearns allowed the town to stand. He required the adult residents to take the "[[Ironclad oath]]",<ref name="IroncladOath">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yugEHKEhOnAC&q=%22Newtown%22%20%22Virginia%22%20%22Ironclad%20Oath%22&pg=PA192 |title=Beleaguered Winchester: a Virginia community at war, 1861–1865 |year=2007 |access-date=June 1, 2010 |last=Duncan |first=Richard R. |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |pages=192, 255 |isbn=978-0-8071-3217-3 |archive-date=February 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216114526/https://books.google.com/books?id=yugEHKEhOnAC&q=%22Newtown%22%20%22Virginia%22%20%22Ironclad%20Oath%22&pg=PA192 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="IroncladOath2">Duncan, p. 255</ref> in which they swore that they had not voluntarily provided aid to the Confederacy. The government required the oath, effectively excluding ex-Confederates from the political arena during the [[Reconstruction era]].<ref name="History"/>

In April&nbsp;1867, the Virginia General Assembly granted a charter to the Winchester and Strasburg Railroad Company. The company was authorized to construct a rail line between Winchester and [[Strasburg, Virginia|Strasburg]], linking Newtown to the rest of the nation by railroad for the first time. Though the railroad improved the local economy, which had lagged after the end of the war, it decimated the wagon-building trade.<ref name="History"/> In 1880, the [[United States Post Office Department]], faced with nearly a dozen Newtowns in Virginia, announced that the local post office would be renamed "Pantops". This was changed to "Newtonfield" 16 days later. Dissatisfied with both names, the townsfolk chose "Stephens City".<ref name="History"/><ref name="PostOffice">{{cite journal |title=Frederick County Post Offices, Past and Present |journal=Winchester Frederick County Historical Society Journal |year=1987 |volume=2 |last=Wine |first=J. Floyd |publisher=Winchester Frederick County Historical Society |pages=44}}</ref>