Editing Gainesville, Virginia (section)

===20th century===
Gainesville became a shipping point for [[grain]], [[timber]], and [[cattle]] and remained a major cattle shipping point into the early 1960s. During the [[American Civil War]], Gainesville was occupied by both Confederate and Union armies and nearby Thoroughfare Gap in the [[Bull Run Mountains]] served as a path for soldiers to reach the [[First Battle of Bull Run|First]] and [[Second Battle of Bull Run|Second]] battles of Bull Run. Into the early 1940s the [[Southern Railway (US)|Southern Railway]] operated passenger service from [[Harrisonburg, Virginia|Harrisonburg]] and Strasburg Junction through Gainesville, to Manassas and Washington's Union Station.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Southern Railway, Table 13 |journal=Official Guide of the Railways |publisher=National Railway Publication Company |volume=74 |issue=1 |date=June 1941}}</ref> In 1994, the groundbreaking for Gainesville's first townhome community began; it was named Crossroads.  This marked the beginning of mass-development for Gainesville.