On the South Fork of the Shenandoah River in eastern Rockingham County, the grid-plan village of Port Republic was founded in 1802 and became a booming river port. It served as the shipping point for the agricultural and industrial products of the upper Shenandoah River section of Rockingham County until the 1890s when the railroad was built east of town. Through the town’s collection of 19th-century vernacular buildings and its numerous archaeological sites can be traced the community’s growth and decline. Port Republic gave its name to a Civil War battle, fought just to the north of town at the conclusion of Stonewall Jackson’s Valley campaign of 1862. Today the Rockingham community preserves an open, almost rural quality with houses and outbuildings sprinkled among large lots. The most imposing structure, the Dundore House, is a 1760s log structure with a Federal-period brick section and still later stocky Doric portico.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia