Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Shenandoah, VA

Shenandoah is a town in Page County in the Shenandoah Valley, nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Massanutten Ridge along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River.

The town was founded in 1837 by two brothers, Daniel and Henry Forrer, who settled there to exploit the area's iron ore deposits, hardwood, high-grade limestone, and waterpower.

On February 20, 1838, the Forrers established the town's first post office under the name Shenandoah Iron Works, with Henry Forrer as postmaster.

During the Civil War, three iron furnaces around Shenandoah smelted pig iron that was hauled by wagon to Gordonsville and then by rail to Richmond's Tredegar Iron Works, and local furnaces also cast cannonballs for the Confederacy.

A devastating flood on September 28-29, 1870, destroyed between 30 and 60 buildings and wiped out nearly the entire developed portion of the town.

Industrialist William Milnes Jr., who bought the iron works in 1866, spearheaded the Shenandoah Valley Railroad and made Shenandoah the midpoint of the line between Roanoke, Virginia, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The Big Gem Cast Iron Furnace, completed in 1882, produced about 110 tons of iron a day and famously lit up the whole town at night when molten cinder was poured down its bank; its 68.6-acre site is now Big Gem Park.

The town was incorporated on February 12, 1884, under the name Milnes, and in 1890 its name was changed to Shenandoah City, later shortened to Shenandoah.

The 2020 census counted 2,486 residents in Shenandoah, and the 2000 census had recorded 764 households in the town.

Downtown Shenandoah was struck by major fires on May 23, 2006, and again on March 27, 2007, and the Commonwealth of Virginia later funded beautification of its First Street main street.