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The Shenandoah Valley region of western Virginia , from Winchester to Staunton , is bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Appalachian and Allegheny Plateaus to the west. It is located within the Ridge And Valley Region. GEOGRAPHY Harrisonburg , a moderately sized city, Waynesboro , and Front Royal , smaller cities, are located in the Valley. The region includes the eastern panhandle of West Virginia and the cities of Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry . Down the center of the Shenandoah Valley runs the Massanutten Mountain range, encompassing Powell's Fort Valley in Shenandoah County . Geologically, the Shenandoah Valley reaches as far as , Clarke County , Warren County , Shenandoah County , Page County , Rockingham County , and Augusta County . HISTORY The word ''Shenandoah'' was derived from a Native American expression for "Beautiful Daughter of the Stars." The Valley Pike (or Valley Turnpike) began as a Migratory trail for tribes such as the Delaware and Catawba and became the major thoroughfare of Wagons and in time, motor vehicles. By the 20th Century , the Valley Turnpike was a Toll Road , eventually being acquired by the Commonwealth Of Virginia and becoming U.S. Highway 11 . For much of the length, the newer Interstate 81 parallels the old Valley Pike. The Shenandoah Valley is a productive agricultural region. Despite the great promise of the rich farmland of the Valley, the Blue Ridge Mountains , crossed by Governor Alexander Spotswood 's legendary Knights Of The Golden Horseshoe Expedition at Swift Run Gap in 1716 , were a major obstacle to colonial expansion from the east. Instead, the Valley was first settled by German and then by Scots-Irish immigrants from Pennsylvania in the 1730s . The former were known as "Shenandoah Deitsch ". Both stocks came south into the Valley from the Potomac River , in contrast to the largely English settlement of the Virginia Tidewater and Piedmont regions. The Shenandoah Valley was a major site of battles in the American Civil War , and it is also the location of the Shenandoah Valley American Viticultural Area . SEE ALSO
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