Crimora is a census-designated place (CDP) in Augusta County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Crimora had a population of 2,219. It is part of the Staunton–Waynesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Crimora is located at (38.160845, −78.839088).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.1&nbsp;square miles (8.0&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), all land.

History

What put Crimora on the map was the open-pit Crimora Manganese Mine that started in 1866. The mineral manganese was used in the production of steel. Mining at Crimora continued intermittently under a series of owners until March 1946. The Crimora deposit is about 500&nbsp;feet wide, 200&nbsp;feet deep, and half a mile long and consists of clay with scattered lumps of manganese ore. It lies under a layer of clay and quartz fragments about 15&nbsp;feet thick. The Crimora deposit produced more manganese than any other single deposit in the United States and, at one time, the mining operations there were among the largest in the world.

The mines are located at the foothills of the mountains of the Shenandoah National Park. They are two miles east of Crimora Station on the Norfolk Southern Railway formerly known as the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. Crimora Station was located at milepost 136.9 but the station is no longer there. The remains of the mine consist of three adjoining man-made lakes that range from 20 to 100&nbsp;feet deep, with underwater shafts connecting multiple water sources around the Crimora area.

The Coiner House and Crimora School are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Transportation

Crimora is located roughly five miles north of Waynesboro on U.S. Route 340, known as Eastside Highway. It is a U.S primary and has locally been called "The Bloody Highway" because of the above average crash statistics for Augusta County. Route 340 was widened to a five-lane, unlimited access highway in 2002 in Crimora's village center but it is only 0.6 mile in length. VDOT plans to eventually widen North 340 from Waynesboro to Grottoes.

Points of interest

Turk Mountain is the prominent landmark of Crimora and has a giant boulder on the north end of its summit. The boulder is accessible by foot from the Shenandoah National Park and The Appalachian Trail; the overlook has views of Crimora and surrounding areas. Turk Mountain Lane is a collector road that has a terminus directly below the Turk Mountain overlook and is the southern limit of Crimora's CDA (Community Development Area).90% of Crimora's newest housing stock has sprung up near Turk Mountain Lane in Northwood and Vesper View Subdivisions. The final phase of Vesper View is not yet built.

Other landmarks include Davis Mountain and Wildcat Ridge seen on the northern end of Crimora's Sampson area. The Crimora Overlook is an automobile friendly pull off that lies directly on the Shenandoah National Park and can be seen above Wildcat Ridge on a summit further east. The Crimora Community Center is a historic landmark that was built as a school in 1920. Around 2005 Augusta County built a town park beside the community center on the banks of the South River.

A local landmark is the Purple Cow Drive-In, a former ice-cream stand currently unoccupied. The old Purple Cow sign—a cow head on a pole, painted in purple and white—still exists and led to the street name Purple Cow Road.

Demographics

|2020= 2219

As of the census

  • Maven Huffman – Former professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment

References

  • Local news
  • E. K. Judd. "The Crimora Manganese Mine" Engineering and Mining Journal. Volume 83. 9 March 1907. p.&nbsp;478.