Stephens City ( ) is an incorporated town in the southern part of Frederick County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 2,016 at the time of the 2020 census, and an estimated population of 2,096 in 2022.
History
Founding and early days
The area surrounding present-day Stephens City was originally inhabited for 12,000 years by Native Americans, including the Susquehannock, Lenape, Tuscarora, Catawba, Iroquois, and Cherokee. One of the largest groups, the Shawnee, had already left the area when European settlement began. The tribes that did remain were initially peaceful towards the settlers, but relations soured after resources and land were confiscated. The ancestors of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, received a land grant from King Charles II of England which included a large portion of modern Virginia. After discovering one of the grant's boundaries, the Potomac River, extended into the Alleghany Mountains and that others had also received grants west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a compromise was reached whereby these grant holders would keep their land. One of these grants, named the King's Grants, was acquired in 1730 by John and Isaac Vanmeter from Governor Sir William Gooch, 1st Baronet. The Vanmeter grant was purchased by Baron Jost Hite the following year.
Hite, a wealthy Protestant immigrant from Strasburg, Germany, had settled in Kensington, New York, before moving to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In 1732, Hite, his three sons-in-law, and a dozen other German and Scotch-Irish families moved south and settled along Opequon Creek, the present site of the John Hite House. One of the men who had traveled with Hite, Peter Stephens, received a land grant of and settled further south where he built a log house. The oldest Stephens child, Ludwig (Lewis), was by that time an adult and operated a tavern at the family homestead. In the 1740s and 1750s, Lewis acquired land from Hite, Fairfax, and Peter Rittenhouse. On September 21, 1758, Lewis petitioned the colonial government of Virginia in Williamsburg for a town charter. The Virginia General Assembly approved the charter for the town of "Stephensburgh" on October 12, 1758, making it the second oldest town in Frederick County. By 1830, the town's population had reached 800. In 1853, free African Americans began a settlement about a mile east of town near the intersection of present-day Route 277 and Double Church Road which became known as "Crossroads" or "Freetown", which lasted until after the Civil War. After the January 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation, some of the newly freed slaves worked for Union commanders and many of the already free African Americans left the area.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the majority of Newtown's young men joined Confederate forces. During the war, the town was "between the lines", nominally controlled by the Union but with much Confederate partisan activity. On May 24, 1862, Stonewall Jackson's Confederate forces advanced northward on the Valley Pike and attacked Union troops, who were retreating at the time. At Newtown, General George Henry Gordon of the Second Massachusetts Infantry ordered his Federal troops to make a stand. The skirmishing involved heavy artillery fire, but Gordon's men retreated without loss of the important supply wagons. When Gordon left the town to Jackson's forces, both sides claimed a victory. Throughout the day control of the town changed hands six times between Union and Confederate forces. in which they swore that they had not voluntarily provided aid to the Confederacy. The government required the oath, effectively excluding ex-Confederates from the political arena during the Reconstruction era.
20th century to present
thumb|left|150px|Signage upon entering the town's [[Newtown–Stephensburg Historic District]]
In the early 1900s limestone was discovered on the western side of Stephens City. Soon after a lime plant built by the M. J. Grove Lime Company began operations, near the Stephens City Station railway depot and the Stephens City Milling Company. This industrial area, nicknamed "Mudville", would later expand to include commercial businesses. The 20th century brought improvements to energy and domestic systems: electrical service was introduced in 1915; and in 1941, just before World War II, the town installed a water system.
The town surveyed its older buildings to establish architectural significance and to determine those that contributed to the town's historic center. The Newtown–Stephensburg Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August 1992. Among the contributing properties to the historic district are numerous 18th-century buildings, 19th-and-early-20th century homes and businesses, cemeteries, churches, and a school complex. The United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia ordered Frederick County schools desegregated (including those serving Stephens City) in Brown v. County School Board (1964). In 1994, Virgil E. Watson was elected as the first African American to serve on the Stephens City Town Council. Watson served for one term, from 1994 until 1998. It was one of a record 40 tornadoes to hit northern Virginia that day. Renovation of the town's historic center has attracted heritage tourism. Anticipating more growth, the town annexed of unincorporated Frederick County in 2005, another in 2006, and in 2007. In 2022 voters overwhelmingly approved a bond measure to rehabilitate and renovate the town's former school complex into a new town hall and community space.
Geography
The town is located between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in close proximity to West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Washington, D.C., is approximately to the east and the center of Baltimore is to the northeast by highway.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has an area of , of which , or 1.21%, are water.
Climate
Stephens City is located in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen climate classification: Cfa) or in the humid continental climate zone (Köppen Climate Classification: Dfa) if the isotherm is used (which would make it one of the few municipalities in Virginia to have this climate), exhibiting four distinct seasons. Its climate is typical of Mid-Atlantic U.S. areas removed from bodies of water. The town is located in plant hardiness zone 7 throughout the town and surrounding Frederick County, indicating a temperate climate. Spring and fall are warm, with low humidity, while winter is cool, with annual snowfall averaging . Average winter lows tend to be around from mid-December to mid-February. Blizzards affect Stephens City on average once every four to six years. The most violent nor'easters typically feature high winds, heavy rains, and occasional snow. These storms often affect large sections of the U.S. East Coast. The highest recorded temperature was in 1988, while the lowest recorded temperature was in 1983. Notes: Temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit. Precipitation includes rain and melted snow or sleet in inches; median values are provided for precipitation and snowfall because mean averages may be misleading. Mean and median values are for the 30-year period 1971–2000; temperature extremes are for the station's period of record (1900–2001). The station is located in 7 miles southeast of Winchester at approximately and at in elevation.
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