Front Royal
is the Canoe Capital of Virginia offering
outdoor activities on the adventurous
Shenandoah River. This quaint town is the
gateway to the famous Skyline Drive, an
unforgettable drive through nature and all
it's wonder, with panoramic views from
overlooks.
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Conveniently located in the heart of the
Shenandoah Valley, Northern Virginia.
Surrounded by Clark, Fredrick,
Shenandoah, Page, Fauquier, and
Rappahannock Counties.
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Front Royal/Warren
County total land area
of 219 square miles. The rural part of
the County contains 209.9 square miles
and the
Town of Front
Royal covers 9.1
square miles.
-
Warren County
is included in the Washington,
D.C./Baltimore Metropolitan Statistical
Area, which, at 6.7 million, constitutes
the 4th largest U.S. Market.
About Front
Royal
Originally called LeHewtown (after Peter
LeHew, a French Huguenot who purchased 200
acres here in 1754), the Town was later
purchased by a group of real estate
speculators who arranged to have it
incorporated as Front Royal in 1788. Rail
service was established in 1854 with the
construction of the[Alexandria, Orange and
Manassas Gap Railroad between Manassas and
Riverton. This line was soon extended to
Strasburg in time to become a factor in the
Battle of Front Royal on May 23, 1862 and
throughout the Civil War. Lumber,
agriculture, manufacturing and grain mills
provided employment in the region for
decades after the Civil War.
Front Royal was also known as "Helltown" in
the 18th century, due to the readiness of
its residents to fight at the slightest
provocation. This was possibly due to the
abundance of rough and wild mountaineers and
river travelers in the area who came into
town looking for alcohol and women.
Front Royal is situated near the junction of
the North Fork and the South Fork of the
Shenandoah River.
The origin of the name "Front Royal" remains
uncertain. The first of two current versions
of the origin holds that, in early decades
of European settlement, the area was
referred to in French as "le front royal,"
meaning the British frontier. French
settlers, trappers, and explorers in the
Ohio Territory of the mid-1700's were
referring to the land grant made by King
Charles II, then in control of Thomas, Lord
Fairfax, Baron of Cameron. In English, "le
front royal" is translated to the "Royal
Frontier."
However, the more colorful and legendary
version of the origin of the name has it
that, during colonial days, a giant oak tree
- the "Royal" Tree of England - stood in the
public square where Chester and Main Streets
now join. It was there that the local
militia, composed of raw recruits slow to
learn military commands and maneuvers, were
drilled. On one occasion, the sorely tired
drill sergeant became so exasperated by the
clumsy efforts of his troops and their
failure to follow his command that he hit
upon a phrase that all could understand and
shouted, "front the Royal Oak!" Among the
spectators was a Mr. Forsythe who had been a
professional soldier. He was so amused by
the officer's coined order that he and his
friends found much sport in telling the
story, repeating "front the Royal Oak" until
Front Royal was the resulting derivation.
Government
Front Royal is the county-seat of Warren
County, Virginia. It has a six-member town
council with four-year terms.
City Council
Mayor James Eastham, 2004
Vice Mayor J. Daniel Pond III, 2002
Fred P. Foster, 2002
Joseph T. McDaniel, 2002
Stanley W. Brooks, Jr., 2004
Timothy W. Darr, 2004
M. Eileen Grady, 2004
Points of interest
Front Royal is the home of Randolph-Macon
Academy (founded 1893) which features an Air
Force JROTC program. Front Royal is also the
home of Christendom College and the
Smithsonian's Conservation and Research
Center.
Commercially, it is the home to a Virginia
Inland Port situated on Interstate 66.
Like many outer suburbs, Front Royal is
facing the challenge of providing jobs to
its community and preventing a slide into
being a bedroom community. It also faces
tensions between long-time residents, recent
(10-20 years ago) arrivals and newly-arrived
residents.
Front Royal is also home to the Avtex Fibers
Superfund Site. Once Virginia's largest
Superfund site, this former rayon
manufacturing facility is being recovered to
provide a 175 acre eco-friendly office park,
30 acres of soccer fields, and 240 acres of
conservancy park along the Shenandoah River.
Important tourist attractions include
Skyline Caverns, the northern entrance to
Shenandoah National Park, and Skyline Drive.
It also has a large number of American Civil
War attractions, both in the town and the
surrounding Shenandoah Valley.
The Front Royal Cardinals baseball team
joined the Valley League in 1984. Games are
played in Bing Crosby Stadium. Bing Crosby
donated the land and money to build the
original stadium when he became aware of
Front Royal in 1953 as a result of a fellow
Irish Catholic named Frank Nesbitt. In 1953,
Frank Nesbitt coached a Little League team
from Front Royal which came in 3rd in the
world tournament. Freddie Moore was one of
the players on that team. Freddie Moore
later became active in Front Royal Little
League. After Moore died of cancer one of
Front Royal's Little League fields was named
in his honor.
The Confederate Museum on Chester Street has
many interesting artifacts from the 1860's.
Front Royal has been designated the canoe
capital of Virginia
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were
13,589 people, 5,425 households, and 3,585
families residing in the town. The
population density was 565.4/km˛
(1,464.9/mi˛). There were 5,752 housing
units at an average density of 239.3/km˛
(620.1/mi˛). The racial makeup of the town
was 88.31% White, 8.68% African American,
0.28% Native American, 0.63% Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races,
and 1.40% from two or more races. Hispanic
or Latino of any race were 2.13% of the
population.
There were 5,425 households out of which
32.2% had children under the age of 18
living with them, 46.8% were married couples
living together, 14.1% had a female
householder with no husband present, and
33.9% were non-families. 28.9% of all
households were made up of individuals and
12.5% had someone living alone who was 65
years of age or older. The average household
size was 2.46 and the average family size
was 3.01.
In the town the population was spread out
with 25.7% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18
to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to
64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or
older. The median age was 37 years. For
every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there
were 86.0 males.
The median income for a household in the
town was $34,786, and the median income for
a family was $42,675. Males had a median
income of $32,373 versus $24,182 for
females. The per capita income for the town
was $17,901. About 9.1% of families and
14.8% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 15.2% of those under
age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over.
Information
obtained by Wikipedia®
In Support of the Troops
