Front Royal is the only incorporated town in

Warren County, Virginia Warren County is a U.S. county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The 2020 census places Warren County within the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area with a population of 40,727. The county seat is ...

, United States. The population was 15,011 at the 2020 census. It is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Warren County.

History

American Viscose Plant Front Royal VA postcard

The entire

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge- ...

including the area to become Front Royal was annexed and claimed for hunting by the

Iroquois Confederation The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

during the later

Beaver Wars The Beaver Wars ( moh, Tsianì kayonkwere), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (french: Guerres franco-iroquoises) were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout t ...

, by 1672. Some bands of the

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

settled in the area as client groups to the Iroquois and alternately to the Cherokee after 1721. The Iroquois formally sold their entire claim east of the Alleghenies to the

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

at the

Treaty of Lancaster The Six Nations land cessions were a series of land cessions by the Haudenosaunee and Lenape which ceded large amounts of land, including both recently conquered territories acquired from other indigenous peoples in the Beaver Wars and ancestral ...

in 1744. Front Royal, originally settled in 1754 under the name LeHewtown, had been known to European explorers as early as the 1670s, and the nearby settlement of Chester's Ferry was in existence by 1736. The town also had a well-known nickname by the 1790s, "Helltown," due to the many livestock wranglers and boatmen on the Shenandoah coming through the area, who came into town looking for alcohol. It was 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 The Battle of Front Royal, also known as Guard Hill or Cedarville, was fought on May 23, 1862, during the American Civil War, as part of Jackson's Valley campaign. Confederate forces commanded by Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson w ...

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. The American Viscose rayon plant, once Front Royal's principal employer, with 3,000 workers at its peak, operated between the 1930s and 1989. The plant manufactured rayon for tires during World War II and later produced rayon for rocket nozzles for the Defense Department and the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...

Etymology

Several theories regarding the origins of the name "Front Royal" have been suggested. A common theory is that the town was named for a giant

oak tree An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...

– the "Royal" Tree of England – that stood in the public square during colonial days where Chester and Main Streets now join. It was there that the local militia were drilled. During drills, a frequent command given by the drill sergeant was, "front the Royal Oak!" The command was repeated and eventually shortened to simply "Front Royal". This theory is supported by a bulletin published by the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

in 1905, which states that the town was first known as Royal Oak, with the current name being derived from the commands of a confused colonel. A second account holds that when local militia were stationed around the town during the American Revolution, the sentry would call out "Front", to which the required entry password was to respond "Royal". Eventually their military post became known as "Camp Front Royal". A third version 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 Country of the mid-18th century 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". The name was in common usage by 1788, when the town was incorporated as "Front-Royal."

Geography

Front Royal is approximately west of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Middletown, 12.5 (20 km) miles east of Strasburg and 26.3 miles (42 km) northeast of

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

. According to the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (2.52%) is water. In 2014, the town annexed additional land, increasing the town's total land area to . Front Royal is located at the confluence of the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

Forks of the Shenandoah River.

Climate

Front Royal experiences a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

, with summer highs in the low to mid 80s and winter lows in the upper 20s. Front Royal averages 43 inches of precipitation per year, with 24 inches of snowfall per year.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 13,589 people, 5,425 households, and 3,585 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 1,464.9 people per square mile (565.4/km²). There were 5,752 housing units at an average density of 620.1 per square mile (239.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 88.31%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 8.68%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.28% Native American, 0.63%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 0.66% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.40% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

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 Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

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 Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $17,901. About 9.1% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Front Royal owns and manages the town's Economic Development Authority, an independent agency responsible for promoting economic development within the town.

Arts and culture

Attractions

Front Royal is the home of

Randolph-Macon Academy Randolph-Macon Academy (R-MA) is a coeducational private boarding school with an elite Air Force JROTC component. R-MA serves students in grades 6-12 and maintains 100% college acceptance rate every year with each class averaging over $14 million ...

(founded 1892) which features an Air Force

JROTC The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC -- commonly pronounced "JAY-rotsee") is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military ...

program. Front Royal is also the home of

Christendom College Christendom College is a Catholic liberal arts college in Front Royal, Virginia, United States, located in the Shenandoah Valley. It is endorsed by The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College and has been characterized as a conservative Catho ...

and the

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) is a unit of the Smithsonian Institution located on a campus located just outside the town of Front Royal, Virginia. An extension of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., the SCBI has played ...

(SCBI). Along with these institutions are the two rival high schools, Skyline High School and Warren County High School. Commercially, Front Royal hosts the Virginia Inland Port, a

U.S. Customs The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted ...

-designated

port of entry In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. Internati ...

, situated on U.S. Route 522. Bing Crosby Stadium

Front Royal is home to the Avtex Fibers

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

Site. Once Virginia's largest Superfund site, remediation activities at this former

rayon Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose f ...

manufacturing facility have been ongoing since 1989. The site is intended to eventually house a eco-friendly office park, of soccer fields, and of conservancy park along the Shenandoah River. The plant, which was built by the

American Viscose Corporation American Viscose Corporation was an American division of the British firm Courtaulds, which manufactured rayon and other synthetic fibres. The company operated from 1910 to 1976 when it was renamed Avtex. Avtex closed in 1990. History Establish ...

in the 1930s and at one time employed nearly 3,500 workers, was closed in 1989 after being cited for more than 2,000 environmental violations over five years, including emissions of

polychlorinated biphenyl Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...

s (PCBs) into the Shenandoah River. The plant's main buildings were demolished in 1997 as part of the cleanup. The

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...

's Canine Center Front Royal is located in Front Royal. This facility has trained dogs and their handlers in various detection abilities for federal and law enforcement agencies since 1974. The

Front Royal Cardinals The Front Royal Cardinals are a collegiate summer baseball team in Front Royal, Virginia, USA, playing in the northern division of the Valley Baseball League. They play their home games at Bing Crosby Stadium, which is located within the Warren ...

baseball team joined the

Valley League A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

in 1984. Games are played in Bing Crosby Stadium.

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

helped raise funds for the building of the original stadium by arranging for his film '' Riding High'' to have its world premiere in Front Royal on April 1, 1950. Crosby's initial involvement came about on April 30, 1948, when after acting as grand marshal of the Grand Feature Parade of the 21st.

Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival ("The Bloom") is a 14-day festival held annually in spring in Winchester, Virginia. First held in 1924, it is one of the oldest civic celebrations in the Commonwealth of Virginia. History The festival was f ...

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

, he went on to Front Royal where he sang on the courthouse steps as part of a concert to help raise money for a new stadium. Bing was the first contributor to the Front Royal Recreation Center Building Fund when he donated $1,000. On April 1, 1950, Front Royal celebrated "Bing Crosby Day" and starting at 11 a.m., Crosby led a two-hour parade through the streets in front of a crowd of 20,000 to Recreation Park for the dedication of the baseball stadium. Park Theater was the venue for the official world premiere of ''Riding High'' at 8:30 p.m. where Crosby entertained the audience with several songs. During his appearance at the Park Theater, Bing wrote out a personal check for $3,595 to bring the gross receipts of the day to $15,000. In 1953, Frank Nesbitt coached a

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

Museum on Chester Street has many interesting artifacts from the 1860s, as have the museum buildings of the Warren Heritage Society, the Ivy Lodge (c. 1859), the Belle Boyd Cottage (c. 1836) and the Balthis House (c. 1788). Front Royal was designated the "Canoe Capital of Virginia" in February 1999.

National Register of Historic Places

Within Front Royal, the following buildings, properties and districts are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Government

The mayor and town council are Front Royal's elected officials. The mayor is Chris W. Holloway, and members of the town council are Lori Cockrell, Gary Gillispie, Christopher Holloway, Scott Lloyd, Joseph McFadden, Jacob Meza, and Letasha Thompson.

Education

The Samuels Public Library is the town's public library. Its history goes back to 1799 as Virginia's second subscription library, in 1836 it was formed as the Front Royal Library Society, Bernard Samuels donated a building in 1952, and its current building opened to the public in 2009.

Primary and secondary schools

* Mountain Laurel Montessori School * A.S. Rhodes Elementary School * Blue Ridge Technical Center * E.W. Morrison Elementary School * Hilda J. Barbour Elementary School * Leslie Fox Keyser Elementary School * Ressie Jeffries Elementary School * Skyline Middle School * Warren County Middle School * Brighter Futures Learning Community * Mountain Vista Governor's School * Skyline High School * Warren County High School * Chelsea Academy (grades 4-12) * Randolph-Macon Academy (grades 6-12)

Colleges and universities

* Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation *

Media

Three radio stations and two weekly newspapers are based and licensed to Front Royal. On radio, FM stations

WZRV WZRV (95.3 FM) is a classic hits formatted broadcast radio station. The station is licensed to Front Royal, Virginia and serves the Northern Shenandoah Valley in Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in ...

and WFQX are licensed to the town. WZRV is actually based in Front Royal, while WFQX is based in nearby

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

. Also, on radio, AM station

WFTR WFTR is a sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Front Royal, Virginia, serving Front Royal and Warren County, Virginia Warren County is a U.S. county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The 2020 census places Warren Coun ...

is based and licensed to the town. ''

The Northern Virginia Daily ''The Northern Virginia Daily'' is a daily newspaper based in Strasburg, Virginia, serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley, including Shenandoah County, Frederick County, Clarke County, Warren County and the City of Winchester. The newspaper has ...

'' is a daily newspaper serving the area. Weekly newspapers ''The Sherando Times'' and ''The Warren County Report'' are based in Front Royal. ''The Warren County Report'' serves Warren County, while ''The Sherando Times'' serves the Stephens City, Middletown, and Kernstown areas of nearby

Frederick County, Virginia Frederick County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,419. Its county seat is Winchester. The county was formed in 1743 by the splitting of Orange County. It is Virginia's northernmost county ...

. ''The Warren Sentinel'' is the county's oldest newspaper, dating back over 150 years. It is published each Thursday.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Front Royal is located at the intersection of US 340 and

US 522 U.S. Route 522 (US 522) is a spur route of US 22 in the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The U.S. Highway travels in a north-south direction, and runs from US 60 near Powhatan, Virginia, to its northern terminus a ...

. SR 55 also passes through Front Royal.

I-66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washing ...

passes just north of Front Royal. Virginia Regional Transit operates the Front Royal Trolley, which provides local bus service. Ride Smart Northern Shenandoah Valley provides commuter bus service between Front Royal and the DC area. The state-operated Virginia Breeze intercity bus provides service between Blacksburg and DC and stops in Front Royal.

Popular Culture

In James Axler's Deathlands series, central protagonist Ryan Cawdor is a native of Front Royal and visits the town several times throughout the series.

Notable people

* Dana Allison, professional baseball player. * Howard Klein, pianist and former music critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' * J. Hillis Miller Sr., fourth president of the University of Florida. * W. K. Stratton, actor, most notable role was in the TV series

Black Sheep Squadron ''Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (renamed ''Black Sheep Squadron'' for the second season) is an American television series that aired on NBC from September 23, 1976, until April 6, 1978. It was part historical drama, period military drama, part comedy. I ...

. *

Darrell Whitmore Darrell Lamont Whitmore (born November 18, 1968) is an American former professional baseball player for the Cleveland Indians and Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB) and was a college football and baseball player for the West Virgini ...

, professional baseball player. * Emily Thomas, veterinarian, known for '' The Incredible Dr. Pol''.

References

External links

*
Front Royal Tourism Info

Front Royal/Warren County Chamber of Commerce

Warren Heritage Society
{{authority control Towns in Virginia Towns in Warren County, Virginia County seats in Virginia Populated places established in 1788 1788 establishments in Virginia