Mount Jackson

This area was a Native American hunting territory before settlers of European descent arrived early in the 18th century. Fertile land and powerful streams supported an agricultural and milling economy. In 1826 the Virginia General Assembly established the town of Mount Jackson here in a community formerly known as Mount Pleasant. Named for Andrew Jackson, later U.S. president, the town became a regional transportation hub because of the Valley Turnpike, built in the 1830s to improve previous roads, and the Manassas Gap Railroad, extended here in 1859. Union and Confederate troops passed through frequently during the Civil War, and several Confederate hospitals were established here.