Cross Keys/Goods Mill Historical Society

New!

Shunpiking audio CDs and note cards featuring Valley artist John Heatwole

Shenandoah Shunpiking Audio Tour CDs and note card sets featuring the wood carvings of Valley artist John Heatwole are now available for sale online! In addition, order the newly revised Stonewall Jackson Valley Campaign booklett "If this Valley is lost, Virginia is lost!" published by the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. Proceeds benefit the Cross Keys-Goods Mill Historical Society.

Click here for more information and to go to the Cross Keys-Goods Mill Historical Society store.

The Widow Pence Farm:

A Virginia 'worm fence' stretched along the north boundary of the Widow Pence Farm marks the bloody events of June 8, 1862. On this site, Union General Julius Stahel's 8th New York regiment, composed of mostly non-English-speaking German and Hungarian soldiers, was stunned and received a devestating surprise volley from General I. Ridgeway Trimble's rebel forces.

Crouched behind the wooden rails, stuffed with leaves to further conceal their position, they waited for the approaching yankees. General Trimble ordered them to hold their fire until "they saw the tops of the shoes". As the unsuspecting immigrants reached the crest of the hill, only about fifty yards from the fence, the Confederates rose swiftly to their feet and unleashed a savage volley of fire that echoed through the valley. In a matter of minutes, the 8th New York would lose over half of their men in casualties.

Aerial view of the "Widow Pence Farm" in Cross Keys, Virginia

Once a witness to the despair and destruction of the American Civil War, the "Widow Pence Farm" stands silent and peaceful today...remarkably unchanged for over one hundred fifty years.

The Cross Keys-Goods Mill Historical Society

Today the Widow Pence Farm has been preserved to honor these brave soldiers, from the North and South, who fought...giving the ultimate price for the freedom they both believed in.

In 2002, the Cross Keys/Goods Mill Historical Society was established to help promote and preserve this area's rich local heritage.

As a 501(3)(C) non-profit organization, the Society is grateful for the support, advice and assistance from numerous individuals and companies, some of which include:

Janet & Earl Downs

John L. Heatwole

Dan & Julie Stickley

Lyall O. Steger, Jr.

Sharon Hill Price

Steven H. Hill

Michael G. Hill

The Copernicus Group

Brandt Research Consulting

Marguerite Mangum

Bernard K. Huston

Dr. & Mrs. Howard A. Pope

The Calvary Class of the Mill Creek Church of the Brethren

Two Rivers

Irvin & Nancy Hess

Litten & Sipe, LLP

S.B. Hoover & Company, LLP

J.B. Yount

Diane & Donald Moyer

Arts Council of Virginia

American History Forum, Inc.

Rebecca K. Feaster

Bill Watson

Vern & Mary Jane Michael

Valley Conservation Council

Rod & Beth Miller

Mr. & Mrs Richard Myers

Justice George M. Cochran

Michael A. Godfrey