About

On the South Fork of the Shenandoah River in eastern Rockingham County, the grid-plan village of Port Republic was founded in 1802 and became a booming river port. It served as the shipping point for the agricultural and industrial products of the upper Shenandoah River section of Rockingham County until the 1890s when the railroad was built east of town. Through the town's collection of 19th-century vernacular buildings and its numerous archaeological sites can be traced the community's growth and decline. Port Republic gave its name to a Civil War battle, fought just to the north of town at the conclusion of Stonewall Jackson's Valley campaign of 1862. Today the Rockingham community preserves an open, almost rural quality with houses and outbuildings sprinkled among large lots. The most imposing structure, the Dundore House, is a 1760s log structure with a Federal-period brick section and still later stocky Doric portico.