Deyerle 2015, Part
One: Port Republic and Timberville
Every fall, the Massanutten Regional Library is pleased to
present the Deyerle Lecture Series at the Central Library at 7pm on Thursday
nights. The programs are made possible
by a grant from the Dr. Henry Deyerle family.
On Thursday, October 1st, we are going to take a
virtual tour of Port Republic and the Port Republic Museum. Before the bridges
were burned or flooded, Port Republic was once a bustling town of industry,
gundalows, ferries, iron works, canneries, mills, and tanneries. It is also the original home of Wetsel Seeds.
John Madison, the cousin of James Madison, built Madison
Hall in 1751 upon a hill overlooking the fields and rivers. He created Mount Vernon Furnace, which was
the beginning of the iron industry in Port Republic. The Port Republic Foundry made everything
from kettles and fences to the sickle of the famous McCormick Reaper.
Unfortunately, it took an entire acre of forest to create one By 1870, twenty-nine thousand
acres were deforested.
Port Republic was registered as a Virginia Historic Landmark
in 1966 and was listed in the National
Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Come by the Central Library around 7pm Thursday to find out more.
The following Thursday, on October 8th at 7pm,
local historian Bev Garber, author of Timberville: The Early Years, and
creator and guide of the Timberville
Walking Tour will guide us through
the streets and past of Fort Run, Williamsport, Riddle’s Tavern or now what is
commonly known as Timberville.
Did you know that Timberville once had a pillow factory, or
that it is the home of the first egg distribution center? Thanks to the Church of the Brethren, it was
also home to an Orphanage and an “Old Folks Home.” Why did Lindberg choose to land here? Why was there a German Prisoner of War camp
here? You’ll have to attend the program
to find out the answers and much more.
contact Cheryl Metz at
cmetz@mrlib.org 
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