Then and Now

Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park preserves, protects, and interprets the rich history of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Explore the "Then and Now" feature to compare the past and present. What has changed? What has stayed the same? Select the icon displayed in the center of each image, a circle with two arrows pointing in the opposite directions. Slide this icon to the left or to the right to view the overlayed set of images.

 

Belle Grove Plantation

Left image
Belle Grove, 2025
Credit: NPS

Right image
Belle Grove, 1883
Credit: United States Military History Institute

In the 1880s, members of the Sheridan's Veterans Association visted Civil War battlefields in the Shenandoah Valley. Former US and Confederate soldiers, along with their families, gathered at places like Belle Grove Plantation.

One attendee recalled, "Horsemen are galloping from point to point, an interested group is over inspecting the Vermont monument, veterans and ladies are roaming up and down the pike; Sixth Corps men are reconnoitering their old position; the Nineteenth Corps breastworks and the rolling plain are dotted with excursionists."

 

128th New York Monument

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128th New York Monument, 2025
Credit: NPS

Right image
128th New York Monument, 1907
Credit: NPS

On October 15, 1907, veterans of the 128th New York Regiment met on the Cedar Creek battlefield to dedicate a monument. These men, along with the rest of the US 19th Corps, had borne the brunt of the Confederate attack against their entrenched position. 

The monument is a stop on a self-guided driving tour of the battlefield. From here you can also walk the woodland trails which follow a line of trenches built by the US 19th Corps. 

 

Ramseur Monument

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Ramseur Monument, 2025
Credit: NPS

Right image
Ramseur Monument, 1920
Credit: Wilson Library, University of North Carolina 

A monument to Confederate General Stephen D. Ramseur is at the northwest corner of Belle Grove Road and Valley Pike (US Route 11). On October 19, 1864, General Ramseur was mortally wounded at Cedar Creek, taken prisoner, and brought to Belle Grove where he died the next day. The North Carolina Division of the Daughters of the Confederacy erected and dedicated the monument in 1920. 

 

St. Thomas Chapel

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Chapel Interior, 2025
Credit: NPS

Right image
Sketch of Chapel Interior, 1864
Credit: Western Reserve Historical Society

St. Thomas Chapel became a field hospital following the Battle of Cedar Creek. Newspaper correspondent James E. Taylor sketched and described the gruesome scene inside: 

"My stay within the edifice was longer than I had anticipated owing to the intricate architectural embellishment taxing my pencil’s time. Among the soldiers being repaired were some Blue Coats that had been wounded in the morning’s surprise in the vicinity, a federal surgeon was doing the operating. As I made my last crayon stroke, he was in the act of amputating a limb of a stalwart calvaryman - but I did not stop to see the repulsive sight and hurried out."

 

Bowman-Hite Farm

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Bowman-Hite Farm, 2025
Credit: NPS

Right image
Bowman-Hite Farm, 1960s
Credit: NPS

The Bowman-Hite Farm was once one of the most profitable farms in Warren County. Confederate soldiers passed directly through the property during the Battle of Cedar Creek. It remained a private home until 2003, when it was transferred to the National Park Service. 

 

Cedar Creek Crossing

Left image
Historic Turnpike Crossing, 2025
Credit: NPS

Right image
Historic Turnpike Crossing, 1909
Credit: Shenandoah County Library Archives

The Valley Turnpike was the main road through the Shenandoah Valley in the 1800s. It turned the Shenandoah Valley into a prosperous farming area. A bridge over Cedar Creek connected Middletown and Strasburg. This color postcard from 1909 shows a steel truss bridge over Cedar Creek that replaced the original covered wooden bridge. Only the two stone bridge abutments remain.