Augusta County Historical Society

09/02/2026

ACHS Office and Archives will be closed Friday 9/4 for an extended Labor Day weekend. We will resume normal hours Tuesday 9/8.
Happy end of summer,
history lovers!

09/01/2026

Check out this feature about our Thornrose tours next month! Tickets on sale now! https://www.augustacountyhs.org/shadows-secrets-and-sin

Pumpkin spice latte has been available for a couple of weeks now, so it’s the proper time to be thinking of Halloween, which will be the focal point for a new program from the Augusta County Historical Society.

Online: https://augustafreepress.com/news/staunton-learn-more-about-the-dark-side-of-thornrose-cemetery/

08/26/2026

ON SALE NOW!
Tickets for our spooky walking tour of Thornrose Cemetery this October! ⚰🪦

Shadows, Secrets, and Sin: The Dark Side of Thornrose
Saturdays at 4 and 5 p.m.
October 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026

Tickets are $20 per person and are required. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.augustacountyhs.org/shadows-secrets-and-sin.

If you have questions, please call ACHS at 540-248-4151 or e-mail us at [email protected].

We hope to scare you there!

08/20/2026

Check out this feature on ACHS!

Augusta County Historical Society is preserving records from the century-old Waynesboro Nurseries after it closed.

08/15/2026

Join us for a spooky walking tour of Thornrose Cemetery this October! ⚰🪦

Shadows, Secrets, and Sin: The Dark Side of Thornrose
Saturdays at 4 and 5 p.m.
October 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026

Tickets are $20 per person and are required. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.augustacountyhs.org/shadows-secrets-and-sin.

If you have questions, please call ACHS at 540-248-4151 or e-mail us at [email protected].

We hope to scare you there!

08/14/2026

Thank you to all who joined us in person and via Zoom at last night's Author Talk. We are so grateful to Mary Hall for coming out and sharing her research. We have six of her books still available for purchase at $34 each, so please comment here if you would like to pick up a copy!

For those who missed it, check out the recording below.
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/rec/share/aJ4l-4lD9fV96T-xeLR9vnDr8ouIb47a9ylp1Gkweod4FBvnL9exugWaLd3sMeW6.sHckZvN97KrbxzKV
Passcode: D5 #.yVDZ

And shout out to Misti Wright Furr for taking these photos!

08/10/2026

Author Talk this week!

“Every Man His Own Historian: From a Yankee to a Rebel Diary”
Program & Book Signing by Historian and Author Mary T. Hall

Thursday, August 13 at 7 p.m.

R.R. Smith Center for History & Art (20 S. New Street, Staunton, VA)
2nd floor lecture room
Or via Zoom at:
https://zoom.us/j/92491349141?pwd=mSWhZ3RF3H3ww9bG4A4JSKtuUrnlWL.1
Passcode: 309700

In her recently released book, From a Yankee to a Rebel Diary, Professor Hall tells the story of a small diary that belonged initially to a Union private who wrote in it faithfully for six months before abandoning it outside of Richmond in June 1862. A Confederate private – Professor Hall’s great-grandfather – found the book and began his own journal in the remaining pages. In entries spanning over thirty months, he wrote of illnesses that nearly killed him, a religious conversion that changed the arc of his life, and his grueling experiences as a prisoner of war. Hall's wartime path repeatedly intersected with Staunton, more so than with any other city or town during the war.

Following Hall’s program, her books will be offered for sale, and she will be available to answer questions and autograph books. The program is free and open to the public. A portion of the book sales will go to benefit the work of the Augusta County Historical Society.

We hope to see you there!

08/07/2026

You are invited! Hope to see you there!

08/03/2026

The Augusta County Historical Society Presents: “Every Man His Own Historian: From a Yankee to a Rebel Diary”
Program & Book Signing by Historian and Author Mary T. Hall

Thursday, August 13 at 7 p.m.

R.R. Smith Center for History & Art (20 S. New Street, Staunton, VA)
2nd floor lecture room
Or via Zoom at:
https://zoom.us/j/92491349141?pwd=mSWhZ3RF3H3ww9bG4A4JSKtuUrnlWL.1
Passcode: 309700

In her recently released book, From a Yankee to a Rebel Diary, Professor Hall tells the story of a small diary that belonged initially to a Union private who wrote in it faithfully for six months before abandoning it outside of Richmond in June 1862. A Confederate private – Professor Hall’s great-grandfather – found the book and began his own journal in the remaining pages. In entries spanning over thirty months, he wrote of illnesses that nearly killed him, a religious conversion that changed the arc of his life, and his grueling experiences as a prisoner of war. Hall's wartime path repeatedly intersected with Staunton, more so than with any other city or town during the war.

Following Hall’s program, her books will be offered for sale, and she will be available to answer questions and autograph books. The program is free and open to the public. A portion of the book sales will go to benefit the work of the Augusta County Historical Society.

We hope to see you there!