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Winchester, Virginia
Loudoun Street Mall in Winchester in July 2020
Loudoun Street Mall in Winchester in July 2020
Official seal of Winchester, Virginia
Seal
Location of Winchester in Virginia
Location of Winchester in Virginia
Winchester, Virginia is located in Shenandoah Valley
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester, Virginia
Location in Shenandoah Valley
Winchester, Virginia is located in Northern Virginia
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester, Virginia
Location in Northern Virginia
Winchester, Virginia is located in Virginia
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester, Virginia
Location in Virginia
Winchester, Virginia is located in the United States
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester, Virginia
Location in the United States
Country United States
State Virginia
County None (Independent city)
Founded 1744
Area
 • Total 9.21 sq mi (23.86 km2)
 • Land 9.19 sq mi (23.81 km2)
 • Water 0.02 sq mi (0.05 km2)
Elevation
725 ft (221 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 28,120
 • Density 3,053.2/sq mi (1,178.5/km2)
Time zone UTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Code
22601
Area code(s) 540
FIPS code 51-86720
GNIS feature ID 1498552

Winchester is a city located in the northwestern part of Virginia, United States. It is an independent city, meaning it is not part of any county. However, it is the main city for Frederick County.

In 2020, about 28,120 people lived in Winchester. It is the main city of the Winchester metropolitan area, which has over 145,000 people. This area even reaches into West Virginia. Winchester is also home to Shenandoah University and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

Exploring Winchester's Past

Early Native American Life

For thousands of years before Europeans arrived, Indigenous peoples lived along the rivers in what is now Virginia. They had rich cultures. The Shenandoah Valley was a special hunting ground. By the 1600s, Iroquoian-speaking groups, like the Senedo and Sherando, mostly controlled this area.

Later, the Algonquian-speaking Shawnee people also wanted to use these hunting grounds. Explorers in 1671 saw the Shawnee fighting the Iroquoians. During the Beaver Wars, the powerful Iroquois Confederacy from New York took control over many tribes in the frontier region.

When European settlers came to the Shenandoah Valley around 1729, the Shawnee were the main group living near where Winchester is today. During the first ten years of white settlement, the valley was also a battleground. The Seneca and Lenape tribes from the north fought their old enemies, the Siouan Catawba from the Carolinas.

The Iroquois Six Nations (which included the Tuscarora people by 1722) finally gave up their claim to the Shenandoah Valley in 1744. This happened at the Treaty of Lancaster. This treaty also allowed colonists to use the Indian Road, which later became known as the Great Wagon Road.

The father of the Shawnee chief Cornstalk had his court near today's Cross Junction, Virginia until 1754. In 1753, before the French and Indian War, messengers invited the Shawnee to leave the Valley. They moved west across the Alleghenies the next year. The Shawnee lived in the Ohio Country for some years. Later, the U.S. government forced them to move to Indian Territory in the 1830s.

European Settlers Arrive

French explorers might have entered the valley as early as 1606. Samuel de Champlain even drew a rough map in 1632. The first confirmed exploration of the northern valley was by John Lederer in 1670. Later, in 1705, Louise Michel, and in 1716, Governor Alexander Spotswood, made more detailed maps.

In the late 1720s, Governor William Gooch encouraged people to settle here by giving out large pieces of land. Robert "King" Carter received 200,000 acres (809 km²). This led to many settlers from Pennsylvania and New York moving in. These new settlers included Quakers, German, and Scots-Irish families. Many of them were new immigrants.

Winchester began to be settled around 1729. Quakers like Abraham Hollingsworth traveled south along the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania. They started building homes on old Shawnee camping grounds. It is said that the Quakers bought land from the native people, who did not bother these settlements. The first German settler, Jost Hite, arrived in 1732 with ten other families.

Even though Virginia was an Anglican colony, Governor Gooch allowed different religions. Many religious families came because of the land grants. They often received 50-acre (202,343 m²) plots. Because of this, Winchester became home to some of the oldest Presbyterian, Quaker, Lutheran, and Anglican churches in the valley.

A legal dispute started in 1735. Lord Fairfax came to Virginia to claim his land grant. This grant, from King Charles II, included "all the land in Virginia between the Rappahannock and the Potomac rivers." This overlapped with Frederick County. It took time to sort out who owned which land among the early settlers.

How Winchester Was Founded

By 1738, these settlements were known as Frederick Town. Frederick County was created from Orange County. The first local government was formed, including a County Court. Colonel James Wood, who came from Winchester, England, was the first court clerk. He was also a surveyor for Orange County.

Colonel Wood built his home, Glen Burnie homestead, around 1737. This building might have been used for early government meetings. In 1744, Wood planned out 26 half-acre (2,000 m²) lots. The County Court met for the first time on November 11, 1743, with James Wood serving until 1760. Lord Fairfax, knowing that owning land was important, built a home here in 1748.

In February 1752, the Virginia House of Burgesses gave Frederick Town its city charter. It was renamed 'Winchester' after Colonel Wood's hometown in England. In 1754, Abraham Hollingsworth built a house called Abram's Delight. This house was also the first local Quaker meeting house.

George Washington spent a lot of his younger life in Winchester. He helped survey the Fairfax land grant for Lord Fairfax and also worked for Colonel Wood. In 1758, Wood added 158 more lots to the west side of town. In 1759, Lord Fairfax added 173 more lots to the south and east.

Winchester During the French and Indian War

419 North Loudoun Street
House at the site of Fort Loudoun. The fort was built between 1756 and 1758 under the supervision of George Washington.

In 1755, General Edward Braddock's army marched through this area on their way to Fort Duquesne. George Washington, who knew the area well from his surveying work, went with General Braddock. Daniel Morgan, a local resident, joined Braddock's army as a wagon driver.

In 1756, on land given by James Wood, Colonel George Washington designed and started building Fort Loudoun. This fort covered about 0.955 acres (3,860 m²) in downtown Winchester. Fort Loudoun was used and had cannons until the American Revolutionary War began.

During this time, a jail was built in Winchester. It sometimes held Quakers from different parts of Virginia. They were jailed because they protested the French and Indian War and refused to pay taxes to the Anglican church. Virginia was an Anglican colony and did not easily accept people who were against war. This strong Quaker belief in peace, against Virginia's support for the war, caused the Quaker population to shrink over time.

In 1758, at age 26, Colonel George Washington was chosen to represent Frederick County in the House of Burgesses. Daniel Morgan later served as a ranger, protecting Virginia's borders from Native American raids. He returned to Winchester in 1759. After the war, from 1763 to 1774, Daniel Morgan defended Virginia against Pontiac's Conspiracy and Shawnee Indians.

Winchester in the Revolutionary War

DanielMorgan
Colonel Daniel Morgan

During the Revolutionary War, the Virginia House of Burgesses asked Daniel Morgan, a local resident and veteran of the French and Indian War, to gather a group of soldiers. These soldiers would help General George Washington. Morgan led 96 men, called "Morgan's Sharpshooters," from Winchester on July 14, 1775. They marched to Boston in 21 days.

Morgan, Wood, and others also helped hold captured prisoners of war, especially Hessian soldiers. These Hessian soldiers were known to walk to a high ridge north and west of town. There, they could buy and eat apple pies made by the Quakers. This ridge became known as Apple Pie Ridge. The road leading north from town was renamed Apple Pie Ridge Road. Local farmers did good business feeding the Virginia Militia and the new American army.

After the war, Winchester's first newspapers, The Gazette and The Centinel, were started. Daniel Morgan continued to serve the public. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for one term (1797–1799).

Winchester During the Civil War

Circa 1875 in Winchester, VA
Winchester c. 1875

Winchester and the areas around it saw many battles during the American Civil War. Both the Confederate and Union armies wanted to control this part of the Shenandoah Valley. Seven major battlefields are in the original Frederick County.

Battles within Winchester city:

Battles near Winchester city:

Winchester was a very important location for the Confederate States Army during the war. It was a key goal for Gen Joseph E. Johnston and Col Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in defending the Shenandoah Valley in 1861. It was also important in Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862, the Gettysburg Campaign of 1863, and the Valley Campaigns of 1864.

Historians say that Winchester changed hands as many as 72 times during the war. It even changed hands 13 times in one day! Battles sometimes happened right on Main Street. Union General Sheridan and Stonewall Jackson had their headquarters just one block apart at times.

Winchester was a starting point for major Confederate invasions into the Northern United States. These attacks sometimes threatened Washington, D.C. The town was a central spot for troops raiding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and telegraph lines. For example, in 1861, Stonewall Jackson took 56 locomotives and over 300 railroad cars. He also removed miles of track from the B&O Railroad. This attack shut down the B&O's main line for ten months. Much of the work to move this equipment by horse and carriage was done in Winchester.

Sheridan's final charge at Winchester (retouched)
Final charge at the Third Battle of Winchester, depicted by Thure de Thulstrup c. 1886

During the war, the Union Army occupied Winchester four times. Major General Nathaniel Banks occupied it from March to May 12–25, 1862, and again from June 4 to September 2, 1862. Major General Robert Milroy occupied it from December 24, 1862, to June 15, 1863. Major General Philip Sheridan occupied it from September 19, 1864, to February 27, 1865. Major General Winfield Scott Hancock occupied it from February 27, 1865, to June 27, 1865.

Major General Sheridan led raids up the valley from Winchester. His forces destroyed many barns filled with grain and tools, and many mills filled with wheat and flour. They also took livestock. This was done to reduce the area's ability to supply the Confederates.

Many local men served in the Confederate Army. Hunter McGuire was the Chief Surgeon for "Jackson's" Corps. He helped create rules for how medical doctors should be treated during war. Winchester was a major center for Confederate medical care. This was especially true after the Battle of Sharpsburg in 1862 and the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Future U.S. presidents McKinley and Hayes fought in battles at Winchester. They were officers in the Union IX Corps.

After the war, the United States kept a military presence in Winchester and other parts of the South during Reconstruction. Winchester was part of the First Military District, led by Major General John Schofield. This period lasted until January 26, 1870.

Winchester in the 20th Century

Winchester was the first city south of the Potomac River to have electric light. This happened in 1917. The Winchester and Western Railroad connected Winchester to Rock Enon Springs. This made it much faster to move people and supplies to the resort, which is now Camp Rock Enon.

Winchester hosts a bi-annual competition called N-SSA. This event keeps the tradition of Civil War era firearms alive. A three-block part of downtown Loudoun Street was closed to cars in the 1970s. It is now a popular area for walking, with many shops and cafes. The street was repaved with brick and improved in 2013. The Apple Blossom Mall opened in 1982.

In 1983, a large pile of over seven million old tires in the area caught fire. It burned for nine months. This caused a lot of pollution. The area was cleaned up as a Superfund project between 1983 and 2002.

Winchester's Geography and Climate

View of Winchester, Virginia
An 1856 oil painting of Winchester by Edward Beyer
Map of Frederick County, Virginia with Municipal and District Labels
Map of Winchester, Virginia, and the surrounding Frederick County (Winchester is independent of the county but is the county seat).

Winchester is located at 39°10′41″N 78°10′01″W / 39.178°N 78.167°W / 39.178; -78.167.

The United States Census Bureau says the city covers about 9.3 square miles (24 km²). Almost all of this area is land.

The city is in the Shenandoah Valley, between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Allegheny Mountains. It is about 15 miles (24 km) north-northeast of Massanutten Mountain. I-81 goes through the city. Also, US 50, US 522, US 17, and SR 7 end in the city.

Winchester is about 75 miles (121 km) west of Washington, D.C. It is 24 miles (39 km) south of Martinsburg, West Virginia. It is also 25 miles (40 km) north of Front Royal.

Winchester's Climate

The climate in Winchester has hot, humid summers. Winters are usually mild to cool. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Winchester has a humid continental climate or a humid subtropical climate. This is shown as "Cfa" on climate maps. Winchester is one of the few cities in Virginia with a humid continental climate. The hardiness zone is 6b/7a.

Climate data for Winchester, Virginia (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1912–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 80
(27)
81
(27)
89
(32)
98
(37)
98
(37)
104
(40)
107
(42)
107
(42)
103
(39)
99
(37)
85
(29)
80
(27)
107
(42)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 42.1
(5.6)
45.4
(7.4)
53.4
(11.9)
65.6
(18.7)
74.2
(23.4)
82.6
(28.1)
87.1
(30.6)
85.5
(29.7)
78.7
(25.9)
67.4
(19.7)
56.0
(13.3)
45.7
(7.6)
65.3
(18.5)
Daily mean °F (°C) 31.6
(−0.2)
34.0
(1.1)
41.1
(5.1)
52.0
(11.1)
61.6
(16.4)
70.3
(21.3)
75.0
(23.9)
73.2
(22.9)
66.1
(18.9)
54.4
(12.4)
44.0
(6.7)
35.4
(1.9)
53.2
(11.8)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 21.2
(−6.0)
22.7
(−5.2)
28.8
(−1.8)
38.4
(3.6)
48.9
(9.4)
58.0
(14.4)
62.8
(17.1)
60.9
(16.1)
53.5
(11.9)
41.4
(5.2)
32.0
(0.0)
25.1
(−3.8)
41.1
(5.1)
Record low °F (°C) −18
(−28)
−16
(−27)
−6
(−21)
12
(−11)
28
(−2)
36
(2)
42
(6)
36
(2)
30
(−1)
16
(−9)
4
(−16)
−6
(−21)
−18
(−28)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 2.48
(63)
2.23
(57)
3.43
(87)
3.22
(82)
3.94
(100)
4.04
(103)
3.82
(97)
3.66
(93)
4.39
(112)
3.05
(77)
2.89
(73)
2.81
(71)
39.96
(1,015)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 8.8 7.9 9.8 12.6 13.5 12.1 11.8 10.8 10.1 9.2 7.6 8.6 122.8
Source: NOAA

People and Population

Historical population
Census Pop.
1840 3,454
1850 3,857 11.7%
1860 4,392 13.9%
1870 4,477 1.9%
1880 4,958 10.7%
1890 5,196 4.8%
1900 5,161 −0.7%
1910 5,864 13.6%
1920 6,883 17.4%
1930 10,855 57.7%
1940 12,095 11.4%
1950 13,841 14.4%
1960 15,110 9.2%
1970 14,643 −3.1%
1980 20,217 38.1%
1990 21,947 8.6%
2000 23,585 7.5%
2010 26,203 11.1%
2020 28,120 7.3%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790-1960 1900-1990
1990-2000 2010 2020

Winchester's Population in 2020

Winchester city, Virginia - Demographic Profile
(NH = Non-Hispanic)
Race / Ethnicity Pop 2010 Pop 2020 % 2010 % 2020
White alone (NH) 18,085 17,623 69.02% 62.67%
Black or African American alone (NH) 2,783 2,800 10.62% 9.96%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 37 66 0.14% 0.23%
Asian alone (NH) 599 700 2.29% 2.49%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 3 14 0.01% 0.05%
Some Other Race alone (NH) 57 135 0.22% 0.48%
Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) 598 1,288 2.28% 4.58%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 4,041 5,494 15.42% 19.54%
Total 26,203 28,120 100.00% 100.00%

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

Winchester's Economy

Rouss City Hall - corner view
Winchester City Hall, February 2022

Several companies have their main offices in Winchester. These include American Woodmark, Trex, and Rubbermaid Commercial Products. Also, some U.S. government agencies have offices here. These are the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Here are the top employers in Winchester, based on a 2016 report:

# Employer # of Employees
1 Valley Health 1,000 and over
2 Rubbermaid Commercial Products 500 - 999
3 Winchester City Public Schools 500 - 999
4 Walmart 500 - 999
5 Shenandoah University 500 - 999
6 City of Winchester 500 - 999
7 Axiom Staffing Group 500 - 999
8 Martin's Food Markets 500 - 999
9 Trex 250 - 499
10 Kohl's 250 - 499

Music Production in Winchester

Winchester was once home to Capitol Records' East Coast record pressing plant. In 1968, Capitol Records bought land in Winchester for this new plant. They also built houses and bought small businesses. Later, they built a tape production plant.

The Winchester plant started being built in 1968 and began making records in 1969. It first had 250 workers. This plant helped the other Capitol Records factories in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jacksonville, Florida, and Los Angeles, California. In 1969, the Scranton plant slowly stopped making vinyl records, and the new Winchester plant took over.

Records made here include Talking Heads' Remain in Light, Dead Boys' Young, Loud and Snotty, and Yoko Ono's Fly (Yoko Ono album). In late 1987, Capitol Records announced it would stop making tapes in the U.S. and move production overseas. This led to the Winchester plant closing in early 1988, and over 500 employees lost their jobs.

Arts and Culture in Winchester

GeoWashStatueWinchesterVAJuly2022
Statue of George Washington at George Washington's Office Museum
PatsyClineHouseWinchesterVA
Patsy Cline House, home of country music star Patsy Cline from 1948 to 1953

Historic Places to Visit

Handley01
John Handley High School

Winchester has many historic sites. Here are some of them:

Site Year Built Address Listed
Abram's Delight 1754 Parkview Street & Rouss Spring Road 1973
Douglas School 1927 598 North Kent Street 2000
Fair Mount 19th century 311 Fairmont Avenue 2004
Glen Burnie 1794 901 Amherst Street 1979
Handley Library 1913 Braddock & Piccadilly Streets 1969
John Handley High School 1920s 425 Handley Boulevard 1998
Hawthorne and Old Town Spring 1811 610 and 730 Amherst Street 2013
Hexagon House 1870s 530 Amherst Street 1987
Stonewall Jackson's Headquarters Museum mid-19th century 415 North Braddock Street 1967
Adam Kurtz House 1757 Braddock & Cork Streets 1976
Old Stone Church (Winchester, Virginia) 1788 304 East Piccadilly Street 1977
Triangle Diner 1948 27 West Gerrard Street 2010
Winchester Historic District 1750–1930 US 522, US 11 & US 50/US 17 1980
Winchester Historic District (Boundary Increase) 120 & 126 North Kent Street 2003
Winchester National Cemetery 1860s 401 National Avenue 1996
George Washington's Office Museum by 1748 32 West Cork Street 1975
Patsy Cline Historic House 1880 608 S. Kent St. 2005
Mount Hebron Cemetery and Stonewall Confederate Cemetery 1844 305 E. Boscawen Street 2008

Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival

Winchester is famous for its yearly Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. This festival has been happening since 1924. It usually takes place during the first weekend in May.

The festival includes a carnival, a fireworks show, and parades. There are also several dances and parties. A special event is the coronation, where the Apple Blossom Queen is crowned. Local schools and many businesses close on the Friday of Apple Blossom weekend.

Winchester has more than 20 unique "artistic" apples. These apples are made from different materials like wood, rubber pipe, plaster, and paint. People in the city created these apples in 2005. They were then placed in specific spots after being sold at an auction. For example, a bright red apple with a large stethoscope is next to an entrance at the Winchester Medical Center.

Sports and Recreation

Winchester is home to the Winchester Royals. This team is part of the Valley Baseball League. This is a college summer baseball league approved by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It is located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Shenandoah University is in Winchester. It has many sports teams for both male and female students. These teams play in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Winchester also has the Winchester Speedway, a 3/8-mile clay oval track. It hosts many racing series, like the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.

Education in Winchester

Winchester Public Schools runs the public schools in the city. This includes John Handley High School.

Getting Around Winchester

Winchester and Western Railroad station
Winchester and Western Railroad station

The most important highway in Winchester is Interstate 81. I-81 runs from northeast to southwest. It connects Winchester to eastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, eastern West Virginia, western Maryland, and central Pennsylvania.

Other highways that go through Winchester include U.S. Route 11, U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 50, and U.S. Route 522. These four highways follow city streets through downtown Winchester. U.S. Route 17 ends in the city. Virginia State Route 7 also serves Winchester and ends downtown. Virginia State Route 37 goes around the west side of the city.

Winchester Transit provides bus service for the city during weekdays. Winchester Regional Airport offers general aviation and air taxi services for the area.

Famous People from Winchester

Born in the 18th Century

  • John H. Aulick (1787–1873), a United States Navy officer who fought in the War of 1812.
  • Briscoe Baldwin (1789–1852), a Virginia delegate.
  • Rebecca Boone (1739–1813), a pioneer and wife of frontiersman Daniel Boone.
  • Jane Frazier (1735–1815), a frontier woman.
  • Daniel Morgan (1735–1802), a major general in the Revolutionary War. He is buried at Mount Hebron cemetery.
  • Presley Neville (1756–1818), a general in the Revolutionary War.
  • Francis White (–1826), a U.S. Representative.
  • James Wood (1741–1813), a brigadier general and Governor of Virginia. He was the son of Winchester's founder.

Born in the 19th Century

  • Robert T. Barton (1842–1917), a Virginia Delegate and Mayor of Winchester.
  • Frances Courtenay Baylor (1848–1920), an American novelist.
  • Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd (1888–1957), a famous polar explorer.
  • John Snyder Carlile (1817–1878), a U.S. Senator who helped create West Virginia.
  • Charles Magill Conrad (1804–1878), Secretary of War under President Millard Fillmore.
  • Holmes Conrad (1840–1915), a U.S. Assistant Attorney General.
  • James William Denver (1817–1892), a Union Army General during the Civil War. The city of Denver, Colorado, is named after him.
  • Helen H. Gardener (1853–1925), a writer.
  • Frederick W. M. Holliday (1828–1899), a Confederate colonel and Governor of Virginia.
  • George Hay Lee (1808–1873), a United States judge.
  • Mary Greenhow Lee (1819–1907), a diarist during the Civil War.
  • James M. Mason, a U.S. Senator.
  • Cornelia Peake McDonald (1822–1909), a diarist during the Civil War.
  • Hunter McGuire, M.D. (1835–1900), Chief Surgeon for "Jackson's" Corps. He was also President of the American Medical Association.
  • Admiral Louis M. Nulton (1869-1954), superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy.
  • Sara Winifred Brown (1868–1948), an African American professor and doctor. She founded the National Association of University Women.
  • Spot Poles (1887–1962), a talented baseball player in the early Negro leagues.
  • James Innes Randolph (1837–1887), a Confederate Army officer and poet.
  • Heyward Shepherd (†1859), a Black baggage porter. He was the first person killed during John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.
  • John Randolph Tucker (1823-1897), a U.S. Representative from Virginia.
  • Josiah T. Walls (1842–1905), the first African-American U.S. congressman from Florida.
  • Charles Franklin Moss (1878-1961), a photographer and artist.

Born in the 20th Century

  • Anne Tucker McGuire (1913–1988), an American actress who worked in British films and TV.
  • Joe Bageant (1946–2011), a writer and journalist.
  • Brian Benben (1956–), an actor.
  • Harry F. Byrd Jr. (1914–2013), a politician and U.S. Senator.
  • Lang Campbell (1981–), a professional football quarterback.
  • Patsy Cline (1932–1963), a famous country/pop singer. She was born in Winchester.
  • Doug Creek (1969–2024), a professional baseball player.
  • Claude Dallas (1950–), a self-styled mountain man.
  • Penny DeHaven (1948–2014), a country music singer.
  • John Gilkerson (1985–), a professional soccer player.
  • Erick Green (1991–), a professional basketball player.
  • Jack Holt (1888–1951), an actor.
  • John Kirby (1908–1952), a jazz musician.
  • Mark McFarland (1978–), a NASCAR driver.
  • Devon McTavish (1984–), a professional soccer player for D.C. United.
  • J. Kenneth Robinson (1916–1990), a U.S. Representative.
  • Rick Santorum (1958–), a former U.S. senator.
  • Henry H. Whiting (1923–2012), a Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
  • Emma Howard Wight (1863–1935), an author.
  • James "Clayster" Eubanks (1992–), a professional Call of Duty player.

Sister Cities

Winchester, Virginia, is named after its first sister city, Winchester, England. During the time of President Eisenhower, Winchester also became a sister city with Ambato, Ecuador.

A panoramic view of old town Winchester

Images for kids

See also

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