Discover 9 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Front Royal (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Skyline Caverns, Balthis House, and Virginia Beer Museum. Also, be sure to include Christendom College in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Front Royal (Virginia).
Table of Contents
Skyline Caverns
Cave in Virginia. Skyline Caverns is a series of geologic caves and a tourist attraction located in Warren County, Virginia, one mile south of Front Royal. The caverns were discovered by Walter S. Amos, a retired geologist and mineralogist from Winchester, Virginia, on December 17, 1937. Skyline Caverns is open year-round, offering guided tours through the caverns.[1]
Address: US Highway 340, 22630 Front Royal
Balthis House
Historical place museum in Front Royal, Virginia. Balthis House, also known as E.C. Balthis Blacksmith Shop Property and Balthis' Old Stand, is a historic home located at Front Royal, Warren County, Virginia. The original section was built about 1787, and is a two-story, five bay, timber-frame vernacular Federal style dwelling. The original section is three bay and the house was expanded to its present size in the mid-19th century, at the same time as the addition of the two-story brick rear ell. Also on the property are the contributing kitchen dependency and playhouse / gazebo.
The house is now owned by the Warren Heritage Society and is open for tours.
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. It is located in the Front Royal Historic District.[2]
Address: 55 Chester St, 22630-3368 Front Royal
Virginia Beer Museum
Specialty museum, Museum
Address: 16 Chester St, 22630-3321 Front Royal
Christendom College
Liberal arts college in Front Royal, Virginia. Christendom College is a conservative Catholic liberal arts college in Front Royal, Virginia, United States, located in the Shenandoah Valley. It is endorsed by The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College. The school does not accept federal funding.[3]
Address: 134 Christendom Dr, Front Royal
Killahevlin
Housing. Killahevlin is an historic home located at Front Royal, Warren County, Virginia. It is a large 2+1⁄2-story, Queen Anne-style brick dwelling, built about 1905 for William E. Carson, president of the Riverton Lime Company.
Carson directed the formation of Virginia's recreational parks system, established the state's system of historical road markers, and was instrumental in the creation of the Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Drive.
In 1906, at the age of 36, Carson married Agnes Holladay McCarthy in Richmond.
The upcoming marriage provided an impetus for the construction of the Riverton home where the couple would live for the next thirty-six years. The house was called "Killahevlin," after the Irish home of a boyhood friend where Carson had often visited. This estate has now grown into the famous Killyhevlin Lakeside Hotel in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.
Designed by the Washington, D.C. firm of A. B. Mullett and Co. Killahevlin is a distinctive Front Royal landmark. The modified Queen Anne style house contains fine early 20th-century interior woodwork and other arresting architectural detail.
Other trademark Mullet designs include Capitol Park Hotel, Hotel Harris, Farmers and Merchants Bank, and the Annex to the Union Trust Building—all in Washington; Visitation Monastery, Alta Vista, Maryland; and residences in Washington and the environs.
Carson's older brother, A. C. Carson, was generally known as Kit after the famous American frontiersman. Kit had studied law at the University of Virginia and, in 1893, had gone to work in the Winchester legal firm of Richard Evelyn Byrd.
For many years, the Carson family enjoyed a friendly and fruitful relationship with the Byrds and, through them, with Virginia's Democratic Party.
Will Carson served for thirty years on the Democratic State Central Committee (1910-1940), and his work with the Conservation and Development Commission was highly praised by the press and public, despite a controversy over his highly personalized management of its programs. He was mentioned as a possible candidate for the governorship in 1929 and again in 1933.
In 1933, as a memorial to their only son, who had died of pneumonia at the age of 17, the Carsons donated 63 acres of land for a public golf and country club to the town. The Front Royal Golf Club still operates an 18-hole course initially built to Carson's design.
Carson retired from the political arena to Killahevlin and died in 1942.
Also on the property are the contributing guesthouse/water tower and two gazebos. The house has in the past been operated as a bed and breakfast.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.[4]
Address: 1401 N Royal Ave, Front Royal
Warren County Courthouse
Courthouse. Warren County Courthouse is a historic county courthouse complex located at Front Royal, Warren County, Virginia. It was built in 1935–1936, and is a two-story, stone faced concrete block, Colonial Revival style building. It consists of a central rectangular block with a pedimented gable roof and smaller flanking recessed wings. The central block is topped by a three-stage cupola with an open and domed belfry. Also on the property are the contributing brick clerk's office, brick jail, and two war memorials - a Confederate Monument, dedicated in 1911, and an obelisk honoring veterans of World Wars I and II.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. It is located in the Front Royal Historic District.[5]
Rose Hill
Rose Hill is a historic home located at Front Royal, Warren County, Virginia. The original section was built in 1830, and is a two-story, a central-passage, single-pile plan frame dwelling with vernacular design elements derived from the Federal style. A two-story, brick rear ell with vernacular Greek Revival design elements was added in 1845. The front facade features a one-story, one-bay, hip roofed, Greek-Revival-style porch with paired Doric order wooden columns. Also on the property are the contributing two-story frame cottage, probably built originally as a kitchen/slave quarters, and two frame sheds clad in novelty siding.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.[6]
Front Royal Historic District
Front Royal Historic District is a national historic district located at Front Royal, Warren County, Virginia. The district encompasses approximately 470 contributing buildings and structures in the town of Front Royal. It has a mix of commercial, residential, industrial, religious and governmental buildings dating from the late-18th to mid-20th centuries. Notable buildings include the former Proctor-Biggs Mill, a former apple warehouse, Murphy's Theater, Compton's Corner, first Bank of Warren, Trout Drugstore Building, second Bank of Warren building, Montview Hotel, Park Theater, the Henry Trout House, Mullen-Trout House, Giles-Cooke House, and the Dr. Manly Littleton Garrison. Located in the district and separately listed are the Balthis House and Warren County Courthouse.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.[7]
Sonner Hall
Building in Warren County, Virginia. Sonner Hall, also known as "Main Building" and Sonner-Payne Hall, is a historic building located at Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal, Warren County, Virginia. It was built in 1927, to replace the original academy building of 1892. It is a 3 1/2-story, 19 bay, Colonial Revival style brick building. The front facade features a tetrastyle pedimented portico with Greek Ionic order columns. It has a slate-covered gambrel roof topped by a ribbed dome with a balustrade and lantern. In 1995, a fire destroyed the third and fourth floors of Sonner-Payne Hall. Sonner-Payne Hall was subsequently gutted and rebuilt with improvements.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.[8]