Mount Solon, Virginia
| Mount Solon, Virginia | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
 Mount Solon, Virginia
Mount Solon, Virginia
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| Coordinates: 38°20′41″N 79°05′06″W / 38.34472°N 79.08500°WCoordinates: 38°20′41″N 79°05′06″W / 38.34472°N 79.08500°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Virginia |
| County | Augusta |
| Elevation | 1,325 ft (404 m) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Area code(s) | 540 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1497028 |
Mount Solon is an unincorporated community in Augusta County, Virginia, United States, 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Harrisonburg and 20 miles (32 km) north of Staunton. Mount Solon is located in the 6th US Congressional District. It is part of the Staunton–Waynesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The earliest settlers of Mount Solon were the Scots-Irish and the Germans. In 1799, James Cochran, of minor notable political fame further south in North Carolina, established a small mill and residence on the small creek, which would eventually run through the center of town. Owing to the mill's and the town's centrality between the two growing markets of Harrisonburg and Staunton, several businesses sprang up, and the once-isolated town began to prosper. In the early 1900s, there existed a Ford dealership, a gas station, the Mount Solon Bank, Cochran's mill, and a few other shops gathered around an expanding downtown. Moreover, the ill-fated Chesapeake and Western Railroad (C&W) ran an important rail line through Mount Solon, thus ensuring secure connections to a variety of external agricultural markets throughout the region. The Great Depression, however, severely impacted both the Shenandoah Valley and the town of Mount Solon. Following the closure of the old mill in the late 1930s, many townspeople left Mount Solon in search of better jobs. When the C&W withdrew its support, and was later consolidated with Norfolk Southern, the once-thriving little town became a ghost town virtually overnight. Today, only a few dilapidated local shops remain in town and few indicators of Mount Solon's former glory days remain intact. The Old Mount Solon Bank presents a fine example of post-antebellum architecture and the recently restored Lincoln Manor House at Spring Meadows Farm provides an excellent illustration of a Shenandoah Valley plantation house.
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