Formed out of necessity in 1831, Page County had a great need to operate within its own boundaries of the Massanutten and Blue Ridge Mountains. A very unique situation arose when this rural area was coupled with the discovery in 1878 of something as spectacular as the Luray Caverns. Along with this new fame followed a large influx of tourists, industry, and varied commerce into the entire county from the lifeline created by the formation of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad in 1881. During the reconstruction years after the Civil War, and with the formation of "land and improvement" companies throughout the United States, Page County, along with the rest of the country, was booming. In fact, this unbridled growth was happening much too fast for this newly reformed country. This in turn brought about a severe recession in the 1890s that affected everyone, including the people of Page, no matter how secure they may have seemed with their new attraction. The culmination of these events initiated a quaint photographic history that is contained within the pages of Images of America: Luray and Page County.

Luray Caverns, discovered in the quiet valley community of Luray in 1878, became the main attraction in Page County. In hopes of capitalizing on this new found "Wonder of the World," executives of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad completed the rail from Hagerstown and Basic City to Luray by 1881. Mann Almond drove the final ceremonial spike just north of Deford's Tannery in Luray. With the arrival of the railroad came a new economy supported by passengers, excursionists, lodging, and freight transport. The bulk of these transports were Eureka Mining Company's mineral extractions and Shenandoah's "Big Gem" iron bloom shipments. Luray's own "Mercantile Mile" leading to the caverns was laden with storehouses, offering goods found in larger cities, and the rail brought visitors in droves. The photographers who produced the images contained here did so only as a means of income, but today their work is our visual link to the past.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1881.

One of humanity's colonies makes contact with an alien civilization that calls itself the Aurigan Empire. The empire politely demands the United Earth Military's unconditional and immediate surrender and sends wave after wave of warships. Strangely, the Aurigan ships are technologically inferior, lack any sort of effective weaponry and are easily shot down - or so the UEM claims. When the colony's investors start getting nervous, acclaimed risk assessment agent Luray Ulyssa Cayenne is sent to determine what is going on and whether the Aurigans truly pose a threat. What she finds is well beyond her pay grade, and what she does to uncover the truth could cost not only her freedom, but her very humanity. Enjoy a mysterious science-fiction story challenging the reader and asking difficult questions that will keep you awake at night.