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Monterey VA

Monterey Virginia
“Find Your Sweet Spot”

Town of Monterey VA

The small town of Monterey in rural Highlands County sits in the valley between the Mononghela National Forest in West Virginia and the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests within the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains. There are many things to do in white enjoying the country hospitality of Monterey Virginia such as shopping, bird watching, caving, cycling, fly fishing, hiking, historical walks, Civil War battlefields, arts and crafts, restaurants and more. Monterey offers spectacular mountain vistas, lush farmland, star filled nights, hardwood forests, wildflowers and fresh mountain air.

History of Monterey VA

In 1838 the county seat of Higlands became Monterey with the blazing of the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike. The new town was named in commemoration of the Battle of Monterrey, Mexico (September 21–24, 1846) in which General (and future President) Zachary Taylor gained a key victory for the United States in the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). Monterey is a Spanish word meaning “mountain of the king”.

During the3 Civil War, Monterey Virginia was headquarters for Confederates during much of the 1861 Mountain Campaign and headquarters for Federals prior to the fighting at McDowell. In the winter of 1861-1862, skirmishing occurred across the county as the frontier between the armies shifted from Allegheny Mountain to West View in Augusta County. Union forces occupied Monterey on April 6, 1862. The town remained in Federal hands until after the Battle of McDowell, May 8, 1862. The Osborne Wilson-Fenn House, on Main Street, was Union Gen. Robert Milroy’s headquarters. Displaying the ambiguity with which many western Virginians approached the Civil War, Highland County’s government waited until June 1862, after the Battle of McDowell, to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Confederacy.

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