Fort Defiance is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Augusta County Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, United States. It is part of the Staunton– Waynesboro Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Augusta Stone Church was established in the area now known as Fort Defiance in 1740. Local legend claims the church was used as a haven during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, when Augusta County was the western frontier for the country. The original church building was made of logs and, along with the historic cemetery, was located east of present-day

U.S. Route 11 U.S. Route 11 or U.S. Highway 11 (US 11) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway extending across the eastern U.S. The southern terminus of the route is at US 90 in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refu ...

and to the rear of the stone church. Following the defeat of General

Edward Braddock Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europe and Canada as ...

at the

Battle of the Monongahela The Battle of the Monongahela (also known as the Battle of Braddock's Field and the Battle of the Wilderness) took place on July 9, 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War at Braddock's Field in present-day Braddock, Pennsylvania, ...

on 9 July 1755, parishioners fortified the Old Stone Presbyterian Church and named the fortification Fort Defiance.Reynolds, William R., Jr., ''Andrew Pickens: South Carolina Patriot in the Revolutionary War,'' Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co, 2012
/ref> The name Fort Defiance was not put on the community until the late 19th century.

Sites of interest

Augusta Military Academy The Augusta Military Academy (AMA) was a secondary education military academy in Fort Defiance, Virginia, United States. The school was established in by Confederate veteran Charles Summerville Roller as the Augusta Male Academy and formally bec ...

, a now-defunct military academy that was one of the first in the nation to adopt the JROTC program and site of historical marke
VA-A100 Augusta Military Academy
* Augusta Stone Church, the oldest Presbyterian Church in continuous use in Virginia; * Historical Marke
VA-A99 Willow Spout
a willow tree planted in the mid-19th century over a spring so that water was driven out a spout driven in the tree's side into a wooden trough;

Education

Fort Defiance is served by

Augusta County Public Schools Augusta County Public Schools is the organization that operates the public school system in Augusta County, Virginia. Located in the Shenandoah Valley, the district serves over 10,000 students and operates 19 schools: 9 elementary, 5 middle, 5 ...

. Clymore Elementary School, Stewart Middle School and

Fort Defiance High School Fort Defiance High School is a public school located in Fort Defiance, Virginia. It is often referred to by its initials, FDHS or Fort. Academics Fort Defiance was rated Fully Accredited by the Virginia Department of Education in the 2005-2006 ...

are within the unincorporated area's boundaries.

References

Unincorporated communities in Augusta County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia {{AugustaCountyVA-geo-stub