519 WFCHS/THL 

Inventory created by Archives Staff 04/1987. Last revised 06/2022.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers. Researchers wishing to view blueprints must secure written permission from the Winchester City Manager via the Planning Department. Please address requests for access to the Planning Department, Rouss City Hall, 3^rd Floor, 15 North Cameron Street, Winchester, VA 22601.

TECHNICAL ACCESS: Recordings of public meetings in Box 22 require a reel-to-reel player to access.

USE RESTRICTIONS:  Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. 

EXTENT:  21.87 linear feet 

CREATOR: City of Winchester, Virginia, USA

DATES: 1794 - 2017 

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The Winchester City Records collections contains documents records concerning operations and activities undertaken by City of Winchester, Virginia. This includes city codes and records for various departments including fire, finance, personnel, planning and zoning, police, public utilities, and public works. The collection also includes maps of the city, blueprints for Rouss City Hall, and tax and local books for the years 1870-1910. Most of the information is dated during the 1900s. The City of Winchester personnel office is the official repository for city council minutes.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: Colonel James Wood founded Winchester in 1744 as the first British settlement west of the Blue Ridge Mountains on land granted by Thomas, Lord Fairfax. In 1754, the Virginia State Assembly gave the Town of Winchester its charter, giving it jurisdiction over its government. Then in 1874 the Town of Winchester became the City of Winchester, independent of Frederick County, though the City remains the county seat.

CITE AS: Winchester City Records, 519 WFCHS/THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA. 

ACQUISITION INFORMATION:  Acquired as a gift.

Organization: 

BOX 1 Boards and Committees 

City of Winchester Directory, 1987-1988 

Local Elections, 1992-1994

City Council Elections,1996-1998

Winchester Common Council—appointed boards and committees, 1983 

BOX 1a Board of Architectural Review 

Meeting Agendas and Supporting Documents (includes the following years):
1996
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2011
2012
2013

BOX 1b Board of Zoning Appeals 

Meeting Agendas and Supporting Documents – 1996, 7 items, typescript, photocopy 

Meeting Agendas and Supporting Documents – 2006, 5 items, typescript, photocopy 

Meeting Agendas and Supporting Documents – 2007, 

BOX 2 Common Council 

Adoption of Council Manager Plan- from Virginia Municipal Review, January, 1931

Masonic Lodge and City Council—agreements, 1 item, 5 leaves, manuscript (photocopy) 

City of Winchester- Listing of Common Council- Committees- Officers

Winchester Common Council minutes, typescript (photocopy)(includes the following years):
Mayor’s Report 1971
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1982-3
1992
Mayor’s Report 1992
1993

 BOX 3 Common Council 

Winchester Common Council minutes, typescript (photocopy)(includes the following years):
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000

BOX 3a Common Council 

Winchester Common Council Minutes, typescript (photocopy)(includes the following years):
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005

BOX 4 City Manager 

First Annual Report, 1916-1917 

Annual (Municipal) Reports, 1935-1939 

Annual Reports, 1944-1952 

Annual Report, 1988-1989 

Annual Report, 2012 

City Manager Arthur Field – 1935 List of Accomplishments 

City Manager Eden Freeman – News Articles 

City Manager Dale Iman – News Articles 

City Manager – News Articles 

Citizen request referral guide, ca. 1990s, 4 leaves, typescript (photocopy) 

Emergency operations plans, typescript (photocopy)
1970    1973    1975 

Space requirement survey for public safety building for renovation 

BOX 5 City Managers 

Blizzard - 1983, 3 items, loose-leaf binders

Records of response and photographs

News clippings

Photographs 

BOX 6 City Code 

City code, printed (includes the following years)
1856   
1875   
1901   
1902   
1947 

Ordinances for laying taxes, printed (includes the following years):
1885
1889-1900
1903-1904
1909-1910
1912-1913
1913-1914
1931
1935
1946

Plumbing code, 1957, 1 item, printed 

Traffic ordinance, 1922, 1 item, printed 

BOX 6A City Code – Duplicates 

BOX 7 City Code 

City code—1959, 1978 (possibly updated to 1982), printed 

City code updates, unnumbered loose-leaf pages, printed
1983
1984
1985
1987
1991
1992

City code updates, unnumbered leaves, typescript, in binder

Building amendment, 1978

Fire prevention, 1978

Health and sanitation, no date

Historic District, no date

Land subdivision ordinance, 1977 

Code of the City of Winchester, December 1, 1995, 1 ring binder (oversized, located on shelf) 

BOX 8 City Code 

For future records 

BOX 9 Finance Department 

4% School Bond, 1972

Notes on 1961 and 1964 Budgets

Listing of Outstanding Bonds-Assessed Valuation and Ratio of Bonded Debt, 1956

Listing of Receipts and Expenditures, 1955-1956

Tax Rates— Winchester and other Virginia Cities— 1957

Treasurer’s records—Assessor’s book—Winchester, 1857-1858, 1 item, manuscript 

Treasurer’s records—Corporation of Winchester, 1884-1890, 1 item, manuscript 

Taxable Assets—Winchester citizens, 1853-1856, 1 item, manuscript 

Ordinances for Laying Taxes . . . and for Disbursing the Revenue, 1907, 1911, 1911-12, 3 items, printed 

1943 License and Tax Ordinances Booklet 

Payment Listing, 1941-1949 

BOX 9a Finance Department 

Real estate assessments, field data sheets prepared by Blue Ridge Appraisal Co. 1981, 3 folders 

BOX 10 Finance Department 

Budgets, 1948-1985, printed (missing budgets 1977, 1978, 1978-1979, 1982-1983) 

BOX 10A

Medical Register of Winchester, Leather Bound, 252 pages, manuscript 

Winchester City Tax Return Receipts (1897-1998) 

Virginia State Tax Return Receipts (1897-1898) 

BOX 11 Finance Department 

Budgets, 1985-1990, printed (missing budget 1987-1988) 

Tentative Budget Estimate, 30 June 1986, 1 item 

BOX 12 Finance Department 

Budgets and Programs of services (Draft Budgets), 1990-1993 (missing budget, 1900-1991) 

BOX 13 Finance Department

Proposed Program of Services, 1993-1994, unnumbered pages, printed

Proposed Program of Services, 1994-1996, unnumbered pages, printed

Proposed Program of Services, 1996-1998, unnumbered pages, printed

Proposed Biennial Budget for Fiscal Years 2001 & 2002 & Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan – Divided into two folders: Folder #1 & Folder #2

BOX 13a Finance Department

Proposed Biennial Budget for Fiscal Years 2003 & 2004 & Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan – Divided into three folders: Folder #1, Folder #2, and Folder #3

BOX 14 Fire Department 

Annual reports, typescript (includes the following years):
1980
1981
1988-1993
1995   
1996

Fire alarm code signals, no date, 2 pages, printed 

News Articles 

Old Fire Department Patch, 1 item 

BOX 15 Miscellaneous Records 

2016 Calendar, 1 item, printed 

Land: Issues and Problems, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 5 items, printed 

Latina Activities, Winchester, 1 item, printed 

Medal of U.S.S. Shenandoah, 1944, 1 item 

Winchester money, bill for 25 cents, 1861, 1 item 

Winchester Post Office—200^th anniversary, 3 items 

Winchester Flag, Proposed Sketches of, 13 items 

Miscellaneous items (folder # 1) (folder includes the following):

Certificate of Deposit executed by the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Winchester, Virginia, June 11, 1909, 1 item

Certificate of Deposit executed by the Shenandoah Valley National Bank of Winchester, Virginia, June 11, 1909, 1 item.

Receipt for compensation given to Emeline Wright for damage to house, April 14, 1902, 1 item

Deed between City of Winchester and Wm. M. Atkinson and C.C. Atkinson, August 20, 1895, 1 item

Homestead Exemption Waiver, Charles Mortimer Gibbens and others, June 1982, 1 item

Miscellaneous items (folder # 2) (folder includes the following):

Note from Wm. R. Alexander, attorney, to Common Council, July 6, 1893, 1 item

Correspondence from Barton & Boyd, attorneys, to John W. Rice, June 2, 1891, 1 item

Telegram, 1891, 1 item

Hand drawn map of part of Market Street, 1 item

Envelopes, addressed, empty, 8 items

Various receipts and invoices, 1894-1909, 15 items 

BOX 16 Personnel Department 

News Articles 

Employee Handbook, 1979, printed 

Grievance procedures, no date, 5 leaves, typescript (copy) 

Winchester employee newsletter, 1982-1992 (incomplete), 30 items, printed 

BOX 16A Parking Authority 

Parking Authority—The Winchester Story, February-November 1964, 1 item, printed 

“Parking and People—Winchester is Ahead”—2 leaves, printed, 1977 

Parking, City of Winchester news articles—unnumbered leaves 

Parking Program—1966; 1 item, 65 pages, printed 

Parking Program—1968; 1 item, 66 pages, printed 

BOX 17 Planning and Zoning Department 

Road plans, printed

Interstate Route 402, 1957 

Winchester By-Pass, 1963

Winchester Functional Plan, 1969

Winchester Thoroughfare Plan, 1969 (2 copies)

Transportation Plan Update, 1995 

Shenandoah College and Conservatory—Final Report, Campus Master Plan (March, 1988); 1 book, 48 pages, printed 

Survey of Buildings and Properties within the National Register Winchester Historic District by EHT Traceries Inc. in collaboration with Maral S. Kalbian, LLC for the City of Winchester, Virginia August 2011, 1 item, printed, 274 pages, text only 

BOX 18 Planning and Zoning Department, 1921-1991 

Buildings reviewed by Planning Department for demolition or repair, no date, unnumbered leaves, photographs/typescript 

Community development newsletter, fall 1990, 1 item, printed 

Council meeting transcript, June 25, 1948, investigating explosion at Raylass Company, 1 item, typescript (copy) 

Housing Assistance Plan, January 1976, 1 item, 166 pages, printed 

Planning Commission meetings - minutes, February 1949, 4 leaves, typescript 

Planning, Building and Zoning - zoning maps and changes, 1949, 1977, and no date 

"Planning Report of Norton, Bird and Whitman, on Mapping . . . Zoning," 1921, 1 item, 48 leaves, typescript (copy)

"Projections and Economic Base Analysis, Frederick-Winchester Area," 1972, Division of State Planning and Community Affairs, 1 item, 22 leaves, typescript 

"Real Property Survey - Winchester, Virginia," WPA Project, 1936, 1 item, 79 leaves, typescript (copy); loose papers, 9 leaves 

Real property survey map, 1940, 2 leaves 

"2020 Task Force Plans Future for City, County," Virginia Town & City, October 1991, 2 leaves, printed (photocopy)

BOX 19 Planning and Zoning Department 

Annexation, 1905, 1970-1971 

Annexation Proceeding—City of Winchester vs. Frederick County, 1971; 1 item, unnumbered leaves, printed 

Butler Drive Extended- Photographic Exhibit

Lawsuit, 13 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Informational pamphlet, 1 item, printed

Newspaper notice, 1 item, printed 

Commercial sign survey, 1975, 5 leaves, typescript (photocopy) 

Downtown development - special sections of Winchester Evening Star, 1964 and 1967, 2 items, printed 

Highway development project - Butler Drive, 1976, 1 item, 42 leaves, typescript (photocopy) 

Highway development project - Pleasant Valley Road, no date, 1 item, printed 

Parking Authority, 1964, 1 item, printed 

Correspondence from Zoning Administrator (folder includes the following):
            Reed T. Nester to Rev. Dalco King, June 7, 1977
            Reed T. Nester to Elaine R. Walker, May 12, 1977 

Winchester Council of Garden Clubs – Survey of Commercial Signs – 1975

BOX 20 Planning and Zoning Department 

Zoning ordinance, 1960, and amendments, 1 item, 16 pages, printed/manuscript; 5 leaves, typescript (copy); 2 leaves, printed 

Zoning ordinance, 1974—proposed, with 1975 revisions and newspaper coverage, 1 item, 220 leaves, printed (photocopy)/manuscript; 17 leaves, printed 

BOX 20A Zoning Ordinances 

Zoning ordinance, 1976, 1 item, 120 leaves, printed 

Zoning ordinance, revised to 1990, 1 item, printed (photocopy), in binder 

BOX 21 Planning and Zoning Department 

Public meeting on old Post Office building, January 25, 1977, tape recording, 1 reel 

BOX 22 Public Meetings Sound Recordings (1/2” reel-to-reel)

Zoning Ordinance through 18-8-16	5/11/1965
Zoning Ordinance 18-8-16 - end	10/13/1964
Comprehensive Plan - Rouss Neighborhood Meeting	7/10/1974
Comprehensive Plan - Neighborhood Meetings for Va. Ave, Sarah Zane, Friendship, Shawnee	7/11/74-7/18/74
City Council/Planning Commission Public Hearing on the Winchester Comprehensive Plan	10/2/1974
Zoning Ordinance - Rouss Neighborhood Meeting	4/2/1975
Zoning Ordinance - Neighborhood Meeting Shawnee & Sarah Zane	3/26/75 - 2/27/1975
Council Hearing on Zoning Ordinance	2/2/1976
City Council Public Hearing on Proposed Zoning Ordinance	Jan-76
Council Hearing on Zoning Ordinance #2	1/27/1976
Council Hearing on Zoning Ordinance #1	1/27/1976
HUD CD Block Public Hearing Planning Commission Meeting	10/28/1976
HUD CD Block Public Hearing	12/2/1975-12/4/1975
HUD CD Block Public Hearing	5/6/1975 - 5/8/1975

BOX 23 Planning and Zoning Department 

Winchester Master Plan, 1958, 1 item, 136 pages, typescript (copy) 

Comprehensive plan, 1981—preliminary report, 1 item, 167 leaves, printed (photocopy) 

Comprehensive Plan, 1982, 1 item, 101 pages, printed 

Comprehensive Plan, 1990—proposed, 1 item, 221 pages, printed 

Comprehensive Plan, 1990, 1 item, 221 pages, printed 

BOX 23A Planning and Zoning Department 

Comprehensive Plan, 1991—proposed, 1 item, 108 pages, printed, in binder 

BOX 24 Planning and Zoning Department 

Planning Commission work sessions, 1990 (incomplete), 10 items, typescript (photocopy) 

Planning Commission work sessions, 1991, 12 items, typescript (photocopy) 

Planning Commission work sessions, 1992 (incomplete), 9 items, typescript (photocopy) 

BOX 25 Planning and Zoning Department

 Planning Commission work sessions, 1996 (incomplete), 8 items, typescript (photocopy) 

Planning Commission work sessions, 1999 (incomplete), 4 items, typescript (photocopy) 

Planning Commission work sessions, 2000 (incomplete), 1 items, typescript (photocopy) 

BOX 26 Police Department 

Annual reports 1942 -1963 (1964, 1965 missing), 1966-1992

Map – City of Winchester – miscellaneous photocopies for reports

BOX 26a Police Department

Annual reports 1993-1998, 1999/2000 combined, 2001 - 2008 (2004-2006 labeled “Statistics”)

BOX 26b Police Department 

Contract with S.A. Seabright, Chief of Police, July 1894, 5 items 

Letter re: Police Justice Power vs. Trial Justice, February 19, 1940 

News Articles 

Police Chiefs 

Police Officers 

Police Department: Rules and regulations, 1917, 1 item, 45 pages, printed 

Reserve officer law enforcement programs 

Old Police Department Patches, 5 items 

Old Police Department Patches, 5 items 

Old Police Department Patches, 5 items 

Old Police Department Patches (includes K9 officer, explorer, and reserve patches), 3 items 

Timbrook, Ricky Lee – memorial scrapbook, unnumbered pages, printed

BOX 27 Public Utilities Department 

Water Works History, City of Winchester – news articles, unnumbered leaves, printed 

Public Utilities – Electric: "Report on Municipal Electric System," 1936, 1 volume, 58 leaves, typescript

Public Utilities - Water and sewage (folder includes the following):
Water bill, 1897, 1 leaf, manuscript on printed form
Sewage Treatment Plant of the City of Winchester, Virginia, 1950, brochure, 2 items, printed
VIW and SWA News, March 1950, 1 item, printed
Program - 4th annual meeting, VIW & SWA, 1950, 1 item, printed
"Water Committee Report on the Water Purification Plant and the Municipal Swimming Pool," 1938, 1 item, printed
Notice - Special Council meeting on water bonds, 1936, 1 item, typescript on printed form Electric

City of Winchester, Virginia, Shenandoah Water Supply Development, The Percy D. Miller Water Treatment Plant, June 26, 1957, 2 brochures, printed

Water Treatment Reports – 1894-1957 (includes the following years):
November 4, 1895, 8 leaves, typescript
December 12, 1908, 16 leaves, typescript
1935, 3 leaves, typescript
1953, 4 leaves, typescript
1957, 3 leaves, typescript 

Council Member John H. Barnett bond to City following election of Common Council, July 31, 1897, 1 leaf, manuscript on printed form

Dump (includes the following):
Deed of Release between John K. Ober and Robert Ober, Surveying Partners, and E. H. Boyd, Trustee and City of Winchester, April 24, 1894, 4 pages, manuscript
Agreement between George V. Oyler and Wife and City of Winchester for Dumping Grounds, February 1, 1908, 1 page, typescript

Fire 

Friendship Fire Hall – Roof repair bill, 1901, 1 leaf, printed 

Lewis Jones Knitting Mill Lease

Lighting of Streets, Contracts

Parish Farm or Jail—joint property of city and county 

Pumping Station 

Rouss City Hall – clock, auditorium 

Sewer 

Streets 

Treasurer 

Water 

Photographic negatives, plates, and prints 

Winchester Public Utilities Water Quality Report 2004, 2017

BOX 28 Public Utilities Department 

Library renovation project (1978) - payrolls, 1977-1979 

BOX 29 Public Utilities Department 

Library renovation project (1798) - payroll reporting forms, 1978-1979 

BOX 30 Public Utilities Department 

Bids and bid bonds 

Contracts, bonds, insurance certificates 

Economic Development Administration grant application, 2 loose-leaf binders, loose papers 

BOX 31 Public Utilities Department 

Library renovation project (1978)—miscellaneous 

BOX 32 Public Utilities Department 

Rouss City Hall renovations, article in Virginia Record, July/August 1988, 2 pages, printed 

Treasurer's account book—Rouss City Hall

Building Commission, December 1899 to October 1901, 1 item, manuscript, bound 

BOX 33 Public Utilities Department 

Plans and plats of water and utilities for city streets and subdivisions, unnumbered negatives 

BOX 34 Public Utilities Department 

Contract estimates, Fay Spring, 1942, 1 item 

Transit traverse survey, n.d., 3 items 

Street surveys, 1937, 13 items 

BOX 35 Public Utilities Department 

Street surveys, 1938, 10 items 

Street surveys, 1939, 1 item 

Workmen’s time book, 1958, 1 item 

Repair notebook pages, 1939-1944, 4 items 

Sewer grades, 1953-1956, 2 items 

BOX 36 Public Utilities Department 

Water and sewer statistics, n.d., book numbers 15-28 

BOX 37 Public Utilities Department 

Water and sewer statistics, n.d., book numbers 29-39, 42, 44, 46, 46A, 48, 50, 52, 54, 18 items 

BOX 38 Public Utilities Department 

City of Winchester notebooks, 1916-1924, 3 items 

Water and sewer book of S. L. Grant, indexed, 1929-1934, 1 item 

Sewer books, 1930-1933, 4 items 

B.M. Elen., book 1, 1928, 1 item 

Downtown development (data), n.d., 1 item 

Airport "A" runway, 1944, 1 item 

Intersection S & W, n.d., 1 item

City maps, by bock showing fire hydrants and water lines, n.d., 1 item 

Surveys and other statistics, n.d., 4 items 

BOX 39 Public Utilities Department

Real estate transfers, 1915-1930, 1 item, bound book, 204 pages 

BOX 40 Winchester City Clerk’s Office 

Marriage Records, 1794-1809, 11 leaves, typescript

BOX 41A

Winchester Personal Property Tax Records, 1851-1854, copied from microfilm, unnumbered leaves 

BOX 41B

Winchester Personal Property Tax Records, 1851-1854, copies from microfilm, unnumbered leaves 

BOX 42 Joint Judicial Center

Ground Breaking Ceremony, September 2. 1982, 1 item, typescript 

Dedication Ceremony, October 20, 1984, 1 item, printed 

Memos of the Joint Judicial Center Executive Committee, 1982-1984, 8 items, typescript 

News Articles – unnumbered leaves, printed

BOX 43 Deeds 

Deeds or Partition of Land documentation; 1948-1963; manuscript on printed form, unnumbered leaves 

BOX 44 Personal Property Tax Records 

Winchester personal property tax lists—primarily free blacks, 1789-1860 (incomplete), and transcribed names, unnumbered leaves, manuscript 

Winchester, VA, 1840 – 1862, copied from microfilm

manuscript (photocopy), unnumbered pages

see also oversized, map case 4, drawer 6 

OVERSIZED 

MAPCASE 4, DRAWER 6 

City maps

"City mon.," March 1933, by Walker McC. Bond

Four quadrants, by R. H. DeGrange, December 1939 

Decal of the City of Winchester, VA Seal, 1 item, printed

Decal of the City of Winchester, VA Seal, 1 item, printed, 9-22-2015 

Handley Library alterations and additions, 1974, perspective view 

Merchants' license reports, 1883-1884, 1901 

Notice to taxpayers, 1868 

Personal property tax records, 1861, 40 pages, manuscript on printed form 

Plats - curbs, sidewalks, storm sewers, and inlets 

Real property survey, March 1936 

Register of births and deaths, 1864 

Subdivision plat around Handley Avenue, Williamsburg Heights 

Winchester Personal Property Tax Records—1815, 4 leaves, manuscript on printed form (photocopy) 

World War II air raid zones and wardens for Winchester, VA, ca. 1941 

OVERSIZE

MAPCASE 4, DRAWER 7 

Precincts map and city organizational chart 

Winchester Water Works Specifications for converting Hollingsworth Mill into pumping station, .n.d 

Boiler setting plan, 1903, n.d. 

Rouss Springs pump house plans, Water Works, 1894 

Topographical map of Winchester, VA—March 1921, 4 leaves, negative print 

Topographical map of Winchester, VA—March 1921, revised June 1944, 4 leaves 

Treasurer's Department—bookkeeping journal, 1895-1898 

Water Department map—distribution and pipe system 

MAPCASE 4, DRAWER 8 

Blueprints, Rouss City Hall, Frank H. Jackson, Architect
* Researchers wishing to view blueprints must secure written permission from the Winchester City Manager via the Planning Department. Please address requests for access to the Planning Department, Rouss City Hall, 3^rd Floor, 15 North Cameron Street, Winchester, VA 22601.Department of Planning, Building, and Zoning—city plat, ca. 1955 

Maps—city zoning districts, subdivisions, elevations, 1974 and no date 

Pitometer Map – Water Distribution System of Winchester, Virginia, December, 1951, 1 item, printed 

Transportation Plan—Winchester Functional Plan, 1969 

MAPCASE 4, DRAWER 9 

Tax and land books, 1870-1910 

MAPCASE 4, DRAWER 10 

City income, 1918

Subjects of taxation, 1921

Tables of City Lots:

1912    1913    1914

Tax book, 1909

Tax book, 1910

MAP SHELF 

“The Sanborn Maps of the City of Winchester,” dated 1927 to 1979 (updates), 32 pages bound.

PHOTOGRAPHS, BUILDINGS – WINCHESTER

Photographs, primarily of Boscawen Street, 8 items

BOOKS (shelved with collection)

Virginia Department of Highways Specifications, January 1, 1935

Virginia Department of Highways Road Specifications, January 1, 1938

Virginia Department of Highways Road and Bridge Specifications, January 1, 1947

Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation Road and Bridge Specifications, Jan 1, 1950

Handbook of Culvert and Drainage Practice, 1959

Modern Road Construction, 1927

Concrete Pipe Lines, 1942