July 26, 1990 — Fort Rhodes, one of Page County’s most important historic landmarks, was completely destroyed in a lightning-set blaze Friday night.
Only two chimneys, the old cellar fort believed to have been a refuge from marauding Indians and a monument to the Rhodes family survived the flames. The property is located on Va. 615 three miles northwest of Luray about .2 mile west of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River.
The original log home on the property was built by the Rev. John Rhodes, a Mennonite minister, about 1729. That structure was destroyed by renegade Indians in 1764 in a raid in which the Rev. Rhodes and most of his family members were killed, according to several authoritative historical accounts.
The building destroyed in Friday night’s blaze was the one rebuilt by Rhodes’ grandson, John Rhodes, between 1768 and 1770, according to Gary Bauserman, president of the Page County Heritage Association.
~ From the public archives of the Page News and Courier
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