Shenandoah National ParkMadison County
John W. Butler farm, Tract 87, Madison County
Did you know?Old apple orchard in poor condition
The 1920s survey
A 5-room weatherboard house, 25 by 25 feet; a barn, 16 by 22 feet; an orchard (72 apple trees); timber (white and yellow pine). 122 acres, valued at $532. The state paid $1,307.
Map of the tract
Landmarks on this map (2)
Places
- Old Rag Shelter · USGS place names
- Oldrag · Wikidata
House sites and family graves are never marked. Pins show only public places, from USGS place names and other public sources.
Landmarks in this tract: Old Rag Shelter · USGS place names, Oldrag · Wikidata
On Wikipedia
Oldrag: human settlement in Virginia, United States of America
Originally known as Weakley Valley, this Madison County community was settled by white families in the 1770s. By 1900 it had a post office, a school, two churches, two stores and a cemetery. Its post office, the last one left in Shenandoah National Park, closed in 1936, and residents were resettled to Ida Valley near Madison Courthouse.
Published Summarized from the Wikipedia article Old Rag, Virginia, opens in a new tab (revised 15 November 2025), CC BY-SA, opens in a new tab
Case files
The National Park Service has no case file online for this tract.
County court land file
Papers from the Madison County circuit court’s proceedings to take the land for the park, scanned by JMU Libraries.
Butler, Jno W
The file at JMU Libraries, opens in a new tab PDF, opens in a new tab
In the file: Claimant Worksheet, Tract Assessment, Owner Claim, Notary, LOB9 (page 108), Tax Records, Misc.
Courtesy of the Madison County Circuit Court Clerk and JMU Libraries, Histories along the Blue Ridge. Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0, opens in a new tab.
Families of the park
Other tracts whose owners shared the name. A shared name doesn’t always mean a shared family.
Source: National Park Service, Shenandoah National Park, Historic Land Tracts.