Founded in 1928, Massanutten Regional Library (MRL) is a seven-branch system that serves over 160,000 residents in the city of Harrisonburg, Page County, and Rockingham County. Branch locations are in Bridgewater, Broadway, Elkton, Grottoes, Harrisonburg (Central Library and administrative offices), Luray, and Shenandoah. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, MRL is funded in partnership with these localities and through the generosity of our patrons.
Massanutten Regional Library hosted Picturing Where Stories Live: Old Houses in Rockingham County, a reception on Friday, May 1, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Central Library in downtown Harrisonburg. Celebrating local history and architecture, the event showcased a digital photograph collection featuring 67 historic homes from across Rockingham County and highlighted the stories, craftsmanship, and generations of stewardship that have shaped our community.
One winter day in late 2025, what began as an ordinary day at the library quickly became something special. We were presented with a unique digital project that would ultimately culminate in a public reception celebrating one of Rockingham County’s historical resources.
Ann Terrell Baker, daughter of Isaac Long (“Jim”) Terrell, proposed the project. Together, Isaac and Ann devoted countless hours to researching and documenting historic homes throughout Rockingham County. They traveled to each property, met with homeowners, photographed the buildings, and compiled their findings into a book. Old Houses in Rockingham County: 1750 to 1850 was originally published by Isaac; his daughter later edited it and republished it under a different title.
Court Manor (c. 1800)
Having the images available online is a way for people who don’t have the benefit of browsing MRL’s local history collection in person to discover the existence of Isaac and Ann’s great research about the county’s architecture.
Unlike many collections that come to Massanutten Regional Library for digitization and preservation, the photographs in this collection were provided to us in JPEG format. This meant that we did not have to physically digitize the images because that part was already done. The collection consists of 67 images—primarily black-and-white photographs, depicting historic homes throughout Rockingham County, Virginia. Massanutten Regional Library now serves as the steward of these digital images, ensuring their preservation and accessibility for future generations.
The purpose of digitally publishing this collection extends beyond simply preserving photographs. By making these images available online, we are safeguarding historically and culturally significant materials while increasing public access to local history. Digitization protects materials from loss and deterioration, supports long-term preservation efforts, and enables community members to engage with the region’s history regardless of their location or ability to visit the library in person.
Emory Schelling editing digital photographs (2026).
One of the leads on this project was Emory Schelling, a student at James Madison University (JMU). Massanutten Regional Library maintains a close partnership with JMU through the Madison Community Scholars program, which places students within community organizations throughout the academic year. This project provided a particularly meaningful opportunity for Emory to demonstrate her planning, organizational, and management skills.
Because of her leadership experience, Emory was entrusted with many of the project’s essential tasks, including overseeing portions of the digital publishing workflow, indexing the images, and creating metadata records.
The project offered invaluable hands-on experience in digital preservation while simultaneously benefiting from her enthusiasm and dedication during a demanding timeline. Most importantly, Emory spearheaded the design and planning for our reception.
After receiving the images in early 2026, our team had approximately four months to prepare the collection for public release and organize the accompanying reception. The work involved numerous stages: reviewing the images for quality control, resizing and enhancing photographs where necessary, indexing and creating metadata, preparing files for upload into Omeka, and conducting final quality assurance checks to ensure a successful transfer and publication process.
The reception was open to the public, with special invitations sent to the homeowners of the houses that were being showcased. Because of the interest and the number of attendees, we used our combined meeting rooms. On one side of the meeting rooms, we had a rotating slideshow of the digital photographs. On the other side, Emory demonstrated the process and spoke to the technical details of the project for those who were interested. Light refreshments, drinks, and sparkling wine were served. The room was abuzz with all the connections being made amongst the homeowners and those interested community members.
Anne Terrell Baker (left) with homeowners admiring the displayed collection.
What began as a collection of photographs ultimately became something much larger: a collaborative effort between community members, students, and library staff to preserve the stories embedded within Rockingham County’s historic homes. Through digital publishing, these buildings—and the people who lived in them—will continue to inspire curiosity and connection for generations to come.
Finally, every year Massanutten Regional Library hosts the Deyerle Series on Local History. This year’s theme will celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with a focus on the Shenandoah Valley, Thursdays in October at 7:00 p.m.
In “Old Houses in Rockingham County,” the first lecture of the series on October 1, Ann Terrell Baker will share how architecture evolved in the early years of Rockingham County. Her presentation will be illustrated with images from her father Isaac Long Terrell’s book, Old Houses in Rockingham County 1750-1850, her book, Old Houses in Rockingham County Revisited, 1750-1850, and the accompanying digital collection she collaborated on with MRL.
-Allison Brueckner, Adult Services Librarian, Massanutten Regional Library
