The Library of Virginia has a digitized collection of Virginia Land Office patents and Northern Neck land grants and surveys. The database includes patents and grants from the crown and commonwealth from 1623 to 1992 and a database of grants in the Northern Neck Propriety from 1691 to 1862. The images are available and searchable online; that is if you know what to search for.  In the 1700’s-1800’s in the Massanutten area, names and places often had multiple and ever-changing spellings. For instance, “Shenandoah” was spelled Gerundo, Sherando, Sherrando, Sherundo, Shanando, Shannando, Shannondoah, and a collection of other ways. Names of people were spelled multiple ways such as Prupecker/Brubecker/Brubaker and Magert/Magget/Maggot and Mauk/Mauck/ Moick. Geographical features such as runs, creeks, and mountains had multiple names, the same names, and names that are not used anymore. It is a challenge to read, interpret, correct, and correctly place the land grants on a map.

​

The map provided below is a work in progress, though I have not worked on it in a few years. It is a CAD drawing of roughly 250 land grants from the Library of Virginia and deeds from the book Massanutten by Harry Strickler overlaid on a GIS land boundary map from Page County. The land grants that have been corrected of obvious errors and aligned to the best of my abilities to fit ground truth. I have roughly 180 additional grants that I have plotted but not been able to place well enough for display. Some of these other grants I have been able to place in the general vicinity of where I think they go, others are simply sitting on the map waiting for their place to be found. As a work in progress, there are also mistakes. For properties that were granted more than once, I have attempted to find the oldest of the grants but have not always been successful.

​

The image below links to a much larger image with greater resolution.  It is recommended it be downloaded for viewing versus opened in a web page.

​

Library of VA Land Grant Collection

​

Land Grants - Tabulated with Corrections and Interpretation 

Land Grant Images from Library of Virginia (zip file of individual grant images)