08/13/2026
Throwback Thursday: A Family Legacy in Wi******er, Virginia
Before there was a hardware store, there was a family looking for opportunity.
In 1866, Noah W. Solenberger left Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and made his way to Wi******er, Virginia. He entered the grain and warehouse business, eventually selling his warehouses and turning his attention to real estate.
But farming was in the Solenberger blood. Noah eventually returned to the land, becoming one of the area’s extensive farmers and fruit growers.
Noah was married to Barbara A. Stouffer, and together they brought their young family to Wi******er, where the next generation of the Solenberger story would take root.
Their son, John Stouffer Solenberger, was brought to Wi******er as a toddler and grew up here. He attended Wi******er’s public schools and, as a young man, worked for the B&O Railroad in the telegraph service.
He couldn’t have known then that his path would eventually lead him to start a business that would remain in his family for generations.
Five generations later, we’re still here,right where so much of the story began: Wi******er, Virginia.
This is the first chapter in the story behind Solenberger’s Home & Hardware and a family legacy built in the Northern Shenandoah Valley.
Next Thursday: How a crutch helped launch a hardware business.
