Staunton and its surrounding area in Augusta County have much to be proud of, starting with their noble and inspiring history. Here we list some of the notable people who left their mark on our area, for good or ill.
We think that some of these folks deserve a bronze statue in our future parks and public squares, or a picture on a Staunton-Augusta local currency note.
- John Lewis, first European settler in 1732 of what would became Staunton.
- Lady Rebecca Staunton, for whom our city was named, wife of colonial Governor William Gooch.
- Judge Archibald Stuart, friend of Thomas Jefferson, and Enlightenment man.
- Mary Julia Baldwin, ran Augusta Female Seminary, the college that now bears her name.
- Flora Cooke Stuart, widow of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and headmistress of the Virginia Female Institute, now known as Stuart Hall.
- Thomas Jasper Collins, architect of many of the most prominent Victorian buildings in Staunton.
- Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States, born in the Presbyterian Manse in Staunton in 1856.
- Joseph S. DeJarnette, director of Western State Hospital and infamous eugenicist who advocated sterilizing the mentally ill.
- Charles Edward Ashburner, first city manager of Staunton, where the council-manager form of government, now practiced around the world, was born.
- William Haines, star of the silent film screen and later, leading interior designer.
- Francis Collins, physician and geneticist who led the Human Genome Project and now heads the National Institutes of Health.
