With its humble beginnings as a small train junction in Virginia's northern piedmont region, Manassas has evolved from a traditional rural community into a leading city of the New South, serving as a focal point for new businesses and growth outside of our nation's capital. Though the Civil War left an indelible mark on the character of Manassas, the area's citizens and post-war newcomers were able to begin anew, building a progressive town, full of promise and hope, upon the four-year conflict's ashes and battle-scarred landscape. In Manassas: A Place of Passages, this historic town comes alive, allowing the reader to take an entertaining and educational visual journey from the early days of the "Iron Horse" at Manassas Junction in the mid-nineteenth century to a more prosperous Manassas in the early twentieth century, when the streets were newly paved and lined with family-owned businesses. This comprehensive volume touches upon every facet of community life: schools, such as the Manassas Institute and the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth; the town's many historic churches, which were acknowledged, at one time, by Ripley's Believe It or Not ; several prominent families and civic leaders; and general scenes of people participating in recreational activities, from piano lessons and plays to athletic teams and parades.