In June 2024, James Allen published a book called An American Dreamer – The Abbreviated Tale of Urban Westenberger.
When James Googled Urban Westenberger about eighteen months ago, the results came back indicating he was only child, a loner, eccentric recluse, and a wino. After months of research into Urbans life, house and mausoleum, he revealed lots of new facts about him and found more information on him that led to more mysteries and more unanswered questions. Who was this man from Germany, why did he build the mausoleum and why did he come to Luray of all places?
With more questions than answers, James created a Facebook page in early February 2024 to help in answering some of the questions he had. In his research he utilized all available communication avenues available to his disposal to include email, chat, phone calls and personal interviews. He also subscribed to many online newspapers and family history websites. He amassed numerous hours performing in person research of land records at the Page County Court House and Page Public Library. His thorough research has added lots of new details to the many stories that have circulated around the internet.
With all this new information he had gained about Urban, James decided to record it all and make a permeant record of the life of Urban Westenberger by publishing a book.
You can find his book An American Dreamer -The Abbreviated Tale of Urban Westenberger at two locations in the town of Shenandoah:
Shenandoah General Store: 119 Maryland Avenue Shenandoah Va 22849.
Taste The Southern Market: 609 South Third Street Town of Shenandoah Va 22849.
His book is also available at the following locations:
Longs Florist in East Luray
Shenandoah River Outfitters in Luray on the west side of the south fork river.
Reeds Tire and Auto in down town Stanley
West Main Market and Beer Garden on West Main Street in down town Luray.
For those of you that no longer live in Page County and would like a copy of James’ book, you can find it on ebay at the following link.
Currently only the paperback or softcopy is available online for sale. If you want the hardback copy, please email James at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/724791866451714
Learn more about James’ Facebook page by visiting our Shenandoah Newz article on our website:
Unraveling Mysteries Behind Urban Westenberger
http://shenandoahnewz.com/politics/833-unraveling-mysteries-behind-urban-westenberger
Did you James Allen has written about other subjects other than Urban Westenberger? His blog page Discovering Page County Above and Below Ground can be found at the following link:
Discovering Page County Above and Below Ground (shenandoahnewz.com)
