HISTORY

The Chamber of Commerce idea is a concept found only where private initiative and free enterprise exist. The Chamber of Commerce as a wholly volunteer institution in the United States is eight years older than the Declaration of Independence. The New York State Chamber, the first in America was organized in 1768, and five years later the first local chamber was formed in Charleston , South Carolina .

Most Chambers have their basic roots in the "town booster" type organization, competing with neighboring communities for trade, tourism and economic development.

The Front Royal-Warren County Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1940 as a part-time Chamber by a group of citizens concerned about the development of the community. On June 5, 1944 the Chamber began operating for the first time as a full time organization.

The Chamber was loaned office space by H.F. Minter, who served as the first full-time president of the organization, and gradually, piece by piece some office furniture was borrowed and purchased…mainly borrowed because it was almost impossible to purchase any equipment due to the war.

The Chamber of Commerce began with a sum of $58.13 left over from the part-time Chamber of Commerce, which closed its operation in early 1941. This small sum, together with pledges of 56 business, professional and industrial persons and firms, and the desire to have a Chamber of Commerce, which would serve the Town of Front Royal and the County of Warren , gave the small group of nine directors the enthusiasm with which to go forward.

With its humble financial beginnings to a report in June 1950 of a budget of $16,335, the Chamber has grown and progressed to a budget of $250,000 this year.

Some of the early accomplishments of the organization have been staging a Bing Crosby Day, the promotion of better highways in this section of Virginia , the promotion of the establishment of a Community Chest, the protection of the people of the community from fraudulent advertising, the promotion of a better retail trading area, and the establishment of WFTR radio.