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    Building the Blue Ridge Parkway
    Building the Blue Ridge Parkway
    Building the Blue Ridge Parkway
    Ebook188 pages1 hour

    Building the Blue Ridge Parkway

    By Karen J. Hall and FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway

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    About this ebook

    The Blue Ridge Parkway began as a dream in the late 1800s and became reality in 1983 when the 469-mile scenic highway was completed. Heavy construction was done by contractors who won bids for the different projects along various sections of the parkway.


    Construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway began in September 1935 at Cumberland Knob. Civilian Conservation Corps troops took care of the roadsides, landscaping, and structure building. As part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, this project was intended to provide jobs throughout the region. Images of America: Building the Blue Ridge Parkway contains approximately 200 construction photographs of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateAug 15, 2007
    ISBN9781439619391
    Building the Blue Ridge Parkway
    Author

    Karen J. Hall

    Karen J. Hall grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and has visited the parkway often over the years. She is the author of Postcard History Series: Blue Ridge Parkway. FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Inc., is a nonprofit corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the State of North Carolina and the Commonwealth of Virginia. FRIENDS raises funds for parkway projects. Very understaffed and underfunded, the National Park Service cannot preserve the original splendor of all of the viewsheds; FRIENDS is committed to raising the necessary funds and providing the volunteers for trails and viewshed restoration.

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      Book preview

      Building the Blue Ridge Parkway - Karen J. Hall

      www.BlueRidgeFriends.org

      INTRODUCTION

      [The Blue Ridge Parkway] has but one reason for existence, which is to please by revealing the charm and interest of the native American countryside.

      –Stanley Abbott

      The Blue Ridge Parkway’s resident architect, Stanley Abbott, felt the basic premise for the parkway’s existence was to reveal the charm and interest of the native American countryside. It was up to Abbott to determine the design principles for the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway. He had historic examples of other parks to consider, such as the Westchester Parks Commission and the Shenandoah National Park, but Abbott chose to design the Blue Ridge Parkway in a unique style. Abbott and his colleagues developed the following principles to guide the construction and future operations of what is called America’s Most Scenic Drive. The principles that were applied to create the Blue Ridge Parkway today are:

      The horizon would be the boundary as the parkway traverses a protective corridor.

      The structures to be associated with the Blue Ridge Parkway were to be simplistic and informal to harmonize with the natural environment.

      All elements of the parkway would be related to one another, supporting one another—unified.

      Variety would be the spice of the parkway, mixing mountain vistas, rolling hillsides, and dense woodlands.

      The drive should be easy and safe as not to distract from the views.

      The road should be a marriage of the cultural landscape with the natural landscape.

      The roadside landscape would accept the responsibility to preserve and interpret the cultural history, revealing the charm and interest of the native countryside.

      Finally, the road would preserve the whole scenic picture for the visitor to enjoy recreation, hikes, overlooks, and lodging, according to Abbott, like beads on a string—the rare gems in the necklace.

      The creation of our natural treasure, the Blue Ridge Parkway, was a great feat accomplished by many people orchestrating a vision that exists today for our enjoyment. Stan Abbott expressed through the following quote that it was far more than man creating a parkway, but it was a mission of soul and spirit: I can’t imagine a more creative job than locating the Blue Ridge Parkway, because you worked with a ten league canvas and a brush of comet’s tail. Moss and lichens collecting on the shake roof of a Mabry Mill measure against huge panoramas that look out forever.

      Personnel from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) shared much in common with FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The CCC boys did landscaping, park benches, view sheds, and visitor centers. Today FRIENDS restores the view shed and landscaping. In addition, our volunteers construct trails and provide benches such as those at the Parkway’s Blue Ridge Music Center. Volunteers now staff the visitor centers and assist with cleanup after hurricanes and storm damage at visitor centers, trails, and roadways.

      Today the Blue Ridge Parkway is a special place—a 469-mile road that climbs the ridgelines and peaks of the Appalachian Mountains, every year carrying 20 million visitors between Shenandoah National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains.

      The Blue Ridge Parkway is the most visited park nationally. The first principle—the horizon was the boundary as the parkway traverses a protective corridor—is changing. This is the very reason Dr. Harley Jolley has termed it an endangered species. Residential and commercial growth, pollution, and non-native predatory insects are taking their toll on the parkway’s views, trees, and wildlife. It is not going unnoticed.

      As of 2007, membership in the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Inc., has topped 7,500. FRIENDS inspires the parkway visitor to join one of the fastest-growing friends groups nationally to preserve and protect the Blue Ridge Parkway. With growing support from our readers and members, FRIENDS has been able serve the Blue Ridge Parkway since 1989.

      Not only are there over 7,500 individuals who recognize the historic and natural value of the Blue Ridge Parkway—and the risk to its survival—but FRIENDS spearheads the volunteer efforts for the Blue Ridge Parkway. In 2006, FRIENDS increased the hours of volunteer service to the parkway by 30 percent.

      The parkway is unusual among national parks in that it is linear, passing through two states (Virginia and North Carolina) and 29 counties, touching human and natural communities along the way. The parkway, called America’s Most Scenic Drive, is within one day’s drive of more than half of the population of the United States.

      The parkway is a rich tapestry, weaving natural beauty and history with human cultural heritage. It is America’s living rural life museum, where basket-weavers, traditional Appalachian musicians, blacksmiths, and quilters bring the past to the present. Historic sites such as gristmills, bridges, and one-room schoolhouses exist along the parkway, and over 350 miles of trails crisscross its length, connecting with the Appalachian Trail and even older pathways that wind through forests of hardwoods, evergreens, and the endangered hemlock.

      All special places of great beauty are affected by time, and the Blue Ridge Parkway is no exception. Residential and commercial development is compromising its views and wildlife habitats; pollution is fogging its clear air; and predators are destroying its trees. Dr. Harley Jolley, historian and national authority on the Blue Ridge Parkway, states, The Blue Ridge Parkway, America’s living rural life museum, is becoming an endangered species.

      Recognizing these threats, FRIENDS has pledged to help preserve, protect, and promote the outstanding natural beauty, ecological vitality, and cultural distinctiveness of the Blue Ridge Parkway and its surrounding scenic landscape, preserving this national treasure for future generations.

      Founded in 1989 by the Blue Ridge Parkway superintendent, FRIENDS was organized as a nonprofit, membership-based organization to provide a link between parkway visitors and the parkway experience. It was believed that the organization and its members could be a catalyst for ensuring the preservation, conservation, and enhancement of the parkway, which is not only a scenic asset but an economic one, bringing millions of visitors and tourists to Virginia and North Carolina every year.

      A growing membership base reflects FRIENDS’ vitality and grassroots success. Many of the organization’s key projects enlist the labor and energy, as well as the financial support, of members to accomplish its goals. Here are our key projects:

      SAVE PARKWAY VIEWS. Both FRIENDS

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