Devil’s Courthouse. Photo by A. Armstrong, courtesy of Blue Ridge Parkway/National Park Service
By Lauren Stepp
The year was 1933, and America was paging through one of its darkest chapters. Nearly one-fourth of the nation’s workforce found themselves unemployed as the Great Depression ravaged the economy. Factories stood idle, farms were foreclosed and cities teemed with the displaced.
But sometimes bad situations give rise to beautiful things, the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) being one.
That same year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the newly completed Skyline Drive in Virginia. During his visit, U.S. Senator Harry Byrd proposed extending the 105-mile road to link with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). The idea gained momentum, and on November 24, 1933, Interior Secretary Harold Ickes approved the park-to-park highway as a public works initiative.
“Those involved with its creation envisioned a national park that would bring visitors to remote mountain communities along the route and also provide jobs as a remedy to the Great Depression,” says Rita Larkin, spokesperson for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
Picnickers on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Photo by Abbie Rowe, courtesy of Blue Ridge Parkway/National Park Service
Today, more than 90 years later, the BRP is known as “America’s Favorite Drive,” and with good reason. Stretching from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the GSMNP in North Carolina, the 469-mile highway offers stunning views of mist-shrouded peaks and verdant valleys. It also offers a window into the region’s rich cultural heritage.
At Milepost 294, for example, visitors can explore Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, a 3,500-acre estate created by wealthy industrialist Moses Cone.
“Cone was not only a successful entrepreneur, he was an inquisitive gentleman farmer who experimented with agriculture and designed and built one of America’s most beautiful country estates,” says Larkin. “Beginning in 1897, he carefully created an impressive retreat featuring carriage trails, lakes, orchards, fields and forests. His vision was influenced by a great regard for the natural landscape.”
In the early 1900s, Cone constructed Flat Top Manor, his 13,795-square-foot mansion, as the cornerstone of his high-elevation haven. The property became part of the BRP in 1949.
Farther south near Mount Pisgah lies the site of Buck Spring Lodge, a hunting retreat built in 1896 by George W. Vanderbilt. Though the lodge was razed in the 1950s, the spring house still stands by the roadway.
“The site overlooks the birthplace of American Forestry and Pisgah National Forest,” says Larkin. “Panels in the parking area and at the site where the lodge once [stood] share the story of the retreat.”
There are plenty of other historical destinations along the route, including more than 50 documented cemeteries. According to the National Park Service, these burial grounds “tell stories of the people who once lived in the Appalachian Mountains.”
In honor of this legacy, the BRP was officially designated as a National Historic Landmark on December 16, 2024. As Larkin explains, the designation celebrates the road’s significance in the narrative of Appalachia.
“The parkway,” she says, “is a winding ribbon of road that preserves history, serves as a haven for wildlife, showcases mountain views and welcomes visitors for outdoor recreation.”
For more information about the Blue Ridge Parkway, visit BRPFoundation.org.
