Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States. The designation of an All-American Road means it is among the most scenic of the National Scenic Byways, which are roadways recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for having at least one or more of six distinctions, including archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic qualities. Being an All-American Road means the Blue Ridge Parkway meets two or more of those requirements and has features that do not exist elsewhere in the United States and are unique enough to be tourist destinations on their own. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs for 469 miles (754 kilometers) through twenty-nine counties in Virginia and North Carolina. The roadway links the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. The parkway runs mostly along the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains.

Background

In the 1930s, after the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced a series of New Deal programs aimed at putting Americans back to work. Among those programs was the creation of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The openings of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Shenandoah National Park in the 1930s were attracting tourists to the naturally beautiful, but financially poor, areas surrounding the parks in Virginia and North Carolina. In 1933, Roosevelt visited Virginia's first Civilian Conservation Corps camp while members were working on construction of Skyline Drive, a scenic roadway that runs through Shenandoah National Park. Roosevelt liked what he saw and soon approved the concept of constructing a scenic motorway linking the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains parks. After some discussion in Congress, it was decided the parkway would follow the crest of the southern Appalachian Mountains and the necessary rights-of-way would be purchased by Virginia and North Carolina and then turned over to the federal government to be managed by the National Park Service as a park.

Progress on construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway was slow at first and the entire stretch of roadway took decades to complete. Many mountain roads included rough terrain and were at times unable to accommodate the equipment needed for construction. Crews focused on creating as little impact on the land as possible, taking care to design and build the roadway so that it blended into its natural surroundings. Construction took place in sections as land was purchased from sometimes reluctant landowners, rights-of-way approved, and contracts for the work were secured.

Construction on the parkway was fairly steady until World War II (1939–1945), when funds and manpower were diverted for the war effort. After the war, the 1950s and 1960s saw a slowing in construction. By 1968, however, the only part left to complete was a seven-mile stretch around North Carolina's Grandfather Mountain. To preserve the environment on the steep slopes of the mountain, the Linn Cove Viaduct, a 1,200-foot (365-meter) suspended section of the parkway was designed and built. It represents one of the most successful fusions of road and landscape on the entire length of the parkway.

Overview

Although many sections had been in use for decades, the Blue Ridge Parkway was officially dedicated on September 11, 1987, fifty-two years after ground was initially broken for the project. Efforts continue into the twenty-first century to acquire property near the boundaries of the parkway to provide better protection for the land the park service already owns and maintains. Overall, twenty-six tunnels were blasted through the mountain ridge during construction of the parkway and dozens of bridges were needed to allow the road to continue over rivers and creeks. To allow motorists and tourists to enjoy the scenic parkway, more than two hundred parking areas, overlooks, and developed areas were incorporated into the design.

At its highest point, the parkway ascends more than 6,000 feet (1,828 meters) at the Richland Balsam overlook in North Carolina, and descends to just over 600 feet (182 meters) at the James River in Virginia at its lowest point. Development of the parkway included negotiating hundreds of easements—which is the right to cross or use someone else's land for a specified purpose—and agricultural use permits with the parkway's neighbors to ensure the scenic views of farmland and livestock remained unobstructed by billboards or large-scale residential development.

Over the years, the National Park Service has added or restored popular cultural attractions along the parkway, such as the Blue Ridge Music Center at the parkway's midpoint that features concerts in an outdoor amphitheater. Other restored attractions include Mabry Mill, a gristmill (a mill that grinds grain into flour) that is more than one hundred years old, and Johnson Farm, a restored 1930s living history attraction. In addition, the many small towns along the parkway, such as Floyd, Virginia, and Asheville, North Carolina, have become cultural destinations for their arts and crafts and musical heritage.

The Blue Ridge Parkway continues to draw millions of visitors each year to take in its scenic views; due to that popularity, it has had a positive effect on the local economies of the towns surrounding the parkway. In 2016, the Blue Ridge Parkway saw nearly 15.2 million visitors and had a 25 percent increase in campground visitation. The parkway's economic impact was felt beyond the 82,000 acres that make up the park itself. Visitors spent an estimated $952 million in local regions while traveling the parkway; this was among the highest spending among parks in the National Park system. That spending helped fund more than 15,000 jobs and created $1.3 billion in economic output in local gateway economies surrounding the parkway.

Bibliography

"About the Blue Ridge Parkway." Blue Ridge Parkway Association, www.blueridgeparkway.org/v.php?pg=7. Accessed 28 May 2017.

"About the Parkway." Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, www.brpfoundation.org/explore-blue-ridge-parkway. Accessed 28 May 2017.

"About the Parkway: History." Virtual Blue Ridge, www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway-info/history/. Accessed 28 May 2017.

"Blue Ridge: America's Favorite Drive." National Park Service, www.nps.gov/blri/index.htm. Accessed 28 May 2017.

"Blue Ridge Parkway." Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, www.blueridgeheritage.com/attractions-destinations/blue-ridge-parkway. Accessed 28 May 2017.

"Blue Ridge Parkway History." Virginia's Blue Ridge, www.visitroanokeva.com/things-to-do/blue-ridge-parkway/history/. Accessed 28 May 2017.

Carmel, Margaret. "Blue Ridge Parkway Tops National Park System in Visitor Spending for 2016." Roanoke Times, 6 May 2017, www.roanoke.com/news/virginia/blue-ridge-parkway-tops-national-park-system-in-visitor-spending/article‗6816e95c-1a41-59a0-b891-ef0f793ef3a2.html. Accessed 28 May 2017.

Logue, Victoria, et al. Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Menasha Ridge P, 2010.

Morrison, Jim. "75 Years of the Blue Ridge Parkway." Smithsonian, 15 Sept. 2010, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/75-years-of-the-blue-ridge-parkway-61889786/. Accessed 28 May 2017.