The mountain families got the dire news from Virginia’s State Commission on Conservation and Development, which sent the landowners a “Notice to Vacate” letter. It effectively ordered them to sell their property at a “fair market price” (ranging from $2 to $25 an acre) and move elsewhere. Those who did not own property, who were tenant farmers or who wished to remain in their homes as long as they could, were given some leeway: The state allowed them to stay on their property until alternative housing was found—a process that in many cases took three or four years.
While the decision to create Shenandoah National Park (SNP) was a government initiative, it was facilitated by Virginia businessmen. In the 1920s, the National Park Service announced that it wanted to establish a park in the eastern part of America, and prominent Virginia landowners, led by Skyland Resort owner George Pollock, seized on the opportunity. Pollock proposed Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains—with their panoramic views, waterfalls and proximity to Washington, D.C.—as an ideal location for a park. In 1924, Pollock and other businessmen formed a group named Shenandoah Valley Inc. to lobby for the idea and successfully persuaded the Southern Appalachian National Park Committee (part of the Department of the Interior) that the mountains of central Virginia could be a major draw for tourists in cars. That was the genesis of SNP, which would come to encompass land owned by Pollock.
Not surprisingly, many of the mountain residents were completely unaware of the goings-on in Washington that led to their displacement. Indeed, they didn’t get the news until the Condemnation Act was passed and the state began surveying their land. At first, the residents were led to believe that they could stay on their property with conservation easements—but that proved not to be the case. Many of the homes on the 200,000 acres would be destroyed—and all the families in that area would have to move. Needless to say, the mountain families were shocked by the development, but resistance was futile: The state and federal government had already begun to move forward with the building of Skyline Drive and the development of the park.
Latest Comments
Relocation of mountain people in Shenandoah Valley
Posted by Bonnie Seekford December 01, 2010 08:21:01
Shenandoah National Park
Posted by Kathryn Trager November 27, 2010 02:27:24
sad story
Posted by Paul Gerdes November 23, 2010 21:12:19