Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 50

Graves alonG the GorGe:

Saving West Virginia History

Along the new river gorge national river,
volunteers spend a week in the woods looking
for markers of those who came before us.
Story and photos by Hazel Freeman

Upper: Coal and logging drew thousands to
the new river gorge a century ago. Today's
gorge draws over 1 million visitors a year for
outdoor recreation.
Lower: A Sierra Club service week group
worked with the New River Gorge National
River Park in the Volunteers in the Parks
program.

50 BlueRidgeCountry.com

I stand on a terrace of forested and
wild land a mile from the rocky, rutted dirt road where we parked our
vehicles. The loud rush of West
Virginia's New River, 100 yards
away, echoes through the trees,
pounding and pummeling itself
over rocks, pushing between the
steep and unforgiving sides of the
gorge.
A group of Sierra Club members
from across the country has converged here, for a week of service in
the New River Gorge National River
Park. On this day, trekking back
into the work location, we climb
over and under fallen trees and logs
and scramble up and down steep,
slippery, overgrown slopes. Finally,
we come to a place where the land
flattened and formed an elevated
shelf above the river.
New River Gorge National River
Park Ranger Frank Sellers briefs us
before we trek in.
"It's a bit of a hike back in there,
and we may have to peck around a
little to find the gravestone," he
says. I smile at the thought of us
"pecking around," the woods like a
flock of chickens. Instead of hunting for bugs and worms, we will
hunt for the final resting place of
someone's long-lost ancestor.
We are there as a part of the
Volunteers in the Parks program. A
part of the National Parks goal is to
protect and respect any and all

A goal of our National Parks is to protect and
respect cemeteries on parklands.

cemeteries on parklands.
While many are familiar with the
gorge's world-class whitewater rafting or the longest steel arch bridge
in the Western Hemisphere, the
gorge has another story to tell - the
disappearing remnants of a boom
time when coal and logging were
kings along the river. With the
arrival of the Chesapeake and Ohio
(C&O) Railroad in 1873, came thousands of workers, including miners,


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Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015

Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Western North Carolina Food Foray
Is Harvest Table the Region’s Premier Farm-to-Table Restaurant?
Rhododendron Season Arrives: The Photoessay
The Secret Biltmore You Never See
Sleeping in School
Saving West Virginia History
Cabins at Cosby Creek
Blue Ridge Weekend
Landrum Weekend
From the Editor / Worth a Click
Mill Creek Stories
Mountain Report
Creature Feature
Great Home Buys in the Mountains
The Hike
Festivals & Events
Country Roads
Mountian Garden
Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 3
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - From the Editor / Worth a Click
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Mill Creek Stories
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Mountain Report
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Creature Feature
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Great Home Buys in the Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - The Hike
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 12
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Festivals & Events
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 14
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 15
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 16
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 17
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Country Roads
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 20
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 22
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 23
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 24
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 25
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Western North Carolina Food Foray
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 30
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 31
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Is Harvest Table the Region’s Premier Farm-to-Table Restaurant?
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 33
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Rhododendron Season Arrives: The Photoessay
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 36
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - The Secret Biltmore You Never See
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 40
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 43
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 44
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 45
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 46
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 47
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Sleeping in School
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 49
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Saving West Virginia History
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 51
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cabins at Cosby Creek
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 53
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Blue Ridge Weekend
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 55
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 56
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 57
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 58
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 59
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Landrum Weekend
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 61
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Mountian Garden
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 63
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 64
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 65
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover4
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