March 8

I am starting this section a day early. I wanted to make sure I mentioned National Car Rental company. The team at the Akron-Canton Airport is awesome, as is National itself. This loop will be the fifth using National. Three times I was given a Nissan Altima. 42.5 mpg on the GA-SC-TN loop was better than excellent. Anyone reading this March 8 entry, wait until the night of the 8th to see comments about the five parks that will be seen that day.

Ok, now for the parks visited today. I-64 runs right through New River Gorge NP and NPres. No sense not to stop and get a GPS waypoint recorded, and a couple of photos. But as with many parks in today’s budget crunch, the VC at this location, Sandstone, is closed. The banners flying about the VC still say “New River Gorge National River”, again no monies to replace. Still, I was in the park, if but for ten minutes. I will return in the summer when the Gauley River’s rapids are in fine form.

The Blue Ridge Parkway and The AT were crossed on route US60, just east of I-81. The Parkway can be closed via barricades at the various entry points. A ranger was closing the southbound entry, though vehicles were still allowed to go northward. The AT crossed at the cut in Long Mountain. Even though I stopped at these park units in February (in North Carolina), I still took GPS data and a couple of photos.

Appomattox Court House is the point where the country was reunited. April 9, 1865, saw General Lee surrender to General Grant at the McLean House in the village of Appomattox. The court house used for this area is less than 100 yards from the McLean House, thereby giving the park its name. Wilber McLean’s home was the finest in the area, prompting Lee’s and Grant’s staffs to recommend the structure for talks. The previous day had seen battle here, with the Confederates holding the ground around the village, while the Union forces were to the northeast and west, pinching any possible escape routes. An interesting point is that McLean lived in Manassas in 1861, in a home that was on the battlefield for the First Bull Run. How ironic he would own the house where the war ended. Eighteen Confederate soldiers who died in the Appomattox fighting are buried to the west of the Court House area. The Daughters of the Confederacy maintains the site. Further west are placards describing the fighting as Lee tried to move west, to meet up with General Joseph Johnston, who was in command of the Carolinas Army. A charge by 25-years old Brig. Gen. George Custer (yes, that Custer) with his 4,000-strong cavalry division squashed the attempt, leading to the surrender the next day. Most of the buildings in the park are recreations. But the McLean House is for the most part original. Granted, it had been torn down around the turn of the 20th century with the current owner’s intent to move it to Washington, D.C, and charge entrance fees. But the financing fell through, and the dismantled house sat for nearly 50 years, until 1940 when Congress designated the Appomattox Court House National Historical Monument, and the house was reassembled.

Booker T. Washington was born and raised on a 207-acre farm owned by James Burroughs, near Smith Mountain Lake in south-central Virginia. It was here, in 1865, that he and his family were told they were free, after the Union victory at Appomattox, which allowed Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to be enforced. I started my visit of this homestead at the VC, talking with Ranger Betsy. She has served the NPS for 34 years, with two more to go before retirement. This park is her homebase, but she has had the privilege of traveling to other park units to support operations. A 1.5-mile trail winds through the property, with reconstructed buildings which represent the mid 1800s. The foundation of the home in which Washington was born can be seen from the trail. Livestock is kept in a few of the structures, including chickens, horses, and hogs. I know the other members of my family would not have appreciated the hog pin, but the residents seemed to be enjoying themselves. The most important building for the farm, after the owner’s house, was the 2-story tobacco bin. One has been placed at the end of the loop trail. Tobacco was “King” in this part of the world. It was needed for buying and bartering. If the tobacco crop was poor one year, the entire farm, including the slaves, struggled. At times, an owner might have to split a slave family in order to sell one or more “assets” to raise cash. This was one incentive for slaves to work hard, to make sure each year’s tobacco crop was as good as it could be, then no one would be sold. Corn, vegetables, and other food crops were used to sustain the owner and his slaves. In his adult years, Washington moved to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, becoming its first principal. As an author, orator, and tireless champion of rights, he became the most distinguished African American of his time.