The Blue Ridge Parkway is a complex national park with an interesting history. Here are several facts about this national treasure. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Leesa Brandon or Penny Lloyd.

• Completed in 1987, the Blue Ridge Parkway motor road extends 470.02 miles from Rockfish Gap at the southern end of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Oconaluftee area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. It includes 216.95 miles in Virginia and 253.07 in North Carolina.
• The Parkway contains 81,680 acres of Federal land – 46,961 in North Carolina and 34,719 in Virginia.
• Construction on the Parkway began September 11, 1935 at Cumberland Knob (Milepost 217.5), which is .6 mile south of the Virginia-North Carolina state line.
• The first completed segment of the Parkway motor road is 12 miles between NC 18 and US 21 in Alleghany County, NC.  It opened to traffic in April 1939. The final section was completed in 1987 – 7.5 miles around Grandfather Mountain which included the Linn Cove Viaduct.
• At the beginning of construction, the estimated cost was $16.6 million. When the final section was completed 52 years later, some $130 million had been spent on construction. The Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of North Carolina originally acquired rights-of-way for the Parkway and donated them to the Federal government; the Federal government provided funds for design and construction.
• The impetus for Blue Ridge Parkway construction was rooted in the Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policy of creating massive public works projects aimed at bringing the country out of the Great Depression. Companies were required to hire as many unemployed local men as possible for the Parkway construction. However, many unemployed were provided work by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a result of the Emergency Work Progress Bill of 1933.
• Situated in four CCC camps along the Parkway, these young men enlisted for periods of six months at a time and were paid $1.00 per day, with $25.00 per month sent directly to support their families.
• The CCC crews did not work directly on highway construction but were instead assigned to landscape development and construction of structures, trails, and picnic areas.
• By 1942 most roadway construction on the Parkway was halted due to World War II and the CCC camps were shut down.
• However, during the war three camps of conscientious objectors were assigned to the Parkway. The Civilian Public Service (CPS) program allowed conscientious objectors to perform “public service to humanity” instead of serving in the military. The crews were trained in fire control but spent most of the time grading and seeding road slopes and improving fields and pastures.