FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

Leesa Brandon – Executive Director and NC Coordinator
Blue Ridge Parkway 75, Inc.
828.271.4779, x 224

ASHEVILLE, NC and ROANOKE, VA (July 29, 2009) – The Blue Ridge Parkway, often called “America’s Favorite Drive,” was constructed, in part, to connect the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. Begun in 1935, the Parkway was also envisioned as the first elongated national park providing the recently enamored automobile traveler some of the most spectacular natural scenery in the United States.

But this bucolic ribbon of highway riding the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains is emblematic of a long and winding political journey that is noteworthy in and of itself.

The project began when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited the newly constructed Skyline Drive in Virginia in 1933. Then U.S. Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia suggested to the President the road should be extended to connect with the recently established Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Roosevelt convened the governors of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee and asked that a planning team be created. On November 24, 1933, Interior Secretary Harold Ickes approved this “park-to-park” highway as a public works project.

With a budget of $16 million, Ickes hired Stanley Abbott, a New York landscape architect, to oversee the project, and Abbott’s vision of a chain of parks and recreational areas with preserved viewsheds began to take shape. A study was conducted to determine the best route for the Parkway with the recommendation being a leg of the highway from the Blowing Rock, NC, area extending over the Unaka Mountains into Tennessee, connecting with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The decision was met with great controversy, particularly by the city of Asheville, NC, which found itself in dire economic straits at the height of the Great Depression. The Asheville Chamber of Commerce and other city leaders joined forces to lobby against the proposed route in favor of a road that passed through their city. An intense campaign began in Washington with the states of Tennessee and North Carolina vying for a different path for the Parkway.

The Asheville contingency employed the influential US Ambassador to Mexico, Josephus Daniels, to lobby on their behalf. Roosevelt had served under Daniels as Secretary of the Navy when Daniels was Defense Secretary under Woodrow Wilson, and the two men were friends. Daniels managed to sway the administration to favor the Asheville route and construction began September 11, 1935, near Cumberland Knob, North Carolina.

Most of the construction was done by private contractors, but a variety of New Deal public works programs were also employed, including the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Emergency Relief Administration (ERA), and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). When World War II began, approximately 170 miles were open to travel and another 160 miles were under construction. By the early 1950s, only half of the Blue Ridge Parkway was completed.

The National Park Service launched its ten-year development program called Mission 66, an accelerated effort to move construction ahead with a goal of the Parkway’s completion by 1966. This initiative was very successful, finishing all of the Parkway’s construction with the exception of 7.7 miles at Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina. Grandfather owner, Hugh Morton, objected to the proposed construction at Grandfather, citing the fragility of the mountain’s ecology.

After years of negotiating, the revolutionary Linn Cove Viaduct – which had been constructed from the top down to protect the mountain’s terrain – opened in 1987, completing the Blue Ridge Parkway’s continuous 469-mile route.

Today, the Blue Ridge Parkway is the most visited national park unit in the system with an average of 16 million visits a year. Commercial and residential development, air and water quality issues, and lack of sufficient funding all threaten this valuable and vulnerable corridor. In collaboration with the National Park Service, several organizations, including land trust groups from both Virginia and North Carolina, are working diligently to ensure the park is protected.

The Blue Ridge Parkway by the Numbers

• Number of acres: 81,785
• Boundary miles: 1,200
             
• Miles of Hiking Trails: 369
• Number of Tunnels: 26
             
• Number of Visitor Centers: 14
• Number of Bridges: 176
• Number of Dams: 29
• Number of Sewer Systems: 95
• Number of Historic Buildings: 91
• 2008 Annual Visitation: 17 million
• Number of Roadside Vistas: 910
             
• Number of Views: 1,228
• Number of National Forests Crossed: 4
• Number of Crossings/Access Points: 300
• Number of Maintenance Facilities: 14
• Number of Water Systems: 45
• Road Overlooks/Parking: 382
• Number of Radio Towers: 10
• Number of Adjacent Private Property Owners: 4,000+
• Total Number of Counties Passed Through: 29
• Number of Virginia Counties Passed Through: 12
• Number of North Carolina Counties Passed Through: 17
• Annual Economic Impact: $2.3 billion

Blue Ridge Parkway 75, Inc. is the non-profit organization designated by the National Park Service to lead the Parkway’s 75th Anniversary celebration. With representation from all of the Parkway’s partner groups, the states of North Carolina and Virginia, and community leaders along the 469-mile scenic route, Blue Ridge Parkway 75, Inc.’s mission is to engage local communities and all visitors in an anniversary that focuses attention on a sustainable and healthy Parkway for future generations.