Did You Know?
The Blue Ridge Parkway was designed to connect the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks.
The Eseeola Lodge features Linville's signature Chestnut-bark siding. Photo by Todd Bush
Location
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Linville, North Carolina
828.733.2013
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Near milepost 305
Linville has been a summer destination for southern families since 1891. The Yonahlossee Road, which later became US 221, was built in 1891 to connect Linville to Blowing Rock. When the Blue Ridge Parkway was laid out in the 1930s, its route closely paralleled the historic Yonahlossee Road.
Architect Henry Bacon, designer of the Lincoln Memorial, was the first to use Chestnut bark to fashion Linville’s signature siding. Bacon-designed buildings in the Linville historic district include three private residences and All Saints Episcopal Church. The chestnut bark-covered Eseeola Lodge continues to welcome guests with elegance unchanged in 100 years.
What may have been the first golf course in North Carolina was laid out in Linville in 1895. Today, the Linville Golf Club has an 18-hole championship course (designed by Donald Ross in 1924) that consistently ranks among the best courses in the Carolinas.
The Linville Improvement Company, developers of this resort village, donated 13 miles of right-of-way for the Blue Ridge Parkway between Holloway Mountain Road and Pineola. This section of the Parkway crosses Grandfather Mountain, recognized by the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve and considered one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the east.
The challenge of crossing this environmentally sensitive terrain inspired the design of the Linn Cove Viaduct. Called “the world’s most complicated bridge,” the design employs every kind of alignment geometry ever used in highway construction. One hundred fifty-three 50-ton segments connect seven permanent piers set 150 feet apart. To protect the fragile terrain, all construction was done from the top down and no machinery was allowed more than 50 feet from the base of the piers.
Dedicated on September 11, 1987, the Viaduct has won over a dozen national and international design awards.
How We're Doing Our Part
The Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and the “Singing on the Mountain” at Grandfather Mountain are two events that will be a part of the 75th anniversary celebration.
