Notes

Notes

On Mountain Roads

In the 1920’s, three major roads crossed the Blue Ridge in the park area: what are now U.S. Routes 211 and and the Gordonsville Pike at Fishers Gap.

How did people travel? Mainly by foot. A small portion of mountain people owned horses; very few owned cars or trucks.

It was common for Rappahannock families to walk to Lurav and return the same day carrying heavy loads of suplilies. Men who worked as seasonal farm-hands might walk eight miles to reach their job.

A lot of folks who worked at Skyland lived five or more miles away, and walked to work each da

On Mountain Farming

Most of the mountain people were subsistence farmers, with less than five acres. In addition to corn, their staple, some families grew oats, buckwheat or rve. They harvested these crops by hand, using scythes or cradles.’ hauled the stalks to the barn and threshed them with a pole.

Clearing the land was a formidable task: new ground had to be broken when the old land wore out. The farmer had to chop the trees down, or kill them slowly by breaking the bark, cutting them for firewood later.

Rocks had to be hauled away and undergrowth chopped. Then came plowing. Sometimes there was a horse, but if not, one man guided the plow while two men pulled it.

Clods were broken up by cross-plowing. Then furrows were made with a shovel plow, the corn was planted, the dirt hoed over the seed. Usually, farmers plowed twice between the rows during the season. Women and children cultivated between the plants with hoes. During the second hoeing, the farmer usually thinned the rows, allowing the strongest plants to remain.

Pigs ran wild in the woods, foraging until butchering time. Women and children raised the garden: potatoes, cabbage, corn and beans. Root crops were stored in trenches others were dried, canned or pickled.