"Every Picture Tells a Story ... Don't It:" On the Road - The Colorful Shenandoah, Chapter II | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: This a continuation of "Every Picture Tells a Story ... Don't It:" On the Road - The Colorful Shenandoah, Chapter I. It was a good trip, with plenty of material to share.

    The Shenandoah Valley exists as a long, fertile, and largely agrarian, stretch of land framed by the Potomac River to the north and the James River to the south, as well as being buttressed by the Blue Ridge Mountains to the East and the Appalachian Ridge and Valley ranges to the west, with the southwest to northeast vector of the Allegheny Mountains just a short distance further west. I am always in total awe of the long time impact of these, and other, geological features of this region upon the cultural and, ultimately, historical paths that has shaped the Shenandoah Valley and the high hills that envelop it.

    Long before the English from the Virginia Tidewater, the Scot-Irish from all points north and the Mennonites from Pennsylvania moved into the valley and the surrounding mountains, the Iroquois controlled this remarkable valley. With the European immigrants eventually finding passage beyond the rugged Blue Ridge Mountains into the valley, Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood and then Governor William Gooch thought it best to pay the Iroquois off to leave the valley, rather than battle these first immigrants upon this soil. The last payment was 200 pounds of gold to the Iroquois.
Click here to enlarge to a map of this region of the Shenandoah Valley.

    Now this fertile valley supports not only the vast array of citizens that call the Shenandoah home but hungry folks from all over the world. Presently the Shenandoah Valley is one of the largest centers of domestic milk production in North America.
In western Augusta County, north of Staunton, Va., there so many lovely fields with cows, and silos full of grain to feed them: Above and below.     photos by Stan Deatherage

   160 years ago, there was a similar story of the valley, but one that was much more regional. With many of the market and cultural centers - villages,towns and cities established in the early to mid 18th century, the Shenandoah Valley was now a steady producer of food stores for much of Virginia, and the entire Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, which was made of a good many men from North Carolina. Also making the valley so essential, and well utilized, was that the Shenandoah Valley was well connected by rail with all of the valley, as well as all integral points further south. The rail hub at Staunton, Virginia still serves the community today, as it did the entirety of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.
The American Civil War period train depot still remains in Staunton. This picture was made in December, 2010: Above. Here on Mill Street in Staunton is this masonry warehouse, which fronts the rail tracks just a few hundred feet from the depot,existed during the Civil War era: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage

The Stonewall Brigade Band is the nation's oldest continuous community band. The building that houses these music makers is adjacent to the Gypsy Hill Public Park in Staunton: Above. A sentimental landmark of Staunton has long been the Stonewall Jackson Hotel: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage

Here we look down upon the Shenandoah Valley from the Skyline Drive, which runs along the spine of the Blue Ridge Range. This valley below is just north of Staunton, Virginia, with the Allegheny Mountains in the background: Above. On Skyline Drive, one immediately notices that Augusta County is not just the Shenandoah Valley and Staunton, but Blue Ridge Mountains as well: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage



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( December 3rd, 2014 @ 8:09 pm )
 
Nice pics, bro!!!



Every Picture Tells a Story ... Don't It:" Goose Creek State Park in Mid Autumn National Parks and other National Places, Body & Soul, Travel "Every Picture Tells a Story ... Don't It:" On the Road - The Colorful Shenandoah, Chapter III

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