Blue Ridge Heritage Project - Rockingham County

09/07/2024

03/17/2023

ANNOUNCEMENT

Augusta County Blue Ridge Heritage Project Chimney Monument groundbreaking will take place at 11am on Saturday, March 25, 2023 at Grand Caverns Park. Feel free to join us. The groundbreaking should last approximately one hour.

We are so excited to be breaking ground on the final Chimney Memorial for the Blue Ridge Heritage Project.

When Shenandoah National Park was established in 1935, it did so with land from eight Virginia counties – Page, Greene, Rappahannock, Rockingham, Albemarle, Warren, Madison, and Augusta – that had been previously owned by over 500 families. The Blue Ridge Heritage Project has worked to build a stone chimney in each of the eight counties, with the displaced residents of each county listed on a plaque. Chimneys are used for the monuments because stone chimneys are often the only remaining part of homes visible in Shenandoah National Park today. The Augusta County chimney monument will be the eighth and final monument of the Blue Ridge Heritage Project.
The Blue Ridge Heritage Project, a 501c3 nonprofit, was established in 2013 to create a monument site in each of the eight counties surrounding Shenandoah National Park. Each chimney displays the names of displaced families and educates visitors about their lives and mountain culture.

As we move forward through our building process, we will post updates here about the building progress and post photos. We thank each of you for supporting the Blue Ridge Heritage Project through the building of our Rockingham, Warren, Madison, Greene, Albemarle, Page and Rappahanock Memorials. As we move forward with the final Memorial in Augusta County, please know how very much we appreciate all of you.

11/04/2022

We would like to invite you to like the Blue Ridge Heritage Project Augusta FB page. The Augusta Memorial is the last and final Memorial to be completed to see all 8 counties to those displaced from the mountains to build Shenandoah National Park. We will be updating often now as we have secured our location in Grand Caverns Park in Grottoes. We are Designing our Memorial and excited to have secured Mr. Clyde Jenkins as our Stonemason. There's still much to be done and we appreciate your feedback. We are currently accepting donations and the link is on our page. We are so very grateful for everyone who has and is currently supporting the Blue Ridge Heritage Project. We say thank you to all.
You are keeping the Families current in history.

https://www.facebook.com/brhpaugusta/

The Blue Ridge Heritage Project is a grassroots effort to honor the sacrifices made by Augusta County families and landowners who were displaced so that the Shenandoah National Park could be established.

07/15/2021

As part of WMRA’s partnership with StoryCorps in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia, we’re sharing a conversation between Lisa Custalow and Bill

06/21/2021

On Sunday, June 27 from 2-4 pm the Madison County Historical Society will celebrate the opening of their Mountain Museum. The Museum is dedicated to the families who were displaced from their homes in the Blue Ridge for the formation of Shenandoah National Park and features displays of life in the mountains. The MCHS also is proud to feature the new interpretive displays for the Blue Ridge Heritage monument.

The Mountain Museum is located in the village of Criglersville in a cottage on the grounds of the former Criglersville School and adjacent to the Madison County Blue Ridge Heritage Monument.

The address is 1120 Old Blue Ridge Turnpike, Madison, VA 22727.

06/08/2021

Commentary SCHOHARIE, New York—The roots of faith, family, patriotism, dialect, and work ethic are a prominent feature here. ...