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Swift Run Gap
Swift Run Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in the U.S. state of Virginia. Geography At an elevation of , it is the site of the mountain crossing of U.S. Highway 33 between the Piedmont region on the eastern side and the Shenandoah Valley (or Great Valley of Virginia) to the west. Generally following the mountain ridge tops, the Skyline Drive, which is part of Shenandoah National Park, has an entry point at Swift Run Gap, and the Appalachian Trail also passes through nearby. The mountain ridge forms the border between Greene County and Rockingham County. Swift Run Gap lies along a drainage divide between southeast-flowing streams in the James River watershed and northwest-flowing streams that drain to the Shenandoah River system. Geology The bedrock beneath Swift Run Gap is 1.05 billion year old granitic rocks of the Blue Ridge basement complex. The type location for the Swift Run Formation, a Neoproterozoic metasedimentary unit, is approximately east of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greene County, Virginia
Greene County is a county in Virginia in the eastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,552. Its county seat is Stanardsville. Greene County is part of the Charlottesville, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Greene County was established in 1838 from Orange County. The county is named for American Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene, who was a general in the Continental Army. A major incident occurred on October 24, 1979, when a natural gas main ruptured, causing an explosion. The resulting fire destroyed the bell tower of the county courthouse and county office building. However, quick action by the firemen on the scene saved the county records which were secured in the vault. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water. It is the second-smallest county in Virginia by total area. Adjacent counties * Rockingham County, Virginia – west * Page County, Virginia – ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elkton, Virginia
Elkton (formerly Conrad's Store) is an incorporated town in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. It is included in the Harrisonburg Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,762 at the 2010 census. Elkton was named for the Elk Run stream. It is located along the south fork of the Shenandoah River at the intersections of east-west U.S. Route 33 and north-south U.S. Route 340. The town celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2008. History One of the first European-Americans to settle permanently in the area was Adam Miller (Mueller), a native of Germany. In 1741, Miller purchased , including a large lithia spring, near Elkton and lived on this property for the remainder of his life. He sold of this property to his son-in-law, Jacob Baer, and the spring on Miller’s land is still known as Bear Lithia Spring. Conrads Store was a general store built by George Conrad about 1812. George Conrad was a son of Captain Stephen Conrad who served during the American Revo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanardsville, Virginia
Stanardsville is a town in Greene County, Virginia, United States. The population was 349 at the 2020 census, down from 367 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Greene County. The name is from Robert Stanard, a benefactor who donated land for public use. It is part of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Stanardsville is named for Stanard family, landholders who surveyed the first lots for the town in 1794. In 1838, Greene County was created from land previously contained within Orange County and Stanardsville was selected as the county seat. The Greene County Courthouse, Beadles House, Octonia Stone, Powell–McMullan House, and Stanardsville Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Geography Stanardsville is located in central Greene County at (38.296852, -78.439367), at the eastern foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. According to the United States Census Bureau, Stanardsville has a total area of , all of i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rockfish Gap
Rockfish Gap is a wind gap located in the Blue Ridge Mountains between Charlottesville and Waynesboro, Virginia, United States, through Afton Mountain, which is frequently used to refer to the gap. Joining the Shenandoah Valley to the Piedmont region of the state, it is the site of the mountain crossing of Interstate 64, U.S. Route 250, and the former Blue Ridge Railroad which later became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and is currently part of the CSX line. With an elevation of about , it is one of the lowest gaps between Manassas Gap and the James River. Rockfish Gap lies along a drainage divide between southeast-flowing streams that drain to the James River and northwest-flowing streams in the Shenandoah River system. The scenic Skyline Drive, which runs north through Shenandoah National Park to Front Royal, and the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs south to a point near Cherokee, North Carolina, each generally following the mountain ridgetops, meet a short ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube construction techniques rather than traditional tunnel boring methods. A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. The central portions of a rapid transit network are usually in the tunnel. Some tunnels are used as sewers or aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations. Utility tunnels are used for routing steam, chilled water, electrical power or telecommunication cables, as well as connecting buildings for convenient passage of people and equipment. Secret tunnels are built for military purposes, or by civilians for smuggling of weapons, contraband, or people. Special tunnels, such as wildlife crossings, are built to allow wildlife to cross human-made barriers safely. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Board Of Public Works
The Virginia Board of Public Works was a governmental agency which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginia's transportation-related internal improvements during the 19th century. In that era, it was customary to invest public funds in private companies, which were the forerunners of the public service and utility companies of modern times. The state often invested in up to 40% of the stock to build turnpikes, toll bridges, canals, and water and rail transportation enterprises. Claudius Crozet: Virginia's State Engineer Claudius Crozet (1789–1864), a civil engineer and educator who helped found Virginia Military Institute (VMI), was Principal Engineer and later Chief Engineer of the Board of Public Works. He was involved with the planning and construction of many of the Canals in the United States, canals, Toll roads in the United States#History, funding through toll, turnpikes, bridges, and railroads in Virginia, including the area which is now West Virginia. Of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claudius Crozet
Claude "Claudius" Crozet (December 31, 1789 – January 29, 1864) was a soldier, educator, and civil engineer. Crozet was born in France and trained as an artillery officer and civil engineer. After the defeat of Napoleon's army, he emigrated to the United States in 1816 and joined the U.S. Army to teach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. After resigning his commission in 1823, he took a job with the Virginia Board of Public Works and oversaw the planning and construction of canals, turnpikes, bridges and railroads in Virginia, including the area which became West Virginia during the American Civil War (during which Crozet sided with the Confederate States of America). Crozet also helped found the Virginia Military Institute in 1839 and earned a nickname as the "Pathfinder of the Blue Ridge." Early life, family Claudius Crozet was born in Villefranche, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France on December 31, 1789 to Pierrette Varion Crozet and her husband, wine merchant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. At the 2020 census, the population was 51,814. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Harrisonburg with Rockingham County for statistical purposes into the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 126,562 in 2011. Harrisonburg is home to James Madison University (JMU), a public research university with an enrollment of over 20,000 students, and Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), a private, Mennonite-affiliated liberal arts university. Although the city has no historical association with President James Madison, JMU was nonetheless named in his honor as Madison College in 1938 and renamed as James Madison University in 1977. EMU largely owes its existence to the sizable Mennonite pop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Central Railroad
The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the railroad began near the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad's line and expanded westward to Orange County, reaching Gordonsville by 1840. In 1849, the Blue Ridge Railroad was chartered to construct a line over the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Louisa Railroad which reached the base of the Blue Ridge in 1852. After a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Louisa Railroad was allowed to expand eastward from a point near Doswell to Richmond. Renamed as the Virginia Central Railroad in 1850, the railroad bypassed the under construction Blue Ridge Railroad via a temporary track built over Rockfish Gap. This connected the railroad's eastern division with its expanding line across the Blue Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley. Having reac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louisa Railroad
The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the railroad began near the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad's line and expanded westward to Orange County, reaching Gordonsville by 1840. In 1849, the Blue Ridge Railroad was chartered to construct a line over the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Louisa Railroad which reached the base of the Blue Ridge in 1852. After a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Louisa Railroad was allowed to expand eastward from a point near Doswell to Richmond. Renamed as the Virginia Central Railroad in 1850, the railroad bypassed the under construction Blue Ridge Railroad via a temporary track built over Rockfish Gap. This connected the railroad's eastern division with its expanding line across the Blue Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley. Having rea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toll Road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and maintenance. Toll roads have existed in some form since antiquity, with tolls levied on passing travelers on foot, wagon, or horseback; a practice that continued with the automobile, and many modern tollways charge fees for motor vehicles exclusively. The amount of the toll usually varies by vehicle type, weight, or number of axles, with freight trucks often charged higher rates than cars. Tolls are often collected at toll plazas, toll booths, toll houses, toll stations, toll bars, toll barriers, or toll gates. Some toll collection points are automatic, and the user deposits money in a machine which opens the gate once the correct toll has been paid. To cut costs and minimise time delay, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knights Of The Golden Horseshoe Expedition
The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition, also known as the Transmontane Expedition, took place in 1716 in the British Colony of Virginia. The Royal Governor and a number of prominent citizens traveled westward, across the Blue Ridge Mountains on an exploratory expedition. It is a frequently recounted event of the History of Virginia. The expedition Alexander Spotswood became acting royal governor of Virginia in 1710, by which time pressure on the colony to expand had become more acute than ever. In 1716, Governor Spotswood, with about 50 other men and 74 horses, led a real estate speculation expedition up the Rappahannock River valley during westward exploration of the interior of Virginia. The journalist of this expedition was a Huguenot, Lieut. John Fontaine, who served as an officer in the British Army. The party included fourteen rangers and four Meherrin Indians, and departed Germanna on August 29, coming within sight of the Blue Ridge Mountains on August 31. They co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
