Hungry Mother State Park is a
state park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
in southwestern
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
.
Much of the land for Hungry Mother State Park was donated by local landowners to develop a new state park in
Smyth County
Smyth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,800. Its county seat is Marion.
History
Smyth County was formed on February 23, 1832, from Washington and Wythe counties. The county i ...
on Hungry Mother Creek. The park is one of the six original
CCC
CCC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canada's Capital Cappies, the Critics and Awards Program in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
* ''Capcom Classics Collection'', a 2005 compilation of arcade games for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox
* CCC, the pro ...
parks that opened in June 1936. The park was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2007.
Origins of name
It has frequently been noted on lists of
unusual place names. A legend states
that when the
Native Americans destroyed several settlements on the
New River south of the park, Molly Marley and her small child were among the survivors taken to the raiders’ base north of the park. They eventually escaped, wandering through the wilderness eating berries. Molly finally collapsed, and her child wandered down a creek. Upon finding help, the only words the child could utter were "Hungry Mother." When the search party arrived at the foot of the mountain where Molly had collapsed, they found the child's mother dead. Today, that mountain is Molly's Knob (3,270 feet), and the stream is Hungry Mother Creek.
References
External links
Hungry Mother Official SiteHemlock Haven Official Site
State parks of Virginia
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
National Register of Historic Places in Smyth County, Virginia
Parks in Smyth County, Virginia
Civilian Conservation Corps in Virginia
Protected areas established in 1936
1936 establishments in Virginia
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