1935: THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

From 1929 to 1939, the miserly grip of the Great Depression brought suffering and struggle to the entire nation. By 1933, half of America’s banks had closed, consumer spending was at a standstill, faltering companies laid off workers and over thirteen million Americans were unemployed. The United States would not overcome its funk until 1939, when the next world war brought demands for new and improved killing machines—a sadistic economic twist that put the nation back to work.

In the midst of the Depression, President Roosevelt would install a series of domestic programs (New Deals) that would alter the face of government intervention forever (can you say social security, unemployment insurance and agricultural subsidies without getting mad?). One of these programs (the WPA)—designed to boost local economies by providing jobs—hired local workers to build a long list of public works projects, including schools, post offices, highways and parks. NC would enter the federal giveaway contest when an old idea resurfaced in congressional circles. In 1909, a Carolina geologist by the name of Joseph Pratt had proposed a scenic toll road connecting GA, NC, TN and VA. The visionary project, Crest of the Blue Ridge Highway, was designed to incorporate the best scenic views of the mountains and had the backing of all four states. Begun in 1912, the project was abandoned within two years due to financial shortages and engineering challenges. Twenty-one years later, with a large influx of federal cash, Pratt’s project was back on the drawing board.

Lengthier and traversing a variety of historic and scenic sites, the newly named Appalachian Scenic Highway would travel from the Shenandoah Valley of VA to the Smoky Mountains of NC. Maddening to configure and specializing in outrageous political posturing, the route would eventually include 217 miles in VA and 252 miles in NC (GA and TN would lose out, while the city of Asheville maneuvered the route to its doorstep). Utilizing private contractors and local crews from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), construction began in September 1935 and would continue for the next fifty-two years, costing over $8 billion in twenty-first-century cash.

The Blue Ridge Parkway, as it eventually came to be called (third name’s a charm), would become the nation’s longest National Park, with over twenty million annual visitors depositing carloads of cash in NC and VA.