Progress was slow. No maps, reluctant landowners, extreme weather conditions, rocky terrain, and snakes were only a few of obstacles. According to Stanley Abbott, Chief Landscape Architect for the Parkway, “The idea is to fit the parkway into the mountains as if nature has put it there.” Easier said than done. In the mid-1950s, the National Park Service launched a ten-year development program, called Mission 66, to mark the 50th anniversary of the agency's creation. The plan included an accelerated effort to complete construction of the parkway by 1966. This initiative succeeded finishing all the parkway’s construction with the exception of 7.7 miles at Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina. Probably the most frustrating section of the parkway to be completed was that section at the base of Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina. At 5,946 feet, it’s the highest peak on the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Grandfather Mountain and its rocks reveal a long history of rock formation and mountain-building that dates back to 1.1 billion years ago. It was named “Grandfather” by pioneers who recognized the face of an old man in one of the cliffs. Many vantage points reveal different faces, so there is no one official
Map by William Tipton
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
COAST TO COAST SPRING MAGAZINE 2019
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