The Creation of the Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway is the longest roadway in the U.S. that was planned as a single unit. Its origin is connected to government efforts to provide relief from the Great Depression, and conservation of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  

Research:

• "Restoring Western North Carolina's Infrastructure: NCDOT Receives $250 Million in Federal Emergency Relief Funds." National Law Review, 21 Feb. 2025. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A828346450/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=b22cedc8. Accessed 12 May 2025.
• "The Blue Ridge Parkway." NCpedia. Accessed on May 14th, 2025. https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/blue-ridge-parkway.
• “Report In Full of Secretary Work’s Appalachian National Park Committee. “National Parks and Conservation Magazine.” 1924-11-25: Iss 42. https://archive.org/details/sim_national-parks_1924-11-25_42/page/n5/
• Averill, Graham. “The Blue Ridge Parkway: A Monumental Drive.” Our State. 9/27/2021. https://www.ourstate.com/the-blue-ridge-parkway-a-monumental-drive/
• Buxton, Barry. “Blue Ridge Parkway: Agent of Transition.” Proceedings of the Blue Ridge Parkway Golden Anniversary Conference. Appalachian Consortium Press/Boone, North Carolina. 1986.
• Coutant, Linda. “Helene Recovery, 7 Months After the Storm.” National Parks Conservation Association. 4/26/2025. https://www.npca.org/articles/8198-helene-recovery-7-months-after-the-storm
• Coutant, Linda. “Helene: Facing Loss and the Blue Ridge Parkway’s ‘Most Tremendous Challenge’.” National Parks Conservation Association. https://www.npca.org/articles/5459-helene-facing-loss-and-the-blue-ridge-parkway-s-most-tremendous-challenge
• “Driving Through Time: The Digital Blue Ridge Parkway.” https://docsouth.unc.edu/blueridgeparkway/
• Jolley, Harley E., “Blue Ridge Parkway: The First 50 Years,” Appalachian State University Libraries Digital Collections, accessed May 14, 2025, https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/items/show/43667.
• Landis, Mark. “This 5,600-mile highway route was created to see 12 national parks in the West.” The Sun. 6/13/2022. https://www.sbsun.com/2022/06/13/this-5600-mile-highway-route-was-created-to-see-12-national-parks-in-the-west/
• Mitchell, Anne V. “Culture, History, and Development on the Qualla Boundary: The Eastern Cherokees and the Blue Ridge Parkway, 1935-40.” Appalachian Journal , WINTER 1997, Vol. 24, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40933835
• National Park Service. “Blue Ridge Parkway: Virginia and North Carolina.” From Highways in Harmony online books exhibit. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/hih/blue_ridge/index.htm
• Roberts, Brett G. “Returning the Land: Native Americans and National Parks.” Ave Maria Law Review 148 (Spring, 2023). https://www.avemarialaw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/v21.Roberts.final38.pdf
• Speer, Jean Haskell. “’Hillbilly Sold Here’: Appalachian Folk Culture and Parkway Tourism.” From Parkways: Past, Present and Future. International Linear Parks Conference. Appalachian State University. (1987). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1xp3kv8.33
• S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. “America's Highways 1776-1976.” U.S. Government Printing Office. https://archive.org/details/AmericasHighways1776-1976
• Whisnant, Anne Mitchel. “Routing the Parkway, 1934.” Driving Through Time. DocSouth. https://docsouth.unc.edu/blueridgeparkway/overlooks/competing_routes/#footnote9
• Whisnant, Anne Mitchell. “A Capsule History of the Blue Ridge Parkway.” Appalachian Voice. 10/11/2017. https://appvoices.org/2017/10/11/a-capsule-history-of-the-blue-ridge-parkway/
• Whisnant, Anne Mitchell. “Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History.” University of North Carolina Press. 2006.
• Zeller, Thomas. “Consuming Landscapes: What We See When We Drive and Why It Matters.” Johns Hopkins University Press. 2022. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/book.103002

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