Skyline Drive & Shenandoah National Park

Jun 2, 2025

Discover the breathtaking beauty and rich history of Skyline Drive and Shenandoah National Park. The podcast explores the challenges faced during the park's establishment, including land acquisition and the displacement of families. It critiques the irony of conservation—highlighting the exclusion of Indigenous peoples in preservation narratives. You'll also learn about the cultural significance of roads in national parks and grassroots efforts that shaped their creation. Join a journey through the park's past, revealing triumphs and struggles alike.

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INSIGHT

Indigenous Erasure in National Parks

Early national park laws framed areas like Yellowstone as untouched wilderness despite Indigenous peoples living there.
Indigenous peoples were forcibly removed, erasing their history and contributions to these lands.

INSIGHT

Selecting Virginia for Skyline Drive

The Southern Appalachian National Park Committee chose Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains for a new park accessible to eastern cities.
Skyline Drive was envisioned as a scenic road atop ridges with stunning views and minimal environmental impact.

ANECDOTE

Landowners' Resistance and Condemnation

Some landowners resisted appraisal visits for park land and greeted officials with shotguns.
Virginia used a Blanket Condemnation Act to acquire land by eminent domain amid disputes.

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Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park is a scenic road tied to the “See America First” movement of the early 20th century. The acquisition of land for the project was difficult, and displaced many families from their homes.

Research:

Harrison, Sarah Georgia. “The Skyline Drive: A Western Park Road in the East.” From Parkways: Past, Present and Future. International Linear Parks Conference. Appalachian State University. (1987). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1xp3kv8.13
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.
Jones, Jenny. “Skyline Drive: Engineered with Nature In Mind.” Civil Engineering. April 2001.
Kyle, Robert. “The Dark Side of Skyline Drive.” Washington Post. 10/17/1993.
Miles, Kathryn. “Shenandoah National Park Is Confronting Its History.” Outside. 9/23/2019. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/hiking-and-backpacking/shenandoah-national-park-segregation-history/
Nash, Carole. “Native American Communities of the Shenandoah Valley: Constructing a Complex History.” 2020. https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.lib.jmu.edu/dist/9/133/files/2019/04/Native-American-Communities-of-the-Shenandoah-Valley.pdf
National Park Service. “Shenandoah National Park: Skyline Drive: Virginia.” From Highways in Harmony online books exhibit. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/hih/shenandoah/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
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. “The Dedication of Shenandoah National Park.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/134q1Gkk6Af0zl6bb_wekgqs0k2Wt9VPT/view
Simmons, Dennis E. “Conservation, Cooperation, and Controversy: The Establishment of Shenandoah National Park, 1924-1936.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography , Oct., 1981. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4248512
S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. “America's Highways 1776-1976.” U.S. Government Printing Office. https://archive.org/details/AmericasHighways1776-1976
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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