Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 5.04 Railroads
Presentation #1 Title
Railroads into Virginia's southern Blue Ridge: To Build or Not to Build, a Cultural Question
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
In the late 19th century, begining of the 20th century railroads represented the "modern transportation" system necessary for the forces of industrialization and urbanization (to use those terms qualifiedly) to penetrate the southern portion of the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, just above the Tennessee and North Carolina boundaries.This paper will look at the three sucessful branches which move in from the Va & Tenn/AM&O/Norfolk & Western Railway through the Great Valley structure. They were first known as the Abingdon Coal and Iron, the Marion and Rye Valley, and the N&W's Cripple Creek Extension. These three lines prompted rapid economic and social change. Perhaps as, if not more, interesting are the railroads which were proposed, but not built. This paper will explore at least three planned roads in Carroll and Grayson Counties, VA, which never materialized. I hypothesize the answers may reveal much about the developing cultural clash between an established country yeomanry and the nascent town based bourgeoisie. Admittedly this paper does not talk about 'many mountains many musics', but it does consider the geographic center of the Appalachian Mountain Old Time Music universe.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Dr. Barry Whittemore is a Lecturer at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, where he teaches Appalachian, American, and Religious History. His dissertation examined town building and town persistence in Virginia's southern Blue Ridge. He sometimes plays banjo.
Railroads into Virginia's southern Blue Ridge: To Build or Not to Build, a Cultural Question
In the late 19th century, begining of the 20th century railroads represented the "modern transportation" system necessary for the forces of industrialization and urbanization (to use those terms qualifiedly) to penetrate the southern portion of the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, just above the Tennessee and North Carolina boundaries.This paper will look at the three sucessful branches which move in from the Va & Tenn/AM&O/Norfolk & Western Railway through the Great Valley structure. They were first known as the Abingdon Coal and Iron, the Marion and Rye Valley, and the N&W's Cripple Creek Extension. These three lines prompted rapid economic and social change. Perhaps as, if not more, interesting are the railroads which were proposed, but not built. This paper will explore at least three planned roads in Carroll and Grayson Counties, VA, which never materialized. I hypothesize the answers may reveal much about the developing cultural clash between an established country yeomanry and the nascent town based bourgeoisie. Admittedly this paper does not talk about 'many mountains many musics', but it does consider the geographic center of the Appalachian Mountain Old Time Music universe.
