
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 12, 1992                   TAG: 9203120452
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SMART ROAD COULD DESTROY MANY GRAVES

MARTIN Willis (letter, Feb. 23) states that he looks forward to enjoying the pristine scenery of the beautiful Ellett Valley when Alternate 6 (the smart road) is built to connect Interstate 81 to Blacksburg. This highway, when built, could possibly destroy hundreds of graves, all of them unmarked.

The valley was the site of a large health spa called Montgomery White Sulphur Springs. Built in the 1850s, this resort contained about 25 cottages and a hotel and could accommodate as many as 1,000 guests.

In the latter part of 1862, the resort was used as a hospital for the ill and wounded Confederate soldiers, many suffering from smallpox. Local historians have noted that as many as 1,000 soldiers are buried in this valley. Also, many Catholic nuns, who volunteered as nurses, contracted smallpox, died and are buried there.

So when the heavy trucks and bulldozers move in to disrupt this sacred and historical valley, I hope that the people who favor this road will have second thoughts. Some of their ancestors may be buried in one of the hundreds of unmarked graves. The hundreds of soldiers and the nuns buried there gave their lives for what they believed; the least we can do is try to see that their final resting place remains undisturbed. ROY G. HAYTH SR. ROANOKE

by CNB