Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 1, 1994 TAG: 9405020114
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-18 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FORT CHISWELL LENGTH: Medium
The county Board of Supervisors recently approved an application for money to start the first phase after hearing a presentation on the project by Wayne Wilcox, landscape architect with Anderson & Associates of Blacksburg.
The funds will be sought under the Transportation Enhancements Program of the Virginia Department of Transportation, which can pay for up to 80 percent of transportation-related projects.
The rest must come from the county or local citizens, Wilcox said, but that can include in-kind contributions such as land donations. The total cost of phase one is $49,950.
The first phase would create a walkway from Factory Merchants Mall, where a Visitor Information Center is located, to the McGavock Cemetery with its distinctive markers and graves dating back to the Revolutionary War. It would also cover a picnic area, parking area development and road improvements.
A later second phase would include a biking and hiking trail and more landscaping, while the final phase would connect the Petro Truck Stop area and nearby campgrounds to the facility and tie into a national Newport News-to-Portland, Ore., bike route that would bring more visitors to the area.
The trail would tie in the Montgomery Cemetery as well. John Montgomery, born about 1725, was one of the region's first settlers. He and James McGavock (1728-1812), a Revolutionary War soldier, were two of the men who drew up the Fincastle Resolutions, a forerunner to the Declaration of Independence.
The John Montgomery Marker is located in an open field used for pasturing horses, about half a mile from the interstate. Wilcox argued that history of interest to both tourists and local people is being lost.
The original site of Fort Chiswell was the western outpost of colonial civilization before the Revolutionary War, and where travelers going west or returning stopped for provisions. ``It really was, in its time, on the frontier,'' Wilcox said.
The Wilderness Road which passed through Fort Chiswell was instrumental in the opening of the West. It eventually became U.S. 11, later replaced by Interstate 81.
The project would include a study to determine who else is buried in the cemeteries, the precise location of Fort Chiswell and other historic places, and more information about the heritage of the region. It would be a natural to attract tourists and also provide history lessons for residents and students living here, Wilcox said.
``They're given the opportunity to learn something about this area,'' he said.
The project has been endorsed by the Wytheville-Wythe-Bland Chamber of Commerce, Wythe County Joint Industrial Development Authority, Wythe County Historical Society, Wythe-Gray chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and local chapters of the Children of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution and Ruritan Club.
by CNB