From the Summer 2010 Blue Ridge Digest.
The first 12.5 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) was started September 11, 1935 by Cumberland Knob, North Carolina.
Most work on the parkway was done by private contractors, but several New Deal programs also got involved including the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Emergency Relief Administration (ERA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
The CCC established four camps along the route. Members worked on cleanup, planting, grading slopes for scenic effect and improved roadside fields and forests.
The WPA did a lot of work manually that could have been done by machines, but, of course, the main idea was to put men to work. They cleared brush, used hand drills for holes to place blasting dynamite and performed other manual labor. Pay was $55 a week.
The ERA did landscape work and developed Parkway recreational areas.
World War II led to the disbanding of the programs, but work was continued on a smaller scale by conscientious objectors under the Civilian Public Service program.
More to Come. --RoadDog
RoadDog's RoadLog Blog: Being my travels down those great two lane highways of this nation as well as news I learn about them from media sources. Since I'm also very interested in historic preservation, there will be a lot of that as well.
The Shamrock Court Motel in Sullivan, Missouri. It can be yours for $125,000. Lots of possibilities. Actually, now you're too late. Missouri's Roamin' Rich bought it.
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