Humpback Rocks Mountain Farm: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Blue Ridge Parkway
Regions 1, 2, & 4 Park Cultural Landscapes Program. 2013. Humpback Rocks Mountain Farm: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Blue Ridge Parkway. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 975982. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. NPS Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta, Georgia / CRIS-CL Database
Inventory Unit Description: The Humpback Rocks developed area is one of eight recreation areas spaced along the Virginia section of the Blue Ridge Parkway that contain larger land areas to accommodate motorist needs, interpretive programming, and recreational opportunities. Humpback Rocks is the northernmost of these recreation areas, and was sited on the landscape around the dramatic geologic formation that had served as a local landmark for more than a century. Thus the Humpback Rocks developed area is the first such facility encountered by motorists traveling south from milepost 1 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Mountain Farm component landscape is one of four component landscapes of the developed area. Construction took place from 1952-1953, and the exhibit opened in 1956 along with the visitor center. The exhibit includes several buildings and structures that comprise an exhibit of farm life in the region during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some of the features are local farm buildings that have been moved to the site from nearby farms, while others are interpretations of typical farm-related features. The site includes cultivated fields, kitchen gardens, orchard plantings, livestock pens, and a springhouse. The site also houses a contemporary water supply and treatment structure screened from view from much of the exhibit area. A trail runs through the Mountain Farm exhibit that leads to the visitor center as well as the Humpback Gap and Trail parking area. The component landscape is bounded by the Visitor Center component landscape to the north, the Blue Ridge Parkway to the east, and the Humpback Gap and Trail component landscape to the south. This component landscape is significant under Criteria A, and C. The period of significance identified for the parent landscape—Humpback Rocks developed area—is 1939–1965, which encompasses initial parkway construction through completion of proposed developments consistent with early master plans for the site. Parkway design principles are conveyed throughout the developed area, including the Mountain Farm component landscape, tying it to the broader 469-mile linear historic landscape. In addition, Humpback Rocks affords several of the key components that early designers considered important for motorists to experience when traveling the corridor, including opportunities for visitors to connect more deeply with the region through recreation and education, picnicking, and other amenities.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Regions 1, 2, & 4 Park Cultural Landscapes Program
- Date of Issue
- 2013-01-09
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- BLRI , SER
- Keywords
- agriculture, conservation, engineering, farm exhibit, historic designed landscape, Humpback Rocks developed area, interpretation, landscape architecture, living history program, master planning, mission 66, parkway development, recreation, rustic architecture, tourism, transportation, Virginia