Staunton River State Park

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Staunton River (Virginia)
Staunton River
Staunton River

The Staunton River State Park is a State Park in Halifax County in Virginia . It is located at the western end of the John H. Kerr Reservoir and about 20 km east of the small town of South Boston . It can be reached from Scottsburg via the specially constructed State Route 344 .

history

In 1926 the Parliament of Virginia decided to create a system of state parks. Among the first six state parks to be established in the various regions of Virginia was Staunton River State Park in eastern Piedmont, southern Virginia. In 1933, the Virginia State Commission on Conservation and Development acquired 4.84 km² of farmland at the confluence of the Dan River and Roanoke River . The area was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a job creation measure as part of the New Deal . The CCC built various tourist facilities including hiking trails, a swimming pool, camping and picnic areas and several holiday cabins. Some of these are still preserved today and, along with other structures, have been listed as the Staunton River State Park Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places since 2007 .

The park was opened in 1936 and expanded until the Second World War. Its area was finally 7.19 km². The construction of the Kerr Dam on the Roanoke River in 1952 led to some changes. Part of the state park was flooded, but the newly created lake also brought new tourist opportunities. A boat ramp provides access to the nearly 200 km² John H. Kerr Reservoir - also known as Buggs Island Lake in Virginia. Today, after several acquisitions since the 1950s, the park has an area of ​​9.7 square kilometers.

The state park was named after a local name for the Roanoke River. In southern Virginia, the river was named in memory of officer Captain Henry Staunton , who patrolled the middle reaches of the Roanoke with his company before the American Revolution .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ National Register of Historic Places: Registration Form (2006) (English; PDF; 791 kB)

Web links

Coordinates: 36 ° 41 ′ 46 "  N , 78 ° 41 ′ 7"  W.