Near Ewing in Lee County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Lee County Code Breakers

Photographed by Craig Doda, July 27, 2020

1. Lee County Code Breakers Marker

Inscription. Frank B. Rowlett (1908-1998) and Gene Grabeel (1920-2015) grew up in Rose Hill, seven miles northeast of here. Rowlett, working in the U.S. Army's Signal Intelligence Service, led the team that in 1940 cracked the Japanese diplomatic cipher machine known as PURPLE, and he was instrumental in designing the American SIGABA encryption machine, which the Axis never decoded. This work greatly aided the Allied cause in World War II. Grabeel was one of two cryptanalysts who in Feb. 1943 began work on the decades-long VENONA project, which painstakingly deciphered encrypted Soviet communications and exposed a network of Soviet spies in the United States. She retired in 1978.

Erected 2019 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number K-126.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • War, Cold • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) series list. A significant historical month for this entry is February 1943.

Location. 36° 37.943′ N, 83° 29.343′ W. Marker is near Ewing, Virginia, in Lee County. It is on Wilderness

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Road (U.S. 58) 0.3 miles west of Chadwell Station Road (County Route 684), on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 10132 Wilderness Rd, Ewing VA 24248, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Southwest Virginia.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Pioneer Graves (approx. one mile away); John Ball (approx. 2.1 miles away); Brig. Gen. Joseph Martin (approx. 2.1 miles away); Dedicated to the Memory of General Joseph Martin (approx. 2.1 miles away); White Rocks (approx. 2.6 miles away); Hiking Up to White Rocks

Photographed by Craig Doda, July 27, 2020

2. Lee County Code Breakers Marker

(approx. 3.3 miles away); William H. Starnes: Agricultural Educator (approx. 4.4 miles away); Daniel Boone Trail (approx. 5.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ewing.

Credits. This page was last revised on March 5, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 20, 2020, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 2,116 times since then and 141 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 20, 2020, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.