Backbone Rock

Backbone Rock. . You are looking at Backbone Rock, known locally as the "Shortest Tunnel in the World"., Around 1908, the Beaver Dam Railway Company blasted and drilled the tunnel to provide railroad access from Damascus into Shady Valley's rich manganese and iron ores and timber. Within the next twenty years, the area's privately-owned timber had been cut over twice and ravaged by a devastating fire. Minerals were virtually mined out using available techniques., With an eye toward conservation of natural resources, in 1911 Congress enabled the federal government to acquire tracts of land for a newly-emerging eastern national forest system. Backbone Rock and 20,000 acres surrounding it were purchased to form part of Tennessee's national forest lands., Beaver Dam's railroad tracks were taken up in 1924 and the route was opened for automobiles. The tunnel was widened in 1930 for two lane traffic., Automobile access to Backbone Rock provided opportunities for recreation use. Three of Roosevelt's "New Deal" public works programs in the 1930s helped develop the recreation areas. Still in use from that era are two covered picnic shelters and rustic flights of steps on nearby trails. A second round of improvements, including construction of the nearby campground were made in the 1960s under the Accelerated Public Works program (APW)., The USDA Forest Service has managed the public lands at Backbone Rock since the nineteen-teens. Enjoy picnicking, fishing, hiking, sightseeing, and camping here at the "Shortest Tunnel in the World"., (caption) , Around the turn of the 20th century, the Virginia-Carolina Railway expanded from Abingdon's Norfolk and Western railhub through Damascus and south to Sutherland near the Virginia-Tennessee state line. By 1901,Beaver Dam Railroad Company extended the line south 3 1/2 miles to the rail town of Crandull . Within eight years, by 1901, another six miles of standard gauge line was completed all the way into Shady Valley by a company called Crandull and Shady Valley Railway., These rail lines, built largely by investments from private lumber companies, provided an important public transportation link. Shady Valley was no longer isolated by the surrounding Holston and Iron Mountain ranges. For fifteen years, mail service and passengers, as well as the area's harvested natural resources, travelled between Shady Valley and the busy manufacturing town of Damascus across railroad lines that once paralleled Beaverdam Creek., Many old rail lines have been converted to modern uses. to arrive here at Backbone Rock, you travelled along Beave Dam Railroad's route. And between Abingdon and White Top you can hike, bicycle, or ride a horse along the Virginia-Carolina Railway bed, now known as the "Virginia Creeper Trail".