Making a Living on the Mountain

Making a Living on the Mountain. . Economic Activity in the Blue Ridge Mountains Mirrored that of Rural Virginia During the 1920s and 1930s , The primary economic activity was subsistence farming. Many farms also included fruit orchards, with apples, peaches, pears, cherries, and damsons. Green beans were grown and canned or dried for winter storage, as was fruit and other vegetables. A milk cow was a necessity to produce dairy products, including butter and cottage cheese. Laying hens provided eggs and meat. Many families raised and butchered their own hogs, as pork was the most common meat consumed, along with chicken and occasionally beef, lamb, or venison. Mountain residents had a variety of ways of preserving their food products, meat, and crops. Mountain springs were used to store perishables such as milk, butter, cottage cheese, and left-overs. Cellars were built to store potatoes, apples and canned foods. Fruits and green snap beans were sun-dried, sometimes on rooftops, and stored in cheese cloth or cotton bags. Cabbage, rich in Vitamin C, was a very important nutrient crop which was buried in trenches or cellars to maintain its freshness year-round. meat houses provided a way to store cured meats for future use., Many Blue Ridge Mountain residents supplemented the farm income by working seasonal jobs on the mountain or in surrounding communities. Small scale industries included saw mills, gristmills, a copper mine operated on Hightop, and a magnesium mine on Hanse Mountain., Other residents were highly skilled laborers such as carpenters, stone masons, and blacksmiths. Waggoneers were also needed for hauling mountain products to market centers or tanbark to tanneries. Some mountain residents produced handmade products such as baskets, quilts, and crafts which were sold to nearby stores. , Lam's Stave and Lumber Mill in the Swift Run area produced roof shingles, tool handles, barrel staves and lumber products. Steam engines provided the power for routers and crozier blades to cut grooves for holding the tops and bottoms and shape the edges. The escaping steam was used to bend the staves. The mill produced enough staves per hour for over 80 barrels. Lam's Mill provided employment for both mountain residents and valley men. , Some of the stave mill men boarded at Shipp's Tavern, previously located inside the current park boundary at the foot of the mountain at Swift Run Gap. Shipp's Tavern was built in 1832 and became well-known as the "Mountain Hotel." During the Civil War it was known as Bridge's Tavern. Its popularity and location made it a necessary stage coach stop along the Spotswood Trail east of Swift Run. A few bricks, across the road from Swift Run School, are all that remain of the "old Inn.", Meadow's Store, in the Swift Run area, was a place for supplies, good neighborly socializing, and the latest news. Mountain families were very self-sufficient, therefore, primarily only staples such as salt, kerosene, sugar, and coffee were purchased or traded at stores. Other commodities such as shoes, clothes, fabric, tools, and school books could also be obtained from local stores., Today, only a few remnants remain of the mills, mines, stores, and businesses belonging to the people who once called the Blue Ridge Mountains home.