The Story Behind Stuart's Knob

The Story Behind Stuart's Knob. . , You are standing at the foot of Stuart's Knob, where iron was mined from the late 1700s until the early 1900s. Originally given to General George Hairston in a 300,000 acre land grant after the War of 18 12, this hill was mined using pick and shovel for over 100 years. Mining methods changed very little in that time, and transporting the iron to outside markets was all but impossible. In 1905, the steam engine puffed its way into the hills and the Virginia Ore and Lumber Corporation was formed. Under Virginia Ore and Lumber, the settlement at the foot of the hill took on the name Fayerdale and the population ballooned from around 100 to 2,000 almost overnight. The people of Fayerdale used steam power to mine for iron, clear cut forests and to power the locomotives that moved people and products from town to town. Sadly, the boom was short lived. By 1911 German companies were selling processed iron at the same price Fayerdale was charging for raw iron ore. Mining operations ceased. By 1920, all the trees within reach of the rails had been cut and the equipment was sold as scrap. With the advent of prohibition, production and trafficking in illegal moonshine whiskey became the only profitable industry. In 1933, Junius Fishburn donated a 4,500 acre parcel of land including Stuart's Knob to the Commonwealth of Virginia for inclusion in the new system of State Parks. With the go ahead from President Franklin Roosevelt, Civilian Conservation Corps workers were stationed just a few hundred yards from where you are now standing. They would continue to work on the park facilities until the dissolution of the Civilian Conservation Corps at the beginning of the second World War. , While walking the trails, be on the lookout for signs giving more information.