Big Stone Gap in Wise County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Big Stone Gap
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 17, 2015
1. Big Stone Gap Marker
Inscription.
Big Stone Gap, originally known as Three Forks, received its carter February 28. 1888. A postoffice was established April 12, 1856. In the early nineties it became the center of iron and coal development. It was the home and workshop of John Fox, Jr., novelist, and author of “Trail of the Lonesome Pine.”
Big Stone Gap, originally known as Three Forks, received its carter February 28. 1888. A postoffice was established April 12, 1856. In the early nineties it became the center of iron and coal development. It was the home and workshop of John Fox, Jr., novelist, and author of “Trail of the Lonesome Pine.”
Erected 1941 by Virginia Conservation Commission. (Marker Number KA-11.)
Location. 36° 52.127′ N, 82° 46.511′ W. Marker is in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, in Wise County. Marker is on East 5th Street North (Business U.S. 28) north of Shawnee Avenue East, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 102 E 5th St N, Big Stone Gap VA 24219, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Origins of Big Stone Gap (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Carl Martin (approx. 0.2 miles away); Christ Episcopal Church (approx. 0.3 miles away); a different marker also named Big Stone Gap
Also see . . . 1. John Fox Jr. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine. This Amazon.com page has a Look Inside feature for this book. “He had seen the big pine when he first came to those hills—one morning, at daybreak, when the valley was a sea of mist that threw soft clinging spray to the very mountain tops: for even above the mists, that morning, its mighty head arose—sole visible proof that the earth still slept beneath. Straightway, he wondered how it had ever got there, so far above the few of its kind that haunted the green dark ravines far below. Some whirlwind, doubtless, had sent a tiny cone circling heavenward and dropped it there. It had sent others, too, no doubt, but how had this tree faced wind and storm alone and alone lived to defy both so proudly? Some day he would learn. Thereafter, he had seen it, at noon—but little
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 17, 2015
2. Big Stone Gap Marker
less majestic among the oaks that stood about it; had seen it catching the last light at sunset, clean-cut against the after-glow, and like a dark, silent, mysterious sentinel guarding the mountain pass under the moon. He had seen it giving place with sombre dignity to the passing burst of spring—had seen it green among dying autumn leaves, green in the gray of winter trees and still green in a shroud of snow—a changeless promise that the earth must wake to life again. The Lonesome Pine, the mountaineers called it, and the Lonesome Pine it always looked to be. From the beginning it had a curious fascination for him, and straightway within him—half exile that he was—there sprang up a sympathy for it as for something that was human and a brother. And now he was on the trail of it at last. From every point that morning it had seemed almost to nod down to him as he climbed and, when he reached the ledge that gave him sight of it from base to crown, the winds murmured among its needles like a welcoming voice. At once, he saw the secret of its life. On each side rose a cliff that had sheltered it from storms until its trunk had shot upwards so far and so straight and so strong that its green crown could lift itself on and on and bend—blow what might—as proudly and securely as a lily on its stalk in a morning breeze. Dropping his bridle rein he put
Photographed By J. J. Prats
3. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
one hand against it as though on the shoulder of a friend.
‘Old Man,’ he said, ‘You must be pretty lonesome up here, and I'm glad to meet you’.” (Submitted on November 24, 2015.)This website may earn income if you use this link to make a purchase on Amazon.com.
(Submitted on November 24, 2015.)This website may earn income if you use this link to make a purchase on Amazon.com.
3. Adriana Trigiani Big Stone Gap. 2001 novel on Amazon.com (Submitted on November 24, 2015.)This website may earn income if you use this link to make a purchase on Amazon.com.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on November 24, 2015, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 528 times since then and 37 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on November 24, 2015, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.
