Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
This building has three sections. The center section houses a gristmill; the wing to your left contains a sawmill, while the section to your right houses a woodworking shop. Ed Mabry built the original mill and both additions about 1910. In the . . . — — Map (db m174585) HM
Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
More than a century ago, log cabins were a common sight in Appalachia and in other rural areas of the eastern United States. Samuel and Elizabeth Matthews built this cabin near Galax in 1869. Made largely of oak, it has one room on each of its two . . . — — Map (db m174592) HM
Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
Simon the tanner used this horse-powered machine to grind oak and hemlock bark for tanning. Mixed with water this ground bark produced “bark liquor” for “tanning hides.” — — Map (db m174587) HM
Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
Rarely seen today, the blacksmith shop was a vital home industry in Ed Mabry’s time. Here “Uncle Ed” cleverly fashioned wagon tires, andirons, tools, and various other iron objects for himself and his neighbors. — — Map (db m174591) HM
Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
Although operating a mill was never easy, Ed Mabry faced special challenges. For one, the quantity of running water, which turned the overshot wheel and powered all the equipment in the mill, was barely adequate. To increase his supply, Mabry built . . . — — Map (db m174583) HM
Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
Take one hollow log “Ash Hopper” filled with ashes. Filter water through ashes to produce lye. Add old fat to lye solution and boil in iron pot. The result: homemade soap. — — Map (db m174590) HM
Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
Freshly sawed lumber must be dried evenly to prevent warping and checking. Ed Mabry used a rack similar to this for drying lumber. — — Map (db m174586) HM
Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
This mill was built about 1910 by Edwin B. Mabry, a jack-of-all-trades who had been a chairmaker, a miner, a coal company blacksmith, and a farmer. He and his wife, Mintoria Lizzie Mabry, operated the mill until 1936, grinding corn and sawing lumber . . . — — Map (db m165417) HM
Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
These stones are from a quartz conglomerate obtained at Brushy Mountain Quarry, Blacksburg, VA. They were shaped at the quarry, but the miller “dressed” or sharpened them with homemade “chisels.” — — Map (db m174584) HM
Down this path you will find buildings,
farm implements and other displays that
document rural life in Appalachia over
a period of about 100 years. Most were
restored and arranged here during the
1940s and 1950s.
These displays illustrate . . . — — Map (db m11083) HM
Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
Making sorghum molasses became popular during the Civil War, when supplies of sugar and corn syrup were interrupted. The practice continues today in many communities, where the sweet smell of boiling sorghum can be enjoyed in the cool October air. A . . . — — Map (db m174589) HM
Near Blue Ridge Parkway (at milepost 176.2), 0.2 miles south of Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603), on the left when traveling south.
Many settlers and early residents brought with them the knowledge and the custom of making whiskey. Although tax laws and, for a while, Prohibition made the activity illegal, moonshiners have always operated in the mountains and other areas of the . . . — — Map (db m174588) HM
On Jeb Stuart Highway (U.S. 58) at Widow Drive (County Route 747), on the right when traveling west on Jeb Stuart Highway.
Floyd County. Area 376 square miles. Formed in 1831 from Montgomery, and added to from Franklin. Named for John Floyd, governor of Virginia, 1830–1834. Buffalo Knob is in this county.
Patrick County. Area 485 square . . . — — Map (db m104615) HM
On Business U.S. 58 at Blue Ridge Parkway, on the right when traveling west on U.S. 58Business .
Meadows of Dan. Patrick County is named for a fiddler, Patrick Henry, and is where the Piedmont Plateau meets the Blue Ridge Mountains. Settled in Revolutionary times, it has always been a musical place. Stuart, the county seat, is named for a . . . — — Map (db m104623) HM
Near Mabry Mill Road SE (Virginia Route 603) 0.2 miles south of Blue Ridge Parkway, on the left when traveling south.
On October 14, 1944, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, lost in a dense fog during a training mission, circled Mabry Mill twice before crashing in a nearby field.
Eighteen months earlier, the bomber had been purchased through the United States . . . — — Map (db m138448) HM
