Pinnacles of Dan Original Proposal for Dam
In 1933 the City of Danville, Virginia applied for a federal grant to build a hydro-electric facility. The city of Danville claimed that the dam would provide power to its textile mills and could even electrify Stuart, VA, the county seat of Patrick County where the pinnacles are located.
Pinnacles of Dan Stanley Abbott
Stanley Abbott was the chief landscape architect for the Blue Ridge Parkway beginning in 1934, and he was also the chief NPS correspondent on issues concerning the dam project.
Pinnacles of Dan Site Proposal
The original National Park Service plan for the Blue Ridge Parkway contained the Pinnacles of Dan as one of the three major sites in Virginia for the Blue Ridge Parkway. The plan called for the development of lakes, stables, camping grounds, and picnic tables at the major sites.
Pinnacles of Dan Harold Ickes Letter to NPS
On January 5, 1935, the Department of Interior officially noted that there were two competing, potentially conflicting projects involving the same area.
Pinnacles of Dan Local Union Protest
C.K. Simmers, NPS engineer, sent a memo to NPS associate director A.E. Demaray that includes a summary of a local Danville protest in 1935 against the hydro-electrical power project.
Pinnacles of Dan J R A Hobson Jr
Hobson was the project engineer in charge of the Danville Power Plant project on the Public Works Administration side from 1936 until the project’s completion in July of 1938.
Pinnacles of Dan Demaray Letter to Abbott
This directive from Ickes to Demaray set the policy for National Park Service involvement in the Danville hydro-electric plant project and marked the beginning of a long and often strained relationship between the National Park Service, the Public Works Administration, and the City of Danville during the construction of the dam. The directive ordered the National Park Service to serve in an advisory position on the environmental concerns of the dam project but gave the Park Service no official oversight of the dam project.
Pinnacles of Dan Field Trip
In May of 1936, Stanley Abbott accompanied P.W.A. officials, city of Danville officials, and the consulting engineers on the Dam project on a three-day excursion to the Pinnacles of Dan site to discuss the construction of the dam and the steps to be taken for conservation of the area as a future Blue Ridge Parkway attraction.
Pinnacles of Dan Abbott Inspects Dam Site
In July of 1936, Stanley Abbott made his first inspection trip to the dam site after the start of construction.
Pinnacles of Dan Conservation Report
On August 17-22 of 1936, C.W. Short, the conservation engineer with the PWA on the project, visited the dam to ascertain what could be done to minimize existing as well as future damage to the dam site as far as aesthetic value.
Pinnacles of Dan Ralph Patterson
In September of 1936, the Public Works Administration hired Ralph D. Patterson as the resident landscape architect for the dam project.
Pinnacles of Dan Kibler Road
Controversy erupted in 1936 over the proposed location of Kibler Road, the important access road to the dam that was planned to connect to the Blue Ridge Parkway. However, the plan favored by the Park Service and the landscape architects would cost $13,933.35, significantly more than the $8,138.20 price tag attached to the route favored by the City of Danville.
Pinnacles of Dan Telephone Pole Controversy
In 1937, telephone poles were placed along the ridge, crossing and re-crossing the trails and could be seen from any point.
Pinnacles of Dan PWA Grant Money
In 1937, additional grant money from the PWA as withheld from Danville until they could comply with conservation efforts to stave off damage in the bowl area caused by the Kibler Road construction.
Pinnacles of Dan Forest Fire
On the afternoon of November 8, 1937, contractors were burning brush on a ridge close to the bowl area. High winds caused the contractors to lose control of the fire and it swept through the bowl area.
Pinnacles of Dan Completion of Hydro-electric Plant
The hydro-electric dam and power plant project was completed on June 7, 1938. The project was dedicated as the “Pinnacles Hydro-electric Development.”
Pinnacles of Dan NPS Reevaluates
In 1938, Stanley Abbott reported that the dam and powerplant construction had vastly changed the original wilderness of the area. He decided that although the area could be developed as a recreational area for the Blue Ridge Parkway, the original reasons for inclusion no longer existed.
Pinnacles of Dan Lipscomb Land Rejected
In 1941, Harry F. Byrd, an influential senator from Virginia, offered to buy 8,000 acres of land called the “Lipscomb Tract” from the Roslyn Lumber Company. The Parkway needed the land in order to preserve the scenery of the Pinnacles of Dan area and the Parkway presented the Lipscomb deal as the major impediment to further development at the Pinnacles of Dan. However, the Parkway did not really want Byrd to buy the tract of land because they had already decided against development of the Pinnacles of Dan area and were using the “Lipscomb Tract” issue as an excuse against development. The Park Service refused Byrd’s offer out of hand.
Pinnacles of Dan NPS Omits from Parkway
In 1941, Abbott reported to A.E. Demaray that with the development of nearby parks in Virginia, the National Park Service no longer needed to include the Pinnacles of Dan on the Blue Ridge Parkway