Decades before Shenandoah National Park was established, vacationers traveled to Skyland Resort for respite from urbanized, mechanized city life, finding rustic natural surroundings, a slower pace, and a chance to reconnect with each other and with nature. George Freeman Pollock founded and managed Skyland with elaborate flair, using his bugle to wake guests, summon them to meals and festivities, and announce the departure of the daily mail. Addie Nairn Hunter built Massanutten Lodge in 1910, then married George a year later and became Skyland’s hostess and benefactor. Pollock arranged extravagant entertainments and daily excursions such as sunrise tramps to the top of Stony Man and horseback rides to Whiteoak Falls for picnics, while evenings brought vaudeville, costume parties, and gigantic bonfires. He also sold over 100 lots to investors, with every deed requiring a rustic dwelling built of logs or frame covered with bark, and several of these cabins remain in use today. The Byrd family of Virginia owned Bird’s Nest, and Harry Flood Byrd, Sr., who was both Governor and a U.S. Senator, honeymooned there and was instrumental in establishing the park. Skyland Resort’s popularity helped make it the centerpiece of Shenandoah National Park, and Pollock, Byrd, and other Skyland investors worked tirelessly to establish a national park in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
